I remembered to “tag” two annotations which I posted to the Hypothes.is website, but to make sure you see them, I’ll repeat them below, as well as my initial observations on them.
It’s interesting to compare the 2011 and 2015 statements. Both include “Online teaching should not be downgraded into ‘facilitation’,” but only the 2015 statement includes “A digital assignment can live on. It can be iterative, public, risky, and multivoiced.” As we become more skilled in mastering supportive digital technologies, we will deepen the communicative powers of teaching and learning in both conventional classrooms and online courses.
The 2011 statement “Assessment is a creative crisis as much as it is a statement of knowledge” was changed in 2015 to “Assessment is an act of interpretation, not just measurement.” I wonder if ALL assessments are acts of interpretation–when applied to learning experiences in both a conventional classroom and in an online course. The challenge for both teachers and learners is to compare notes about standards and expectations, so that they can both accept the assessment report as valid and fair, and so they can both benefit from the assessment process.
To elaborate a bit, I noticed that Al Davis has been lecturing to University audiences about WordPress for six years, and he mentioned that he was among the first. I’m a relative newcomer to WordPress, although my sons–all three programmers–were full of praise for me when I organized my small business website in 2002.Just imagine the skills my 12-year-old grandson, who has been programming since he was 5 years old, will have when he starts his first job!
In my worldview course I stress the importance of habits, not only for the development of skills but also for the development of character. For me, learning the ins and outs of the WordPress website development tool is a daunting undertaking. Perhaps I won’t live long enough to notice how my newly acquired habits have become so automatic that I can notice that my very being has been transformed by them. But I have no doubt that my grandson will be a different person when he enters the workforce because of his childhood habits in navigating his digital environment.
Perhaps I’m a bit old-fashioned, but I’d say that at least for next decade or two, all good schools and universities will continue to use both face-to-face and online modes for teaching and learning. Hopefully, what is learned in each mode will carry over into what’s experienced in the other. Used together, they can be powerful vehicles for forging teachers and learners into a community of leaders while giving everyone a growing number of opportunities for open expression and creative innovation. Our experience at MA Lead with both modes has made us into a great community of learners and leaders, and our future looks bright indeed!