Sometimes
Flesh Matters. by Dr. Stuart Blythe
My wife and I live across the Atlantic Ocean from our parents and adult children. Therefore, for us, communication technology is a gift. Through social media and communication platforms, such as Skype, we are able to keep in touch regularly and cheaply. We can talk, message, and see one another. We can share information, audibly, and visually. The flexibility means we can easily negotiate time differences. As we expressed on social media at Christmas: “Technology is wonderful.” Yet when we part at airports, we hold, hug, and at times shed a few tears, for we will not “see” one another for at least several months. We will not be together. We will miss one another. Technology helps us keep in touch. But the nature of our relationships will be different. We will be apart. We will be distant. It is simply not the same, talking to a loved one on Skype, as it is
physically sharing time and space with them. In some situations, there can be a compensation for the lack of, but no substitute for, embodied presence. I recently taught a course with three virtual seats. That is, three students joined virtually on-screen in our high quality “Zoom rooms” where other students were physically present. In various ways, I sought to include these virtual students fully. I tried to remember to look at the camera as well as around the room when presenting. With the help of my teaching assistant, I included in-class students with the virtual seat students in online Zoom break out rooms. I addressed the virtual seat students directly. We negotiated how they would deliver their sermons in a meaningful way to allow peer feedback. Indeed, the technology meant I was able to listen, evaluate, and give feedback on sixteen
sermons in a reasonable time frame. I heard some live and watched some recorded in a group managed by my teaching assistant. For the students, the virtual seat option minimized the costs and time of travel, which might otherwise have prohibited them from taking the course. Technology gives. Yet, technology also takes away. I was not able to quickly improvise with in-class practical activities, move rooms, or take the class for a coffee. On the last day, I could not share the donuts I had bought with the virtual seat students. These are perhaps small prices to pay but pay them we did. While writing this article, I watched a recording of me preaching at an event. Although watching yourself can be a bit awkward, it is also very instructive about the medium. What is apparent is the recording of a sermon does not make ... continued on page 4 Spring 2020
3
