We are both preparing talks. Next Wednesday, I will be online talking about "Media for Personal Education". In late October, Lynn will be online talking about our trip to Cuba. In the past ten years, talks were in a classroom on the UWSP campus. These talks that we are now preparing will be in our office in front of our computer monitors.
"Media for Personal Education" developed from questions related to book discussion groups. Our local learning-in-retirement group is used to one-shot talks on a wide variety of subjects but some people are members of book discussion groups that meet every so often to discuss a book the group has each read. So, the practice of meeting monthly to discuss a book previously announced developed. Then, the question arose "What about discussing podcasts and online videos?"
Books are one medium but modern librarians deal with several. Lynn wrote her PhD dissertation about new developments in libraries that housed media that didn't exist in old libraries, like films, software programs and today's apps, and sound recordings such as "podcasts" and audiobooks.
We went to Cuba on a Road Scholar/Elderhostel program, mostly because Lynn's maternal grandmother was born and raised there. The trip began in Santiago and we bused slowly thru several cities to the other end of the 700 mile long island to the capital, Havana.
Many professors around the country are developing materials and procedures to allow students to participate in college and graduate school courses without attending a large group gathering. Our local learning-in-retirement organization ("Life") is doing the same thing. A popular program for an online class or group meeting is Zoom and that is what we will use to present our talks.
