It finally occurred to me why I am struggling with the ideas of an online class. Several years ago, I decided not to pursue the medical path anymore. One of the biggest reasons was the idea of objectifying a human being as a mechanism to cope with emotional issues surrounding a doctor and his or her patient. Objectifying a human being? How can we see a body as an object? Sure, I may not be religious, but I still believe that each person is unique in many ways, seperating us from other animals. There's something about human beings that makes me think we're not just a bunch of atoms assembled together in a specific way.
Like the idea of objectifying a human being, I struggle with the thoughts of online teaching because I feel that I am objectifying myself. As I put myself onto an online environment, I feel as if I am digitizing myself. Even if I could have the artificial intelligence of HAL from "2001: A Space Odyssey," I'm still nothing more than an object on a computer screen. I don't consider any website I visit as a human being. Becoming black and white text, videos, or pod casts is the metamorphosis that an instructor will go through to go "online."
I may have to say in the end that there are some people that are meant for that kind of a job. If they can do it, then more power to them. But I don't think that it's within my personal belief and comfort to do such a thing. This may sound double standard, but I am not going to protest or rally an opposition against becoming doctors or online teachers.
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