Has it been demonstrated that distance learning is as effective as face-to-face learning? This paper, proposing a “three circle” model of postsecondary education, argues that measurable competence, though a central component of education, is not in itself an adequate indicator of educational effectiveness. The model, supported by research into educational effects, is discussed in relation to the distinction between semantic memory and episodic memory, and in relation to the role of context in memory. Analysis of a widely-cited summary of 248 studies comparing distance learning and face-to-face learning concludes that these studies, which generally fail to go beyond measurable competence, and fail as well to support the newer interactive technologies commonly associated with distance learning, do not support any transfer of postsecondary education from the classroom to the screen. The limitations of distance learning are discussed in relation to their broader social implications.

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Responding to evidence of a steep decline in the reading of poetry, this article advocates a set of broad principles for poetry teaching that address the aesthetic function and materiality of poetry, and argues for a dialectic relationship in the poetry classroom between thoughtful analysis and interpretive freedom.

This essay argues that presence—the condition of being fully present in the classroom to students and to oneself—is an essential element in good teaching. The essay identifies major obstacles to presence and explores means of achieving it.

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