E.M. Forster

The Future of Online Education (Part II): Life Inside the Machine

By Rich Russell "Inside the Machine," in Forster's short story, Kuno's mother Vashti is a lecturer on music history. Here, where every individual is confined to a separate room — where all needs are met by the Machine — Forster writes, "The clumsy system of public...

The Future of Online Education (Part I): The Machine Never Stops

By Rich Russell My mom said to me recently, "In twenty-five years, none of this [waving arms about to indicate college building] will exist." We were sitting in her office.

Connecting to Students: Improving Retention in Online Classes (Part I)

By Rich Russell In a recent column for The Chronicle of Higher Ed, Rob Jenkins highlights what we need to consider in our zealous pursuit of online education ("the third-rail.

The Future of Online Education (Part IV): Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Machine

By Rich Russell "Cannot you see, cannot all you lecturers see, that it is we that are dying, and that down here the only thing that really lives is the Machine? [...] It has robbed us of the sense of space and of the sense...

The Future of Online Education (Part III): Life Outside the Machine

By Rich Russell I had a student in a traditional class last semester (let's call him "Anthony") who was a bit of a Holden Caulfield. (I don't think he'd mind.