Month: March 2018

What does it mean to do faculty development in the open? How is it different than typical faculty development experiences?

For me, faculty development in the open allows me to connect with learners I might not otherwise encounter. My professional development tends to focus on library conferences where I get to talk and network with other librarians and learn about things that are relevant to my day to day work. Faculty development in the open allows me to encounter colleagues from other areas of higher education that I might not otherwise have a chance to meet. We explore issues that are relevant in higher education on a broader scale than any of our respective “day jobs.” I have conversations with economists, literature scholars, education experts, historians, instructional designers, educational technologists and others. We can find connections that cross disciplines, areas of expertise, regions, and even continents. Language barriers are minimized and connections are formed over shared excitement about the possibilities of working in the open. Perhaps even collaborations emerge. I may never meet some of these colleagues face to face, but I feel a kinship having traveled on a journey with my co-learners.

OpenLearning17 and 18 have been rich experiences for me and I look forward to future iterations! I hope you will join us!

This week has been about anxious feelings about new things. New technology, new ideas, it all provokes an anxious feeling. What is enlightening is that on consulting Merriam-Webster for the multiple meanings of anxious, I am reminded that it not only means “characterized by extreme uneasiness of mind or brooding fear about some contingency,” it also means “ardently or earnestly wishing.” That sums it up for me. I feared the failing of technology, or more accurately my ability to understand new technology fully in order to control it, but ah, I also wished for it to work to bring important conversations to others across the Web! Jenny Dale, in our conversation about the Framework for Information Literacy, talked about her anxiety about the document when it first came out, but she also talked with excitement about how she has come to embrace the Framework and even teach others about its usefulness. An anxious feeling isn’t a bad thing, just temporary unease and a hope for understanding.

Trudi Jacobson and Craig Gibson shared the past and future of the Framework in another interview discussed their latest work that connects the Framework to High Impact Practices (HIPs). I detected some ardent wishing in their voices that showed hope of helping others make this connection. Their passion was contagious and I found myself excited about the prospect of exploring these connections. I am eagerly awaiting this month’s issue of RUSQ where their article will appear.

I am anxiously awaiting your blog posts and eager to know whether you enjoyed the selected readings and the interviews!