Friday, October 19, 2007

Online debate

The Economist is hosting an online debate in the spirit of Oxford-style debate. The online variant is
1. the debate is no longer a team sport. Each side is represented by ONE speaker only.
2. There are three chances to advance the case (just like the traditional debate) but are published at the same time.
3. The floor are welcome to comment and vote at any time. Comment should be addressed to the moderator. [The website is not explicit whether the debaters are able to see the comment at real time.]
4. The final result is determined by the votes.

The first debate is on "he continuing introduction of new technologies and new media adds little to the quality of most education". The proposition is Sir John Daniel, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Commonwealth of Learning and the opposition is Dr Robert Kozma, Emeritus Director and Principal Scientist at SRI International.

Schedule of events

Oct 15th: Proposition revealed. Debate begins.

Oct 18th: Rebuttals posted.

Oct 23rd: Closing arguments.

Oct 26th: Final winner announced.

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