Just for fun and totally fabricated: ACM’s new president, Wendy Hall, a longtime advocate of e-learning, told me she had a new vision for eLearn Magazine. I flew to London where we met for afternoon tea at the Ritz. Wendy, inspired by the Pope’s makeover of the Vatican’s daily newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, wanted more coverage of the impact of the news on e-learning. “Which US Presidential candidate will most benefit online education?”, she asked, sipping Earl Grey. “Which online course will help me revise my investment plan?” She posed questions faster than I could spoon clotted cream onto my berries. “Which bank bailout plan will help struggling online students? If the Vatican can ‘put a biblical spin on the financial crisis’, you can put an e-learning spin on everything.” My afternoon assignments were to go to the Tate Modern to review new exhibits for the expanded arts section before checking out the best attire for online teaching at Harrods. “Will you take this on?” Wendy asked. “Is the Pope Catholic?” I replied.
Thanks to today’s Wall Street Journal’s article, “Is the Pope’s Newspaper Catholic?”, for inspiration.