I am not so self-centered as to believe that the downfall of New Jersey City University began with my retirement a quarter-century ago. Nevertheless, the institution is to be no more as an independent entity, but will become absorbed by a sister state institution, Kean University.
In reading about the development, I was surprised to learn that NJCU was now awarding doctoral degrees in two disciplines. I was especially eager to learn about the program in Educational Technology Leadership, believing that advances in computer learning and AI development are crucial to improvement in our country’s educational system. I, therefore, went online (1) to find out about NJCU’s program.
The first thing that I discovered was that I would never have been accepted to the program. Although I could afford the $55 non-refundable application fee, I would be constitutionally unable to supply the “essay of 500-1000 words describing your goals and objectives for pursuing the Ed.D. in Educational Technology Leadership.” Such requests are beyond me. I doubt if I could offer a halting 120 words in support of any of my “goals and objectives” (if I have any). So, all credit to those applicants who can supply such an essay.
I then moved over to examine the curriculum of the program. Realizing that educational technology has moved on from the days when eight-millimeter projectors and tape recorders were locked in the AV room, I wished to learn how the latest technology (for example, computers and AI) would be used to improve classroom teaching.
Here I was sadly disappointed. Consider these course descriptions:
EDTC 802 Principles of Educational Technology Leadership (3 Credits)
This course focuses on concepts and strategies necessary for a leader in a technologically rich learning environment. Topics include strategic planning, leadership styles, institutional change processes, and policy issues in educational technology.
EDTC 805 Cross-Discipline Studies in Technology (3 Credits)
The focus of the course is exploration and evaluation of advanced and emergent technologies and the means by which educational and training leaders learn about them and sustain them in a learning environment. This course assists educational and corporate professionals to develop innovative educational and organization practices across disciplines.
EDTC 807 Implementation and Evaluation of Curriculum (3 Credits)
This course will provide candidates with a comprehensive understanding of the landscape of implementation and evaluation of educational technology programs. The philosophies, methods, and processes of curriculum design in educational technology will provide the framework for curricular models; resources for decision-making; and evaluation methods for educational and corporate settings.
What we have here is a lot of blowing smoke about “concepts,” “strategies,” “exploration,” “landscape,” “framework,” and “processes.” This is abstraction on steroids.
I throw up my hands in despair; I approached this program thinking about concretions (computers and AI). Where are they?
I do not denigrate the curriculum as an easy layup of a degree program. The program demands two dissertations. So real work will have to go into earning the degree. I just wish that the educationalists for once had learned the value of the specific and the concrete.
*
In its May 22, 1948 issue, The New Yorker published a Profile of Mrs. Margaret Rudkin, “the red-haired president of a baking firm called Pepperidge Farm, Inc.” (2) At that date, Pepperidge Farm had been producing bread for barely a decade. Its bread, which in those days cost thirty-one cents for a twenty-two-ounce loaf of white or whole-wheat bread and twenty-three for a one-pound loaf of either white or whole wheat, was higher-priced than more popular packaged bread. At those prices, the article tells us,
Pepperidge Farm bread is not homogenized, fortified, energized, vitaminized, or atomized. It is just made out of flour, fresh milk, butter, honey, and other ingredients from which the vitamins have not been extracted by modern scientific methods.
Alas, as the wheel turns, Pepperidge Farm is no longer an independent company (it is now a division of Campbell’s) and it no longer just turning out white and whole wheat loaves. Here is a list of PF products:
- Breads, Buns & Rolls
- Bagels
- Breakfast Breads
- Swirl Breads
- Bagels
- Buns & Rolls
- Dinner Rolls
- Pepperidge Farm Farmhouse Bun
- Hamburger Buns
- Hoagie Rolls
- Hot Dog Buns
- Slider Buns
- Frozen Breads
- Garlic Bread
- Texas Toast
- Sandwich Breads
- Pepperidge Farm Farmhouse Breads
- Italian Breads
- Light Style Breads
- Rye & Pumpernickel Breads
- Very Thin Breads
- White Breads
- Whole Grain Breads
- Whole Grain Thin Sliced Breads
- Stuffing
- Cookies
- Brussels
- Chunk Cookies
- Cookie Collections
- Distinctive Cookies
- Milano
- Milano Slices
- Milano Cookies
- Pepperidge Farm Farmhouse
- Gluten Free Pepperidge Farm Farmhouse Cookies
- Pepperidge Farm Farmhouse Cookies
- Pirouette
- Crackers
- Cracker Trio
- Golden Butter
- Harvest Wheat
- Desserts & Puff Pastry
- Layer Cakes
- Puff Pastry
- Turnovers
- Goldfish Crackers
- Favorites
- Original
- Pretzel
- Cheddar
- Baby Cheddar
- Pizza
- Parmesan
- Colors (Cheddar Favored)
- Baked With Whole Grain-
- Colors (Cheddar Favored)
- Cheddar
- Flavor Blasted (Extra Flavor Added)
- Cheddar & Sour Cream
- Cheddar Jack'd
- Sour Cream & Onion
- Xtra Cheddar
- Xtra Cheesy Pizza
- Goldfish Grahams
- Fudge Brownie
- Vanilla Cupcake
- Grahams S'mores
- Goldfish Mix
Mix Cheddar + Zesty Cheddar + Parmesan Mix Xtra Cheddar + Pretzel
- NON-GMO INGREDIENTS (Made With Organic Wheat)
- Cheddar
- Special & Limited Editions
- Frank's RedHot Crackers
- Old Bay Seasoned Crackers
- Star Wars: The Mandalorian (Cheddar)
- Disney Mickey Mouse (Cheddar)
- Princess Cheddar Crackers
- Dunkin' Pumpkin Spice Grahams (3)
And, today, as for those white bread ingredients:
Enriched Wheat Flour (Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Water, Sugar, Yeast, Contains 2% or less of: Salt, Vegetable Oils (Soybean and/or Canola), Monoglycerides, Calcium Propionate and Sorbic Acid to extend freshness, Malted Barley Flour, Whey, Soy Lecithin, DATEM, Wheat Gluten
*
“For decades, music and film have had institutions honor their greatest contributors; now, dance will finally have its Hall of Fame,” announced Anita Mann, an Emmy-nominated director-choreographer. (4) The initial class of inductees to the Dance Hall of Fame included Alvin Ailey, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Stephen “tWitch” Boss, Misty Copeland, Bob Fosse, Martha Graham, Gene Kelly, Kenny Ortega, Jerome Robbins, and Twyla Tharp. They were honored at a December ceremony in Los Angeles.
Ms Mann in her statement claimed that the inductees “redefined the art and embodied the spirit of creativity and courage that inspires dancers and audiences across the globe.”
Wait a minute! Inspiring “dancers and audiences across the globe”? Except for Baryshnikov, the inductees are all American. and Baryshnikov himself spent most of his creative life in the USA.
Is this Hall of Fame supposed to be an American Dance salute? The announcement doesn’t say so. Then, where are the Pavlovas, the Markovas and the rest of the dance world?
But even if this Hall was only supposed to be a salute to American dance, can there be any excuse for including Gene Kelly while omitting Fred Astaire?
But most of all, how can any institution claim to be a Dance Hall of Fame and leave out the greatest choreographer of all time—and the father of American ballet—George Balanchine?
The people behind this project have tripped over their own feet.
***
(2) https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1948/05/22/striking-a-blow-for-grandma
(3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepperidge_Farm
(4) https://www.broadwaynews.com/bob-fosse-martha-graham-and-jerome-robbins-among-inaugural-inductees-of-new-dance-hall-of-fame/
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