Virtual Learning Environments

During Rik Panganiban’s wonderful SL presentation I had a very positive outlook about the potential for Internet classrooms being he norm in the very near future. Then I flew to England ~ and somewhere between then and now, my perceptions and beliefs got turned on their head.

Looking for WiFi in all the wrong places! With my brand new GoBi adapted NetBook I set off to the lake district for a 2 week Buddhist meditation retreat, some hiking and relaxed evenings in the English countryside. Know that I had a few items left to complete for my online classes I thought it would be lovely to ‘experience’ my classes in with a more serene backdrop. Yet having being brought down to earth with a thump upon the reality that extortionately expensive cottage not only didn’t have WiFi or cable – it didn’t even have a phone! I felt safe in the knowledge that at least I did have my ‘international broadband NetBook’; that at least I had GoBi!

After landing in my lovely homeland, I drove 2 hours through some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever seen and spent my first night in a little B&B – there was a little WiFi – just enough to get out an email or 2; but I wasn’t overly concerned as it was just Friday and I knew I’d be at the cottage soon and all would be well!

 Saturday came – as did the keys – and out popped my NetBook- But GoBi cant’ be configured without a wifi connection – err! ~ Yes – Exactly the go anywhere broadband equanimity needs a WiFi fix before it can get going!! So Sunday becomes a search for enough WiFi to kick-start the GoBi to make my ‘serene’ online experience a reality.

Yet the search just widens and widens – and now reaches across a 25-mile radius.  Now I’m starting to feel like a junkie – Scrounging for WiFi, willing to take anything for a fix. Heck – dial up would bliss right now. I’d pay for it – I’d pay $1 for 10 mins even (the going rate at the airport) – And driving back to the airport was becoming more and more appealing

Now I just want to clarify something here. I’m not talking about no available WiFi or no free WiFi. I’m talking no WiFi – period. Nothing. Nada. I boot up my NetBook, turn on my iPhone, Launch my MacBook Pro and there is not a single signal! I drive for a few minutes and repeat. And still – nothing!

And so here I am driving around street after street. Parking in front of strange people’s houses – And finding no WiFi what so ever. Until it hit me just how much I’d taken for granted the ease with which I am able to log on just about anywhere I want – when I’m in NY. Even if I have to pay for it – it’s there. But this is not really the case, not for many people. While lower income families in NY may not have an easy time getting on line. Lower income families here just don’t get online – it’s just not even available.

Late last night while surfing through the 4 channels available to me (yes I think there are 5 free channels in the UK – but not in this cottage – number 5 is still AWOL) I came a across a news report that claimed to be ‘exposing’ the broadband scams here in the UK. It seems that the average download speed for households here is less than 2mpbs – and there isn’t really an alternative! Cable isn’t as available here as it is in the US and most remote households rely upon satellite for their entertainment, and landlines for their phones and internet

As these households access the Internet through phone lines built upon old copper cables that reduce in quality exponentially along the line – the only option available to these homes is fiber optics. Yet, the reality is that the rural areas of England will just not see this kind of infrastructure and so will not experience the kind of service that I have come to take for granted in my home in Brooklyn for quite some time now.

Yet  again I had to remind myself that this is England! I am staying in a very nice relatively affluent area of England, and there is very little chance now or in the near future of there being an internet connection that would be anywhere close to the level I have in my home in Brooklyn.

After several days of setting up shop in the one WiFi café 15 miles from my cottage and then driving back there in the dead of night in order to participate in online conversations with the rest of my group – I’m left wondering about the rest of the world. If this is my experience in an affluent part of England – how is the rest of the world going to catch up?

 Maybe satellites/ cellular networks will improve to the level that they are able to fill this gap. Maybe it’s a cultural thing – (I do get the feeling that many Brits are waiting to see if the whole ‘internet’ thing is actually going to take off (!)) – And then again, maybe it’s just never going to be a level playing field.

However it turns out – the past few days have been an experiential learning experience that has reached beyond the 1s and 0s. It’s been a reality check that I couldn’t have experienced in any other way. Needing to complete course work for 2 online courses – while not being able to get online has felt at times to be a bit of a cosmic comedy of errors, yet I’m grateful for it.

So here I am – in my misted up car, in the pouring rain, approaching midnight waiting to log on to second life to join the rest of my group for our final presentation. Here I am – scrounging WiFi in all the wrong places!

Grateful for the kind coffee shop owner who gave me his master password so that I could park outside his shop, in the dead of night, and be online with everyone tonight!