Rhymes of History
“History may not repeat itself, but it sure does rhyme a lot
(Laureate Education, 2009).”
In this week’s module, Dr. Thornburg discusses what he calls
rhymes of history. I have always heard
the saying that history repeats itself, but after listening to Dr. Thornburg describe
rhymes of history, I am more inclined to buy into this philosophy. “The affect of an innovation can rekindle
interactions and activities from the past (Laureate Education, 2009).” In his presentation, Dr. Thornburg gives
several examples of how past historical innovations are mirrored in today’s
society (Laureate Education, 2009). One
of the examples is the way in which some developing countries get the e-mails. A traveling gentlemen would go from city to
city with a cart that provides an internet connection. The villagers would come to the cart and check
their e-mail and the gentlemen would travel to the next city. This is very reminiscent of the way ancient
cities would use runners to send messages.
One of the rhymes of history that I relate to is the concept
of the pen pal and foreign exchange students. When I was in school, many of my
teachers implemented the use of pen pals or foreign exchange students. Through that process, we were able to get to
know individuals of different cultures and backgrounds. We would write to them and tell them what we
learned in school, what our interests are and the customs of our society. Many times, we would send pictures that
accompanied our letters. When I got into
high school, I participated in a foreign exchange program. My parents did not allow me to go overseas,
but we did have a student from England come and stay with us for a few
days.
There are so many things that simulate the pen pal
relationships of the past. For example,
in terms of education, many individuals are participating and collaborating
with other students all over the world. We
are able to see each other with our laptop cameras and we are able to exchange
ideas and share our cultures. This also
reminds me of our desire to connect with people. There are many relationships where people
from different countries meet. Cultures
are being shared as many people go to online dating websites to meet people of
different nationalities. Our desire to
understand people of other cultures is a rhyme of history, we may not use pen
pals in the traditional sense, but have modified how we met people who do not
live in the same time zone.
Laureate Education, Inc. (2009). Rhymes of history.
Baltimore, MD: Author.
In High School, I also remember being able to participate in the Pen Pal program. Today, students can participate in a similar web based program called E-Pals.
ReplyDeleteThanks... I have used E-Pals before and somehow forgot to mention it in my post. Thank you.
DeleteMemories of pen pals. I believe that social networking has rekindled pen pals. Through social networking sites, we are able to meet, connect, and communicate with people all of the world in real time. Much faster than writing letters but more expensive for the Internet connection needed to use those social networking sites.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct, I never took into consideration the cost of having the internet connection. Ironically, I almost think of it as a free luxury. That is a very good point. The cost of a stamp is much cheaper than the cost of paying for internet every month.
DeleteI remember pen pals. Now, social networking was different in those days. I believe by connecting students to see other culture bring a level of cultural influence and present that we are all connected on this globe.
ReplyDeleteI do like the ability for students to learn from each other and share experiences. Thank you for your comments.
DeleteBrittany,
ReplyDeleteIts amazing the change in how we communicate with others around the world in the past 20 years. I agree that pen pals is an excellent example of the rhymes of history. Today, this would take place by email or even Skype. The major decrease in the delay of time for messages to be received does change the element of anticipation for this type of communication. It reinforces the idea that we want and need information more quickly today than ever before.
John