Dan, Thanks for you thoughts. Of course every opinion is welcome. I agree that the studio experience is the most beneficial way to learn. However, I must respectfully disagree that the only way to benefit from a program is by personally attending. Further, as the sole support of my family with a wife still recovering from the West Nile virus, to leave a well paying, relatively secure job in this economy to attend a program full time without any sort of viable income is not just a sacrifice, it's well nigh insane. Further, I would ask what about those people overseas wishing to enter the world of IxD. Remote learning is perhaps the only option for them. In my opinion, for those whose circumstances don't allow them to 'feel free to move about the country', remote learning, while not the best choice, is still a choice.
While I respect your opinion, I have to say that I reacted most strongly to your sweeping characterization that the only way to find success was the way you did. Perhaps that's not what you intended. Regardless, I would invite you to perhaps consider that the circumstances of others may not be as you perceive them. With Respect, Ben Vaughan On Tue, Jan 20, 2009 at 5:53 PM, Dan Saffer <d...@odannyboy.com> wrote: > > On Jan 19, 2009, at 4:22 PM, Ben Vaughan wrote: > >> As a Dad who's we established in Colorado, are there >> any plans for distance learning? > > I hope not. > > While I understand the plight of people who aren't located near a good (or > any) interaction design program, I don't think it is a discipline that can > be taught effectively from afar. The studio nature of a reputable design > program almost requires the kind of high-touch, high-bandwidth interactions > that only face to face to can effectively impart. There is also the > interactions with other students, which can be even more valuable over time > than the professors. The bonding that occurs in a design studio at 3 a.m. > has yet to be replicated online. > > And lest you think I'm unaware of the difficulties, I sold my house and > moved my family (including my 3-year-old daughter) to Pittsburgh for two > years to get my degree. Others in my program lived apart from their families > and commuted to distant cities in order to get their degree. It was a > sacrifice. But the barriers are there to show us how much we really want > something, to paraphrase Randy Pausch. There's always an excuse not to do > something. > > > Dan > > > > ________________________________________________________________ > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > To post to this list ....... disc...@ixda.org > Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help > ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
