“What I’ve learned” from this is complicated for me as well, and not all of it is coherent enough to put out here. I am both inspired by and concerned about the prospects of liberal learning, which makes it hard to come up with a cogent precis of where I’ve been and where we all might be headed.
But with so many partially-written posts on my dashboard I decided it was worth at least putting something out there. As you say, it’s a place to start. The real challenge ahead, to my mind is how to fulfill the charge of the collaboratives project to “build capacity and a network of faculty.” Potential abounds.Easy answers, not so much.
Thank you, Gardner for asking me to join this project. I’ve learned so much and hope to carry the experience forward to wherever the next adventure leads us. Thanks so much for your vision and leadership — it’s been absolutely essential and I’m counting on you to carry the beacon for the foreseeable future.
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Comment on Teaching for and in the 21st Century by A. Nelson
Oh, I like the idea of MLK’s Creative Maladjustment! Said, I fear, might be quite a slog for some of the GEDIs. I’m also thinking about Bell Hooks — a couple of the short pieces from Teaching Critical Thinking / Practical Wisdom? More recent and focused on contemporary situation than Freire…Thanks so much for these suggestions.
Comment on Industrial Education in the Information Age by A. Nelson
I would add that we humanists need to use the medium to push back against and begin to reframe the message. We’re good at texts, we’re good at providing and understanding context, we’re good with communication, we’re good at interpretation — walking away from digital platforms that have the potential to amplify what we say and remind people why we matter seems like a self-defeating strategy. I’m in favor not just of rejecting the widgets but of explaining why I’m rejecting which ones, and what I’m using instead.
Comment on Teaching for and in the 21st Century by A. Nelson
Also, just found Alex S’s post (which wasn’t in with the rest of this week’s batch) and will read it after class. And now I’ll stop cluttering up your comment feed.
Comment on Teaching for and in the 21st Century by A. Nelson
Of course Khang found that Godin did indeed still resonate: https://vtgediblog.wordpress.com/2017/04/25/some-valid-points-by-seth-godin/
Comment on Teaching for and in the 21st Century by A. Nelson
Ok. I’m convinced. What’s a good alternative to Godin for this week?
Comment on Teaching for and in the 21st Century by A. Nelson
I must admit that my own feelings about Stop Stealing Dreams have shifted a bit recently as well. I still believe that networked digital environments and the participatory cultures of the web offer invaluable leverage to our innate dispositions as social learners. But I also find myself increasingly on the back foot defending the prerogatives afforded by content expertise and experience in the classroom. And when I’m feeling that way Seth Godin can come across as yet another of the teaching as high-tech business gurus. Which is why Parker Palmer is there — he balances out Godin with a summons to engage with passion, to hone the kinds of social intelligence and empathy we need to succeed (meaning be forces of light and good — not make tons of money) in what is ultimately a vocation. Now more than ever, that’s a tough position to adopt, but the imperative to do so is urgent.
Comment on The Attention Span of 140 Characters or Less by A. Nelson
I think Rachel makes a really important point — that as teachers we need to put ourselves in our students’ shoes when possible and adjust our approach accordingly. I’m also a big fan of the mid-semester evaluation of our learning community — giving students the opportunity to tell me what’s working, what’s not, and make suggestions for what they would like to work on always helps it seems. I do also think that especially in the humanities (and probably the social sciences as well), cultivating dispositions for reading in different modes — short, easy, long, complicated, etc. will always be a critical part of our brief. Students do arrive somewhat underprepared in this regard, but that’s what college is for — to build on and develop what’s there and inspire curiosity for more.
Comment on Attention and Multi-Tasking by A. Nelson
Thanks for that reminder! I agree — for sustained focus work I will always go to print. I love the “social reading” experience of Hypothes.is, but will always prefer the physical text when I’m working independently.
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Comment on “Shall we accept the change that caused by the Internet?” vs “Shall we accept that the change is caused by ourselves?” by A. Nelson
Please do! I’m especially interested in his argument about agriculture as being a Faustian bargain where we traded quality of life (and low population density) for a lower quality of life (for most people) and higher population density.
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