Blending the "Old China Trade"

     For the next few weeks, we will be taking a different tack in thinking about the "Old China Trade," focusing more on pedagogy. In conjunction with a course on blended learning entitled BlendKit2012 (http://blended.online.ucf.edu), offered by Dr. Kelvin Thompson and Dr. Linda Futchhe out of the University of Central Florida (highly recommended), the blog will explore some strategies for teaching the "Old China Trade" in a blended or hybrid course. Some of this will incorporate responses to the BlendKit literature, while other postings will experiment with several technologies and strategies for introducing ideas and prompting reflection. At this point, I imagine that the journey is not unlike the some of the ad hoc voyages in which our China and Indies traders engaged: sailing from port to port, mixing cargoes, searching for resources that might bring some profit, and, overall, constantly adapting to the unknown.