Weekly Dispatch: November 7, 2022

Each week, the Dispatch provides suggestions about what to focus your attention on. You may use it as a kind of weekly syllabus, with a suggested topic to explore, resource to read and annotate, questions to answer, and activities to complete. However, you should also feel free to deviate as you like from the suggestions; we want your participation in this module to reflect your own goals and interests.

We encourage you to choose at least one “engagement” a day: join a conversation by responding to a question, complete an activity and share it in your portfolio, or choose a resource to read and annotate

We are now entering week two of the module. It’s great to see everyone engaging online and thinking about their teaching across different modalities. We’ve focussed a lot so far on our pre-conceived notions and biases, this week we’ll be turning our attention to thinking more clearly about the different affordances of different formats.

Remember, this dispatch can serve as a guide as you determine the best way to engage each day, but you should always feel free to explore in any direction that makes sense for you. Also, keep in mind that you can always post a new question to the group on the Questions page, if there’s a particular topic you’d like to discuss more.

Topic in Focus

Affordances and Possibilities

This week, we’re turning our attention to thinking about the affordances and possibilities of different teaching modalities. How can we avoid a “deficit” mindset when we’re thinking about teaching in different formats, instead focusing on what works well, is uniquely effective, or offers us new opportunities within our classes?

Suggested Resources

The “Group” reading from this week is an excerpt from a recently published book about online learning (you’ll need to be logged into this site with your DF account to access/annotate the reading). It’s a longer piece but does a fantastic job of pushing our thinking about how we can consider online as a format of its own — as opposed to something “other” than face-to-face. (If you find it interesting, the entire ebook is available through Lamson Library for PSU users.)

The other suggested readings provide a range of perspectives on teaching in different contexts and for different audiences. Make sure you’ve chosen at least one “Choice” reading to read/annotate before the week is over!

What Comes Next: Redefining “Normal” in the Post-Pandemic Classroom

Schwartz, Jeff

Discovering natural classrooms

Heidebrink-Bruno, Adam

Quality Theater

Quinn, Jerrod

Dissolving the Dichotomies Between Online and Campus-Based Teaching: a Collective Response to The Manifesto for Teaching Online

Bayne et al

The Manifesto for Teaching Online

Bayne, et.al

Suggested Activities

In “Let’s Get Ven” you’ll have an opportunity to map out the differences and overlaps among different formats. “Rules of the Room” encourages you to think about how your own experiences in online communities can teach you something about online course design.