Page 53 - Campus Technology, January/February 2019

C-Level View
CT: Do you have another striking example of an opportunity for faculty to gain insight into their teaching and learning?
Campbell: I think it’s very important for faculty to be in networks with each other, and I don’t mean just the kind of “networking opportunities” that a faculty club or conferences represent, important though these are. I mean that faculty should be engaged in connected learning from and with each other, in an openly networked environment that is public- facing, multimedia friendly and richly hyperlinked.
For example, as part of the AAC&U Faculty Collaboratives program with administration by the State Council of Higher Education in Virginia, I recently helped to lead two iterations
of a connectivist MOOC: “Open Learning ’17” and “Open Learning ’18”. These learning experiences were designed
to foster connected learning, the interest-driven and openly networked kind of learning pioneered by Dr. Mimi Ito as part of the MacArthur Digital Media and Learning initiative.
Because faculty are so busy, we emphasized asynchronous activities such as blogging and tweeting, while also making synchronous activities such as Google Hangouts and Twitter chats available as persistent resources after the events were
over. The whole idea was to create a rich environment not only of resources but also of connections — and even more important, connectability. We adopted the mantra of “the network is the deliverable.”
Of course, the character and scope of development
varied across individuals, and as with all such development opportunities, not everyone who began the experience was able to stick with it all the way to the end. All of that said, however, I think the program offered faculty the chance
to blend professional and technological development in a supportive, collegial environment that was inter-institutional and devoted to the ideals of “mind-liberating education.” (That last phrase is Susan Albertine’s — Susan was the AAC&U leader in charge of the Faculty Collaboratives initiative and a great mentor and booster of our Open Learning experiment.)
Some of our participants were almost completely new to the idea of networked learning. One in particular described her journey as “from novice to node,” recognizing that what she had learned was how to be an effective node within a network, receiving and creating and sharing knowledge and practices across time and space with colleagues across the U.S. and as far away as Cairo, Egypt. You can read her story online. And for a look at the networked development
environment itself, visit our “innovation hub.” We hope to run another iteration of this learning experience in the spring of 2019, with our novice-to-node 2017 participant, Sue Erickson, as director.
As we’ve noted, insight is the act and practice of making connections. And insight isn’t limited to the generation of concepts or abstractions. The act and practice of insight can also strengthen powers of judgment and help individuals make better decisions with a fuller awareness of the principles and values that inform those decisions.
CT: You’ve shown us that faculty development programs may reflect an awareness of core values — not just the immediate need for a bit of technical knowledge. They can give faculty the space for insight and ample time for the consideration of higher purposes. Can faculty development be “purposeful”?
Campbell: I think it must be. Amidst the many purposes it serves, faculty development must remain mindful of the meaning of “professor”: one who values, and by example celebrates, a profession built on intense study, thoughtfulness and insight.
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CAMPUS TECHNOLOGY | January/February 2019