Just received an email from Brian at Rockbridge saying that along with the rollout of student emails (still not the coveted "edu" unfortunately) we are in the process also going to receive the full "Google Apps for Education" suite.
From what I can tell, on my side, there's nothing there I don't already use. I was just having a discussion inside my head today about getting a netbook instead of a laptop next time. Since I'm connected almost all the time to the web, why not just work with Google, Google Apps, and online storage sites instead of toting the load on a hard drive? Less aggravation, less cost. Just makes sense. But I'm still ahead of the seminary I guess.
But it is great to be a participant in education with a seminary that is technology forward in their approach. I can remember vividly a discussion I had with an NOBTS prof years ago when I suggested instead of faxing him a paper I could just email a pdf. He literally had no idea what a pdf was. Now they've come a long way since that event, but they still are mired in bricks and mortar.
Now if Rockbridge will just fix the mess that is the Capstone.
Keep pushing us in technology. I want all of our textbooks on an e-book like Kindle (which I love) or some other form of digital delivery.
ReplyDeleteThat'll be difficult I would think. The texts I've seen at Rockbridge were very uncommon compared to those I saw at NOBTS.
ReplyDeleteYou have to be careful that you see technology as a tool to put more information into the hands of more people rather than less. So a delivery system that adds another $300 device takes money out of the bivocational pastor's pocket. Unless there is a real difference in the price of the texts, it won't help, it will hurt.
Based on what we see when Logos and the like put commentaries out in digital format it is often much much cheaper to be a used hardback.
So as you move forward, be sensitive to cost for the guys like me who don't serve at saddleback, Seacoast, or Willow.