For the first time Thursday, Mike Boettcher saw the University of Oklahoma students he'd taught for a whole semester.
Boettcher co-taught his class, War and Media, from the war zone in Iraq and Afghanistan via online satellite uplink this past fall. His students could see him, but he only heard their voices or corresponded with them on e-mail.
The class was the first of its kind at OU and probably in the world. Boettcher taught the class every Thursday from the war zone, while the stateside teaching on Tuesdays was co-led by Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication Dean Joe Foote and Zach Messitte, vice provost for international programs at OU.
Boettcher, an OU alumnus, pitched the class to Foote before he left for the war zone. The class coincides with a project Boettcher recently launched to produce better coverage of the war.
Boettcher reported on wars for 28 years as a broadcast journalist for CNN and NBC. But he became frustrated with the way the U.S. media covered war, wanting to provide more faithful coverage.
Starting in July 2008, he and his 21-year-old son, Carlos, imbedded with the U.S. troops for 15 months -- the same amount of time as a soldier's deployment.
Their reports are available free of charge on their Web site, NoIgnoring.com.
Boettcher ran into some hitches, especially since it was a small nonprofit without a lot of resources.
"We hit some terrible technical problems," he said.
But when Boettcher returns to the war zone, he said the project will relaunch better than ever. One of the major news networks will be picking up No Ignoring's coverage, he said.
Boettcher returned to the states this week and will go back to Iraq in two weeks to pick up his son. Then they'll travel to Afghanistan to report there.
Boettcher said it's been hard returning to the U.S.
"It's been a huge adjustment, because I've been so focused on the war ... and I come home and everybody's talking about the economy," he said. That's understandable, he said, but there are still 140,000 troops in the war zone.
Boettcher said he is glad he taught the class, adding that he would like to teach journalism at OU in the future. The class last semester helped keep Boettcher centered, he said.
Every Thursday was a challenge to find a spot with a satellite uplink. He said he would sometimes be in a remote location and have to make several helicopter jumps to get to a good place for the class.
Boettcher adds that this was a great experience. I personally believe this is truly what education is supposed to be like. A geniune experience and real world experiences. The whole University should be in gratitude for such a courageous teacher and his efforts toward enhancing education and the way lessons are taught.
