the guy by the door …

1. At MIT they say that getting an education there is like getting a
drink from a firehose. [MIT was significant in the invention of the net
- the IMP or primordial router was invented there. ] Getting a drink
from the Web [or it's blogosphere subset] is even harder. Talking
to another person or small group can help. Ordinary Websites are fairly
static. They respond to their visitors in limited controlled
ways.  They are mostly one to many.

2. But Nightline sez, you can talk to people on the net. Yes you can
but each tool has different properties. Blogs are basically one to
many, but they do allow more interaction from visitors.  Forums
are more democratic. E-mail is truly bilateral. They allow more
symmetric communicaton. People have more freedom to attune their
messages to their recipients. BUT all  these tools have a
significant time delay. They are interactive, but not immediate [some
are unsychronized -email, blogs and forums -  IRC is just a bit tedious.]
They are all relatively uninflected e.g. no tone of voice.

3. Face to face exchanges between people are geographically limited.
You have to be there. Face to face is both  interactive [modulo
civility] and immediate. It includes tone of voice and body language.
[Could bilateral video do this? Maybe some day.] The essential skill of
the new age is not to master a specific tool or tools, but to
understand their different limitations and the relationship between
them*. More important is to understand the talents and limitations of
your audience and yourself. And finally the relationship between the
people and the tools. Berkman Center for what?