[Air-l] researchers ???

[ET]

Dr Allen (Matt) wrote...

"What we ended up with is not for me to judge...I think we do well at it, but mostly because we have students *like* ET :)"

struth ! there are more like me around???
How do you people ever get to sleep at night :-)

Anyhow, I would just like to add that I think you ladies and gentlemen at Curtin do an excellent job.
You are providing an opportunity that would otherwise not exist and doing so in a cutting edge environment.
It can not be an easy thing to achieve when the floor beneath you is being constantly moved
by changing technologies.

When I think of the wide variety of ages, experiences and hopes of the people who have been in my "classes"
so far, it really is a sensational set up that you, Matt, and your crew, have put together with Curtin, 
the Open Learning organisation and the WebCT facility.

I wouldnt hesitate for a moment in recommending the course to others, indeed I am always promoting to those
I meet how fantastic it is to actually be able to "study" the internet, rather than just being hostage to it.

Matt also wrote...
"A kind of valuable arts-major in Internet
Studies, embedded in a degree that permitted choice and recognised prior
experience, leading to a professional status, in a field where there are no
'professions'."
I suspect Matt that the commercial world is just waiting for someone to define what an internet researcher is,
and to show it how to use one.
I can imagine a world where internet researchers are a vital part of every large corporate entity - in an
obvious manner.
Lets face it, the commercial opportunities being harvested from the internet today by business are so elementary
when one considers the massive potential.
Anyhow, thats another subject for another day...

Back to the original subject - finally, I must say a big thank you to all those staff who have to put up with me.
Whilst this may surprise many of you AoIRer's who no doubt see me as a calm and relaxed fellow, 
I am actually a very vocal and questioning student and tend not to accept what is put before me at face value.
Sometimes one just has to take a stand - as in the case against Mr Barlow and his declaration, or this business 
about there being a cyberspace or this issue of ethics. 
And not to mention a certain software product that annoyed me with its wrong results last week.
Could I accept a wrong result ? No .... and it only took me 20 hours to pull the log files apart with a spreadsheet and
find the truth, but in the process nearly driving the lecturer mad, again :-)
(I hope you are paying him well)

I have no doubt that the journey in this area has just begun and by drawing in students from around the world with
courses such as yours Matt, your department will be a key player in placing this talent into the major corporations of 
the world as they hungrily venture forth into largely unexplored territory.

see ya
Eero Tarik
Adelaide