TV REPLACING BOOKS? 

RECENTLY, I TOLD YOU A BIT ABOUT THE SCOLA PROGRAM AT CREIGHTON UNIVERSITY IN OMAHA, NEBRASKA AND WHAT I RECENTLY SAW THERE.

AT CREIGHTON THEY HAVE 21 SATELLITE DISHES LOOKING AT THE WORLD. WHAT KNOWLEDGE ARE THEY PICKING UP THAT YOUR CHILD ISN'T LEARNING? AND, IF THEY ARE GETTING SOMETHING IMPORTANT WILL YOUR KIDS BE ABLE TO COMPETE WITH THEIR GRADUATES?

TAKE LANGUAGES. THEY ARE LEARNING FRENCH, GERMAN, SPANISH, PORTUGESE, RUSSIAN, ARABIC AND JAPANESE DIRECT FROM THE PEOPLE IN THOSE COUNTRIES. VIA TV NOT FROM BOOKS.

THE SAME CAN APPLY TO ALL LANGUAGES. THINK OF THE INCREASED UNDERSTANDING THAT IS ABSORBED WHEN YOU SEE THE CONTEXT IN WHICH CERTAIN PHRASES ARE USED. THINK HOW MUCH MORE YOU LEARN ABOUT A COUNTRY, BOTH ITS ARCHITECTURE AND ITS COUNTRYSIDE, WHEN YOU CAN SEE IT IN A COLORED MOVING PICTURE THAN MERELY FROM A STATIC BLACK AND WHITE PICTURE IN A BOOK.

THAT'S NOT ALL. TAKE GEOGRAPHY. LIKE ME YOU PROBABLY WERE TAUGHT IT BY A TEACHER WHO HAD NEVER BEEN TO MOST OF THE COUNTRIES SHE OR HE TOLD YOU ABOUT. TODAY YOU CAN LEARN ABOUT A COUNTRY BY ACTUALLY GOING THEIR VIA A TV CAMERA AND HEARING DIRECTLY FROM A CITIZEN OF THAT COUNTRY WHAT IT IS REALLY LIKE.

NO, THINGS ARE CHANGING AND FATHER LEE LUBBERS, A JESUIT PRIEST AT CREIGHTON UNIVERSITY IN OMAHA, NEBRASKA IS CHARGING AHEAD AT THIS CUTTING EDGE OF TECHNOLOGY ON HIS OWN MODERN "MISSION".

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