Please could you take a look at my assignment ideas and give me some pointers.
What is good, bad and potentially very ugly?
Thanks Ruth
How can digital environments shape a community of learners?
I’m quite interested in exploring the rhizomic learning experiences that can occur in digital environments. Which, I suppose, is more about the structure of learning experiences than about the community per se, although it could be said that the community and shared learning experiences are entwined and in turn affect personal learning experiences. I’m concerned that a lack of focus on community might mean that I am deviating from the assignment topic. How broadly can we explore the given topics?
What is the role of the teacher in an increasingly automated online educational landscape?
This is the topic that has taken up a lot of my time over the past few weeks. The role of the teacher, since I am a teacher, interests me full stop. I have been inspired by the work of Gert Biesta and his challenge to both the learnerfication of the language of education and our current obsession with measurement.
I couldn’t begin to discuss a response to this topic without exploring the purpose of education. Which I am concerned is a really huge topic to address at my tender stage of academic development! Purpose opens up a lot of critical posthumanist or transhumanist avenues that I could explore. I find that prospect quite exciting.
After identifying a purpose, I could think about the role, or rather roles of the teacher that could benefit from automation and those that might not. This would necessitate a practical discussion about the aspects of the job that could be automated. This direction doesn’t really move me.
However, I enjoyed exploring the extreme transhumanist educational futures partly because I find the whole idea of them so utterly repellent and even more repellant is the fact that in the current commoditisation of education (which you mentioned in your response to my earlier blog post) they are a good fit. So I would to like to expand my thinking there. I would have to explore what automation means in this sense. One could argue that it is not necessarily all about teacherbots and AI, but could include any technology that reduces the need for human input.
How has openness affected the digital education landscape?
This has drawn a bit of a blank, primarily because it only up for discussion in the next couple of weeks.
Who benefits from digital education? and Is technology neutral?
I would like to explore the political nature of these questions. As I mentioned, I was very taken by Langdon Winner and his thoughts on the political nature of technology. There is also lots of issues surrounding inclusivity (of lack thereof) in education that could be explored. Again, the commoditisation of education comes up. Transhumanist themes could also be explored here.
For your first assignment option, you’d need to clearly frame what you’re meaning by community in this instance (or rather the environment/ community interface). The ideas around the ‘community is the curriculum’ may be helpful here (see https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/rhizomatic-learning-0 and the work of Dave Cormier – http://davecormier.com/edblog/).
The topic of automation is a fascinating one particularly with the transhumanist perspective you mention. Again, starting the assignment by stating that this is how you’re tackling the question will be very helpful.
On the who benefits question, again, you could take lots of different approaches but may be focusing on one key theme such as inclusivity is useful.
I hope that helps and any further questions, please let me know.