Re: [sdpd] Encouragements (student numbers & Crysfire)

[Armel Le Bail <alb...@cristal.org>]

Dear Robin,

>These small numbers surprised me, since for the last 2 years people on
>your SDPD course seem to contribute more than half of the emails that I
>receive urgently requesting Crysfire support!

Thank you to take care of the SDPD Internet Course students. I am
proud of them who do no hesitate to contact you. Indeed, contacting
directly the software developers rather than me about installing (and all)
problems is recommended clearly in the course text ;-). May be I should
redirect some fees in your direction, or we should rebuild an International
course that would attract more students. I love the idea, but imagine the
problems with administration (yours and mine) which is here only trying
to get all the money for itself, and trying to increase the fees (but I 
resist)...

>now that I'm re-emerging from the dark
>tunnel of teaching core statistics and computing courses to 200+
>psychology students, which occupies most of my waking hours between
>September and April (just finishing their exam marking now!).

At least, some psychology students will have computer literacy, thanks
to you. They could enroll in an e-learning course more easily. A
paradox can be that material science or chemistry or physics
students (and possibly even crystallography students) do not receive
more teaching about computers than psychology students. If this
is true, cursus need to be modified. I have heard in the lab here
some students complaining that their PhD is half learning to fight
with a computer for producing their thesis (obtaining scientific results
as well as writing, making graphics, etc). Of course... But I am afraid
that teachers continue to tell students that indexing is made just
like it is explained in the Klug & Alexander 1974 edition (if not
in the 1954 edition)...

Best,

Armel

PS - Anyway, if some of you have a brillant idea about how to
install a new SDPD Internet Course that would involve more
specialists at the International level, we should do it. But
remember that students have questions and that you will have
to make answers very fast. I do not see IUCr moving a lot in
that e-learning direction (no more for the CPD). IUCr is a lot
attached to traditional congress and workshops, including
programs for accompanying persons, good wines, and ***** hotels
(see the Geneva project...). I appreciate too this kind of
activity.

PS-2. 40000 students involved in e-learning at the UK Open
University :
======================================================
From: info...@chemweb.com
Subject: An Alchemist article

The UK Open University ? Part 1. Overview
More than two million students have taken courses since the UK's Open
University (OU) was founded in 1969. So what is the role of chemistry in
the OU?
http://www.chemweb.com/alchem/articles/1015947867556.html
======================================================



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