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Ed Webb

The academy's neoliberal response to COVID-19: Why faculty should be wary and how we can push back - Academic Matters - 1 views

academicmatters.ca/eoliberal-response-to-covid-19

Canada education online neoliberalism capitalism opinion analysis pandemics

shared by Ed Webb on 29 May 20 - No Cached
  • In the neoliberal economy, workers are seen as commodities and are expected to be trained and “work-ready” before they are hired. The cost and responsibility for job-training fall predominantly on individual workers rather than on employers. This is evident in the expectation that work experience should be a condition of hiring. This is true of the academic hiring process, which no longer involves hiring those who show promise in their field and can be apprenticed on the tenure track, but rather those with the means, privilege, and grit to assemble a tenurable CV on their own dime and arrive to the tenure track work-ready.
  • The assumption that faculty are pre-trained, or able to train themselves without additional time and support, underpins university directives that faculty move classes online without investing in training to support faculty in this shift. For context, at the University of Waterloo, the normal supports for developing an online course include one to two course releases, 12-18 months of preparation time, and the help of three staff members—one of whom is an online learning consultant, and each of whom supports only about two other courses. Instead, at universities across Canada, the move online under COVID-19 is not called “online teaching” but “remote teaching”, which universities seem to think absolves them of the responsibility to give faculty sufficient technological training, pedagogical consultation, and preparation time.
  • faculty are encouraged to strip away the transformative pedagogical work that has long been part of their profession and to merely administer a course or deliver course material
  • ...19 more annotations...
  • remote teaching directives are rooted in the assumption that faculty are equally positioned to carry them out
  • The dual delivery model—in which some students in a course come to class and others work remotely using pre-recorded or other asynchronous course material—is already part of a number of university plans for the fall, even though it requires vastly more work than either in-person or remote courses alone. The failure to accommodate faculty who are not well positioned to transform their courses from in-person to remote teaching—or some combination of the two— will actively exacerbate existing inequalities, marking a step backward for equity.
  • Neoliberal democracy is characterized by competitive individualism and centres on the individual advocacy of ostensibly equal citizens through their vote with no common social or political goals. By extension, group identity and collective advocacy are delegitimized as undemocratic attempts to gain more of a say than those involved would otherwise have as individuals.
  • Portraying people as atomized individuals allows social problems to be framed as individual failures
  • faculty are increasingly encouraged to see themselves as competitors who must maintain a constant level of productivity and act as entrepreneurs to sell ideas to potential investors in the form of external funding agencies or private commercial interests. Rather than freedom of enquiry, faculty research is increasingly monitored through performance metrics. Academic governance is being replaced by corporate governance models while faculty and faculty associations are no longer being respected for the integral role they play in the governance process, but are instead considered to be a stakeholder akin to alumni associations or capital investors.
  • treats structural and pedagogical barriers as minor individual technical or administrative problems that the instructor can overcome simply by watching more Zoom webinars and practising better self-care.
  • In neoliberal thought, education is merely pursued by individuals who want to invest in skills and credentials that will increase their value in the labour market.
  • A guiding principle of neoliberal thought is that citizens should interact as formal equals, without regard for the substantive inequalities between us. This formal equality makes it difficult to articulate needs that arise from historical injustices, for instance, as marginalized groups are seen merely as stakeholders with views equally valuable to those of other stakeholders. In the neoliberal university, this notion of formal equality can be seen, among other things, in the use of standards and assessments, such as teaching evaluations, that have been shown to be biased against instructors from marginalized groups, and in the disproportionate amount of care and service work that falls to these faculty members.
  • Instead of discussing better Zoom learning techniques, we should collectively ask what teaching in the COVID-19 era would look like if universities valued education and research as essential public goods.
  • while there are still some advocates for the democratic potential of online teaching, there are strong criticisms that pedagogies rooted in well-established understandings of education as a collective, immersive, and empowering experience, through which students learn how to deliberate, collaborate, and interrogate established norms, cannot simply be transferred online
  • Humans learn through narrative, context, empathy, debate, and shared experiences. We are able to open ourselves up enough to ask difficult questions and allow ourselves to be challenged only when we are able to see the humanity in others and when our own humanity is recognized by others. This kind of active learning (as opposed to the passive reception of information) requires the trust, collectivity, and understanding of divergent experiences built through regular synchronous meetings in a shared physical space. This is hindered when classroom interaction is mediated through disembodied video images and temporally delayed chat functions.
  • When teaching is reduced to content delivery, faculty become interchangeable, which raises additional questions about academic freedom. Suggestions have already been made that the workload problem brought on by remote teaching would be mitigated if faculty simply taught existing online courses designed by others. It does not take complex modelling to imagine a new normal in which an undergraduate degree consists solely of downloading and memorizing cookie-cutter course material uploaded by people with no expertise in the area who are administering ten other courses simultaneously. 
  • when teaching is reduced to content delivery, intellectual property takes on additional importance. It is illegal to record and distribute lectures or other course material without the instructor’s permission, but universities seem reluctant to confirm that they will not have the right to use the content faculty post online. For instance, if a contract faculty member spends countless hours designing a remote course for the summer semester and then is laid off in the fall, can the university still use their recorded lectures and other material in the fall? Can the university use this recorded lecture material to continue teaching these courses if faculty are on strike (as happened in the UK in 2018)? What precedents are being set? 
  • Students’ exposure to a range of rigorous thought is also endangered, since it is much easier for students to record and distribute course content when faculty post it online. Some websites are already using the move to remote teaching as an opportunity to urge students to call out and shame faculty they deem to be “liberal” or “left” by reposting their course material. To avoid this, faculty are likely to self-censor, choosing material they feel is safer. Course material will become more generic, which will diminish the quality of students’ education.
  • In neoliberal thought, the public sphere is severely diminished, and the role of the university in the public sphere—and as a public sphere unto itself—is treated as unnecessary. The principle that enquiry and debate are public goods in and of themselves, regardless of their outcome or impact, is devalued, as is the notion that a society’s self-knowledge and self-criticism are crucial to democracy, societal improvement, and the pursuit of the good life. Expert opinion is devalued, and research is desirable only when it translates into gains for the private sector, essentially treating universities as vehicles to channel public funding into private research and development. 
  • The free and broad pursuit—and critique—of knowledge is arguably even more important in times of crisis and rapid social change.
  • Policies that advance neoliberal ideals have long been justified—and opposition to them discredited—using Margaret Thatcher’s famous line that “there is no alternative.” This notion is reproduced in universities framing their responses to COVID-19 as a fait accompli—the inevitable result of unfortunate circumstances. Yet the neoliberal assumptions that underpin these responses illustrate that choices are being made and force us to ask whether the emergency we face necessitates this exact response.
  • The notion that faculty can simply move their courses online—or teach them simultaneously online and in person—is rooted in the assumption that educating involves merely delivering information to students, which can be done just as easily online as it can be in person. There are many well-developed online courses, yet all but the most ardent enthusiasts concede that the format works better for some subjects and some students
  • Emergencies matter. Far from occasions that justify suspending our principles, the way that we handle the extra-ordinary, the unexpected, sends a message about what we truly value. While COVID-19 may seem exceptional, university responses to this crisis are hardly a departure from the neoliberal norm, and university administrations are already making plans to extend online teaching after it dissipates. We must be careful not to send the message that the neoliberal university and the worldview that underpins it are acceptable.
Ed Webb

Seventy-One Stories About Being Trans in School - 0 views

grace.substack.com/...-one-stories-about-being-trans

LGBT LGBTQ education college colleges universities university

shared by Ed Webb on 18 Jul 19 - Cached
  • (a) some of the biggest challenges trans students face are infrastructural, both bricks-and-mortar structures (the housing of trans students; bathroom facilities), and digital architecture (course information software, transcripts, diplomas and email databases all routinely misidentify students);(b) an overwhelming majority of students and graduates described the experience of being misgendered and/or deadnamed by their professors as an extremely common experience.
  • I do think there’s real value in hearing stories of what it feels like to be misgendered or deadnamed
  • Anti-trans academics who claim that their rights are being infringed are heard far more frequently in the mainstream media than are the students who are apparently doing the infringing.
  • ...10 more annotations...
  • academic freedom is a value of deep institutional importance to the independence of the University from entrenched power. Free speech demands no such institutional defense, and is rightly deprioritized when in conflict with other interests such as equity of access to education, or the health and wellbeing of students
  • To listen to trans students and graduates is to be sure that, whatever the British gender critical academics argue, the training of the professoriate on this issue is woefully inadequate
  • Many trans and non-binary students reported challenges finding built environments where they could feel safe at college. “They keep housing me with men,” wrote one trans woman; another trans woman reported that, despite being roomed with “transphobic students,” her administrators “weren’t, in general, willing to cut me a whole lot of slack because I hadn’t legally changed my gender marker.” A trans man reported being “placed on an all-girls floor even though I stated clearly on my housing form that I’m a trans guy.” Another student described the non-accommodation of trans students as an official policy: “my school matches roommate based on assigned sex, and refuses to accommodate trans students.”
  • Many students wrote with great enthusiasm about LGBTQ support centers on campus, which provide trans students with community and guidance. One writes that “younger uni empoyees and employees who were queer or allies were actually pretty great”; another says “the campus LGBT centers at two of the institutions where I experienced […] discrimination were amazing”; another writes that “the gender equality center is really working to help students and we have queer profs and Pride programming.” Another describes the vibe at the LGBTQ center as “quite tumblr but very supportive.” Students reported valuing the opportunity to invite speakers and guests themselves, though some report a wish that more resources for such programming were available.
  • A number of students wrote to express their dismay at the poverty of counselling resources for trans students
  • A large majority of respondents – close to all - explicitly reported experiences with “deadnaming” and “misgendering” by their academic advisors – their professors and mentors. Some of these instances were “deliberate,” “malicious,” “continued,” or “transphobic,” while others were merely “ignorant” or “accidental.” One respondent reported having been taught by two kinds of teacher: “profs who never asked for pronouns and always misgendered me, and profs who asked for pronouns but would still misgender me every time and apologize every time under the guise of ‘trying their best’.”
  • Sometimes being misgendered at a key moment in one’s school career throws students into emotional disarray at an inopportune moment.
  • colleges and universities are failing to establish adequate infrastructure for trans and non-binary students (especially in respect of digital architecture, which perhaps receives less attention than bricks-and-mortar)
  • staff and faculty, far from being the mindwiped drones of the gender critical academics’ fantasy, are mostly pretty incompetent at addressing and discussing trans students
  • I have a responsibility as a teacher to ensure minimum standards of care and equitable access to education for all my trans students, but also that I have a responsibility to push back against those institutional disincentives
Walter Antoniotti

Student Personal Finance - 3 views

Students Personal Finance Internet Library has learning materials for students of all ages, parents, and teachers. http://www.textbooksfree.org/Students%20Personal%20Finance%20Internet%20Library.htm

administrator all_teachers edublogger curriculum math elementary edu_newapp middleschool

started by Walter Antoniotti on 18 Jul 17 no follow-up yet
Vicki Davis

5 Ways to Promote Student Agency - Cooper on Curriculum - 0 views

www.rosscoops31.com/...agency

student agency curriculum curriculum_director administrator professionaldevelopment edu_trends 5ideafriday

shared by Vicki Davis on 05 Jul 17 - No Cached
  • Vicki Davis on 05 Jul 17
     
    Ross Cooper talks about how his school is promoting student agency based on the book Education Reimagined. If you're having curriculum discussions, this is a great place to start.
Walter Antoniotti

Career Optopns for Graduates - 0 views

Help for a difficult decision. http://www.textbooksfree.org/Career%20Options%20for%20Graduates.htm

administrator all_teachers edublogger edublog

started by Walter Antoniotti on 07 Aug 16 no follow-up yet
Brendan Murphy

Professional Development: More Than Just a Checkbox on a Form | Edutopia - 11 views

www.edutopia.org/...ore-than-a-checkbox-tom-whitby

professional professional development development administrator all_teachers professionaldevelopment

shared by Brendan Murphy on 13 Apr 14 - No Cached
  • Many teachers are finding their PD through connectedness.
  • Many teachers are finding their PD through connectedness
  • Many teachers are finding their PD through connectedness
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • Many teachers are finding their PD through connectedness
  • Maybe it would be more beneficial if teachers, after their DIY PD, could point to evidence of successful PD in their lessons.
  • It also turns PD from theoretical to authentic learning.
  • Teachers could point to a combination of online and face-to-face meetings that enabled them to accomplish a certain task with their class, and verify it by having an administrator observe the results
  • modeling their newfound methods to their colleagues,
  • What if the DIY PD does not yield an effective improvement?
  • administrator to not just point out the flaws, but to counsel the teacher on improvements
  • observation from a judgmental assessment into a learning experience
Vicki Davis

Mrs. Pickrell's Technology Adventure | I'm going on a technology adventure! Let's get global! - 6 views

tpickrell.wordpress.com

education news tlap innovation best practices creativity

shared by Vicki Davis on 20 Feb 14 - No Cached
  • Vicki Davis on 20 Feb 14
     
    "While I did enjoy David Burgess' Teach Like a Pirate, and the hangout that she shared with us, I'll admit… it made me kind of sad.  Not because of the content itself!  But because of the hard memories it brought up.  I used to teach creatively and encourage innovation in my classroom like that.  When I graduated college, I was chock full of ideas and adored hands-on learning.  But my communication skills was parents was very weak and my administrator was a frustrated man who decided his best way of control was micromanaging.  It's a bit of a long story, but the end result is I was knocked down to stop being creative; to just follow the curriculum and to push worksheets. " Wow. As I read this teacher from Dr. Lee Graham's class (they are in gamifi-ed with my students) I'm so touched by how the teacher helps us feel what is happening to TOO MANY TEACHERS. Too many teachers are being pushed down to teach the wrong way. Worksheet wonders and we wonder why no one loves to learn. This is sad and must change. I hope you'll comment.
Vicki Davis

Optimize your network for Hangouts - Google Apps Administrator Help - 4 views

support.google.com/...1279090

education news firewall google hangout.

shared by Vicki Davis on 11 Feb 14 - No Cached
  • Vicki Davis on 11 Feb 14
     
    Having problems with Google hangout? Send this information to your network administrator with port information for the firewall that they'll need to know.
darkbird18 Wharry

  Home of Gibson Research Corporation  Internet Security Tools.url - 2 views

www.grc.com/intro.htm

Internet Security webs New Imported Folder Internet Information webs Bookmarks bar Imported From IE (1) SOHO Business Tools (2) Favorites New Imported Folder Internet Information webs Security

shared by darkbird18 Wharry on 02 Feb 14 - Cached
  • darkbird18 Wharry on 02 Feb 14
     
    Your use of the Internet security vulnerability profiling services on this site constitutes your FORMAL PERMISSION for us to conduct these tests and requests our transmission of Internet packets to your computer. ShieldsUP!! benignly probes the target computer at your location. Since these probings must travel from our server to your computer, you should be certain to have administrative right-of-way to conduct probative protocol tests through any and all equipment located between your computer and the Internet
  • darkbird18 Wharry on 02 Feb 14
     
    Your use of the Internet security vulnerability profiling services on this site constitutes your FORMAL PERMISSION for us to conduct these tests and requests our transmission of Internet packets to your computer. ShieldsUP!! benignly probes the target computer at your location. Since these probings must travel from our server to your computer, you should be certain to have administrative right-of-way to conduct probative protocol tests through any and all equipment located between your computer and the Internet
Vicki Davis

Microsoft to extend Windows XP anti-malware updates one year | ZDNet - 1 views

www.zdnet.com/re-updates-one-year-7000025215

education education_trends news edu_trends techintegrator administrator

shared by Vicki Davis on 16 Jan 14 - No Cached
  • Vicki Davis on 16 Jan 14
     
    OK. I think this will be great news for many schools who are still clinging to Windows XP. Microsoft will keep supplying anti-malware updates to Windows XP until april 15, 2014. The March 2013 date caused an outcry among many and we've been working hard to update all the XP machines with extra RAM so they could go to Windows 7. But with the machines working so well on XP many of us wonder why we should dispose of machines that work so well especially in cash crunched times. Take your time - you've got a little longer although for us in the US if they'd go through June 2015 it means we can get 2 more school years out of XP machines. In a sign of the times, it can make all the difference between some kids using technology and some not.
Vicki Davis

Bing for Schools and Administrators - Register Your School - 4 views

www.bing.com/Registration

education bing search engines news all_teachers

shared by Vicki Davis on 07 Jan 14 - No Cached
  • Vicki Davis on 07 Jan 14
     
    Here's the page where you register your school for Bing for Schools - you'll need to enter all outbound IP addresses so ask your IT department to do it.
Vicki Davis

Hacking Your Classroom: Getting Around Blocks & Bans - 0 views

www.teachthought.com/...getting-around-bans-and-blocks

education news edtech bestpractices all_teachers

shared by Vicki Davis on 30 Nov 13 - No Cached
  • Vicki Davis on 30 Nov 13
     
    Dawn Casey-Rowe hits a tough topic that is the number one complaint that teachers have. I had her on my show not too long a go and she speaks from a tough situation with lots of blocks and bans but gets it done anyway. If your complaint is blocks and bans, then take time to read this post to focus on what you CAN do. Dawn is offering a set of PD blog posts that you'll want to dig into. "This week, we're going to discuss the white elephant in the room. Tech frustration. Many teachers struggle to bring students the type of tech experience they would like because of systemic blocks and bans, or worse, feel embarrassed as students have more access to tech than teachers do. This is the issue that brought me to the tech world myself. Students continually asked the hard questions about why they couldn't utilize technology such as smartphones, laptops, and tablets, and why phones were confiscated when students were using them for educational purposes. I wanted to improve my classroom experience and give my students more, but budget was a concern. Tech access is a problem in many schools. There are legitimate reasons-the desire of administrators to protect students from the darker side of the internet, fear of the unknown, lack of wireless capacity and budget difficulties which cause insufficient numbers of computers or the inability to upgrade existing tech. Some educational leaders have overcome these hurdles, but others are still working to get to that space."
Vicki Davis

FAA Says Fliers Can Safely Use Most Electronics : The Two-Way : NPR - 1 views

www.npr.org/...an-safely-use-most-electronics

education news

shared by Vicki Davis on 31 Oct 13 - No Cached
  • Vicki Davis on 31 Oct 13
     
    You can keep reading, just DON'T MAKE A PHONE CALL. I guess the FAA has heard us now and has demonstrated that playing games, reading ebooks and watching videos can be done and cellular service must be disabled in phones. Even bluetooth accessories can be used... all of this coming soon. "Saying it has "determined that airlines can safely expand passenger use of Portable Electronic Devices (PEDs) during all phases of flight," the Federal Aviation Administration announced Thursday that it is advising airlines they can let fliers use their much-loved e-books, tablets and other handhelds "gate-to-gate." Cellphone calls, however, would still be prohibited."
Vicki Davis

Resolution on the Importance of Journalism Courses and Programs in English Curricula - 1 views

www.ncte.org/...journalismincurr

education journalism newspapers research bestpractices

shared by Vicki Davis on 31 Oct 13 - Cached
  • Vicki Davis on 31 Oct 13
     
    If you need "proof" of the merit of journalism programs, look no further than the "enemy" that has been the excuse for killing many journalism programs -- test scores. Read this NCTE position paper about journalism in the curriculum which states: "It is important to note that a body of research provides data showing that students who participate in journalism programs do better on testing and college language arts courses. In Journalism Kids Do Better (Dvorak, Lain, Dickson), research shows students who take journalistic writing courses score higher on the Advanced Placement English Language and Composition exam than students who take only AP or honors English courses. They also score higher on college entrance exams such as the ACT. "We've done a number of research studies that show that high school journalism is equal to or exceeds standard English [courses], Dvorak said. "Journalism students' writing skills, their sensitivity to audience, their use of grammar, punctuation, spelling, their concern with accuracy, their use of sources -- all of these things tended to be significantly higher in their performances."" I would also argue that many students who are not reached by AP or honors courses can be highly engaged in journalistic pursuits. If you want a strong writing program, make sure you have a school newspaper. Share this with your newspaper and annual staff advisors to help reinforce the merit of journalism programs with your board of education and administrators.
Vicki Davis

Chat and real-time collaboration - Drive Help - 9 views

support.google.com/...2494891

education google drive news collaboration techintegrator

shared by Vicki Davis on 05 Oct 13 - No Cached
  • Vicki Davis on 05 Oct 13
     
    Little tip: "If you're a Google Apps administrator, note that disabling Google chat across your domain now disables chat in Drive" I think we have to work with chat. It would be nice if chat could be enabled or disabled by document but it is a whole-domain thing right now. I hate to see it disabled.
  • Derrall Garrison on 06 Oct 13
     
    I wish it wasn't a whole domain issue as well. We were allowing students to chat in docs and then noticed it wasn't working because it's now connected with Google chat. I also wish that there was an archive of the chat with some of the issues we've had.
Vicki Davis

Education Week: A Sandy Hook Parent's Letter to Teachers - 2 views

www.edweek.org/...03marquezgreen.h33.html

all_teachers administrator education news tumblr

shared by Vicki Davis on 14 Sep 13 - No Cached
  • Vicki Davis on 14 Sep 13
     
    Must read letter over at Edweek from a mom of one child who died at Sandy Hook and one who survived... if you want to be affirmed and remember why you teach, this is the post you should share with everyone. "Your courage will support students who are left out and overlooked, like the isolated young man who killed my daughter. At some point he was a young, impressionable student, often sitting all alone at school. You will have kids facing long odds for whom your smile, your encouraging word, and your willingness to go the extra mile will provide the comfort and security they need to try again tomorrow. When you Google "hero," there should be a picture of a principal, a school lunch worker, a custodian, a reading specialist, a teacher, or a bus monitor. Real heroes don't wear capes. They work in America's schools. "When I asked my son's teacher why she returned, she responded, 'Because they are my kids.' " Being courageous requires faith. It took faith to go back to work at Sandy Hook after the shooting. Nobody had the answers or knew what would come tomorrow, but they just kept going. Every opportunity you have to create welcoming environments in our schools where parents and students feel connected counts."
Walter Antoniotti

Thoughts On Improving Education - 15 views

http://www.textbooksfree.org/Education%20Libraries.htm Thoughts welcome!

all_teachers administrator bestpractices curriculum edu_trends history

started by Walter Antoniotti on 17 Aug 13 no follow-up yet
Walter Antoniotti

Educating the Class of 2030 - 12 views

Thirty-five years of teaching mathematics related courses like economics and statistics in HS and college plus years in continuing education administration has led to my GRAND THEORY. Suggestions n...

administrator all_teachers curriculum history edu_trends elementary middleschool

started by Walter Antoniotti on 31 Jul 13 no follow-up yet
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