In a conversation today about the difficulty of convincing colleagues of the utility of technology-enabled teaching and a multiplicity of pedagogical approaches, and the concern that the people at Faculty Academy are often the people who have already bought into these notions, one person observed, “We may be preaching to the choir, but the choir’s getting larger.”
I was taken aback for a moment, but then I realized he was right. Just look at the program for the Academy and you can see an impressive array of departments, ideas, pedagogies, and interests, all who add their voices to the mix.
I would add to that (if I can take the metaphor a step further) that I suspect that the larger choir and its members have never been more in sync with the others in the choir, never more engaged with each other as teachers and scholars, never more able eager to see what others are working on, never been more ready to embrace teaching as a perpetual beta.
[Why now? I suspect it’s a confluence of larger trends such as easier-to-use web tools, the rise of digital public learning spaces, and a willingness of students to engage in these online conversations/creations, as well as local strengths such as leadership, infrastructure and support, and the tech evangelism of a key group of people.]
Where do we go from here? Why, back for Day Two of Faculty Academy, of course!
As a new member to this “choir”, this is my first ever post on a blog. I have some fears and anxiety over what happens to this comment once I click submit, but I felt compelled to overcome this fear and respond to you comment on the difficulty of convincing colleagues to use technology in the classroom. For me, I can say that the main barrier to using technology has been a lack of the most basic knowledge on the technologies available. I heard this same comment from your TLT fellows in the opening session. Some had vague ideas of project, some had none, all changed and shaped projects based on the training they received, all commented that they will still need help from the TLT staff as they implement their projects. Without such training, I basically don’t know where to start. The faculty academy seems like a good place to start, but I have found that most discussions and talks I attended assume some basic knowledge and quickly went over my head. I feel that perhaps I belong in the remedial faculty academy. Don’t get me wrong, I am glad to be here. I have seen and heard a lot of amazing things. I am excited about the use of technology in my future. I would, however, suggest that one way to get more colleagues like myself to use technology, is to provide some more basic information. For example, I would LOVE to attend a workshop where I bring my laptop and learn step-by-step how to set up a web page, or how to begin a blog, or why is a blog different from a wiki, or what is del.ico.us, or… well, maybe you get the idea.
Deborah,
Welcome to the choir! Are you an alto or soprano?
We would be *very* happy to work with you on the basic knowledge you mention. In fact, if you grab one of us at Faculty Academy, I bet we can get you started!
Martha
Deborah,
You make it sound like you’re different from the rest of the choir. You’re not… really. A couple years ago, I was in the same situation as you. All that is necessary is a willingness to learn. The IT staff is happy to take you from where you are to where you want to be–even if you don’t know where that is yet. Sometimes, they’ve shown me a tech tool and I’ve gotten an idea for how I might be able to use it in the classroom. Sometimes, I’ve had an idea for what I wanted to accomplish pedagogically, and the ITS’ found me a tool to do that. Many people consider me fairly experienced at using IT, but I never do any of these things without interacting with our ITS’. Why would I when they’re the professionals?
Ringing in as one of the more recent additions to the band(wagon), I found myself thinking yesterday that it would be great to have a central site (or do we?) where colleagues from different departments can find links to the new (and ongoing) course blogs and wiki’s and projects (e.g. Marjorie’s Venice project) as they are underway. It’d be great for a creative conversation across disciplines as well as of IT, among other things…