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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.
Martin Burrett

Personalised Learning - Is it achievable? - 0 views

ukedchat.com/...on-38-thursday-24th-march-2011

learning personalised learning differentiation independent engagement inclusion

shared by Martin Burrett on 06 Jun 18 - No Cached
  • Martin Burrett on 06 Jun 18
     
    "A fascinating discussion which looked at how it is possible to achieve personalised learning within classrooms at all levels. It was evident that the term 'Personalised Learning' had a different meaning to different people from different settings. Although 'official' definitions were offered, the ambiguity still remains. Is it really possible to personalise the curriculum for 30 individuals within a classroom envirnoment? Even more of a challenge to secondary colleagues who are faced with cohorts from different year groups within the same day - being faced with over 100 individual pupils within any day?"
Martin Burrett

UKEd Update - 12th March 2018 - 0 views

spark.adobe.com/...vfslgUG0UB2ix

education news Twitter articles UKEdChat

shared by Martin Burrett on 12 Mar 18 - No Cached
  • Martin Burrett on 12 Mar 18
     
    "UKED UPDATE 12TH MARCH 2018"
Martin Burrett

Teachers and other school-based professionals can treat children's mental health problems - 0 views

ukedchat.com/...teachers-treat-health

mental mental health

shared by Martin Burrett on 04 Mar 18 - No Cached
  • Martin Burrett on 04 Mar 18
     
    "School-based services delivered by teachers and other school-based professionals can help reduce mental health problems in elementary-aged children, reports a study published in the March 2018 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP). "Given the limited accessibility of traditional mental health services for children-particularly for children from minority and economically disadvantaged backgrounds-school-based mental health services are a tremendous vehicle for overcoming barriers to mental health care and meaningfully expanding the reach of supports and services for so many children in need. Treating children in schools can powerfully overcome issues of cost, transportation, and stigma that typically restrict broad utilization of mental health services" said lead author Amanda Sanchez, MS, of the Center for Children and Families at Florida International University."
Martin Burrett

UKEd Update - 1st March 2018 - 0 views

spark.adobe.com/...mWSHSCSZkDOpK

UKEd Update

shared by Martin Burrett on 28 Feb 18 - No Cached
  • Martin Burrett on 28 Feb 18
     
    Read today's UKEd Update -Edu News -Articles/Resources -The best of edu Twitter Get it delivered by subscribing via https://ukedchat.com/emails
Martin Burrett

UKEd Magazine March 2016 - 3 views

ukedchat.com/march-2016

ukedchat magazine

shared by Martin Burrett on 14 Mar 16 - No Cached
  • Martin Burrett on 14 Mar 16
     
    Free online and open access educational magazine for teachers
Vicki Davis

Doodle 4 Google Contest - 6 views

www.google.com/...start.html

education artist google contest news

shared by Vicki Davis on 05 Feb 14 - No Cached
  • Vicki Davis on 05 Feb 14
     
    Get your artists to create a Doodle 4 Google! Entries are due March 20. Start doodling. They also have a Teachers Pack and other things that you will need to help participate. Remember that only one application per student is allowed but you can have an unlimited number from your school. The 50 state winners will be flown to Mountain View, California. I went there for Google Certified Teacher training and it was awesome.
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

20 to Watch Recognition Program - 0 views

www.nsba.org/...20-to-Watch-Winners

education news technology all_teachers bestpractices

shared by Vicki Davis on 04 Dec 13 - No Cached
  • Vicki Davis on 04 Dec 13
     
    Nominate someone you know NOW. What a great way to share up and coming education technology leaders: "Do you know educators who are passionate about using technology to transform teaching and learning; who can inspire their colleagues to embrace new tools; and who are curious by nature and always looking for how the next innovation can be applied to education? If so, please submit their names by Wednesday, December 18th for consideration as part of the National School Boards Association's "20 to Watch" recognition program. The 2013-14 "20" will be honored in Washington, D.C. during CoSN's Annual Conference, March 19th, 2014 (www.cosn.org) and recognized during the Technology Leadership Network Luncheon at the NSBA Annual Conference in New Orleans, April 6, 2014. Questions? Please email Ann Flynn."
Vicki Davis

China's moon landing next month is trouble for NASA | Fox News - 2 views

www.foxnews.com/...der-may-cause-trouble-for-nasa

education news space

shared by Vicki Davis on 25 Nov 13 - No Cached
  • Vicki Davis on 25 Nov 13
     
    Yes, it is time to explore space. It may just take a political competitor to wake up the United States to the space-age advantage it has had for decades as the Chinese plan to land a robotic probe on the moon. We need to be talking about space. "China's mission to robotically land on the moon next month is sure to stir up lunar dust, but it may also cause a political dustup, too. China is in the final stages of preparing its robotic Chang'e 3 moon lander to launch atop a Long March 3B rocket, slated for liftoff in early December. The ambitious mission is built to first orbit the moon, then propel down to a landing site, after which a small, solar-powered lunar rover will be unleashed."
Vicki Davis

How to Enter Listen to a Life Contest - www.legacyproject.org - 4 views

www.legacyproject.org/...ltalhowenter.html

education news contest essay all_teachers

shared by Vicki Davis on 30 Oct 13 - No Cached
  • Vicki Davis on 30 Oct 13
     
    This looks like a great contest. (Plus you can win the kind of computer I have on my desk and it is awesome.) Here's information from the sponsor of this essay contest. I also suggest you get photos and take videos and you can share on your own school website or blog. "The Legacy Project's 14th annual essay contest changes lives and communities as it connects generations and gives students a powerful purpose for writing - listening to and learning from a life . Students learn about real life from real people, and often end up making unexpected friendships along the way. Here's one amazing example of a past winning essay: http://www.legacyproject.org/contests/winners12.html#tulsa Here's a closer look at the educational value of the contest and 21st Century learning skills, with quotes from students and teachers across the country: http://www.legacyproject.org/contests/ltalhowenter.html To enter the Listen to a Life Contest, students 8-18 years interview a grandparent or grandfriend 50 years or older about the older person's hopes and goals through their life, how they achieved their goals and overcame obstacles, or key life experiences. The young person then writes a 300-word essay based on the interview. The Grand Prize is a Lenovo ThinkCentre computer, along with 10 Legacy Awards of a keepsake timepiece from Expressions of Time. The contest runs to March 28, 2014. Students and teachers can find out more about the Listen to a Life Essay Contest, including complete contest rules, at www.legacyproject.org. This national contest is run by the Legacy Project, a big-picture learning project, and the nonprofit Generations United in Washington, DC.
Vicki Davis

File:Minard.png - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 2 views

en.wikipedia.org/...File:Minard.png

education news infographics Napoleon history

shared by Vicki Davis on 27 Oct 13 - No Cached
  • Vicki Davis on 27 Oct 13
     
    Charles Minard's compelling infographic from the 1800's depicts Napolean's march and shows the number of men he had, the path they took, and the temperature on the return route in a powerful way. This is an example of infographics and how they can tell a story. If you're a history teacher you'll want to use this graphic and perhaps challenge your students to use an infographics tool to tell a story of a historical event.
Vicki Davis

Steps and Leaps Into Next-Gen Learning - Forbes - 2 views

www.forbes.com/...d-leaps-into-next-gen-learning

news education blended learning

shared by Vicki Davis on 12 Apr 13 - No Cached
  • Vicki Davis on 12 Apr 13
     
    Must read article on blended learning (in particular if you're an elementary teacher or principal, you'll want to read about the "Rocketship model" of lab station rotation instead of learning centers. This was written by Michael Horn for Forbes Magazine on March 28, 2013.
Vicki Davis

Education Week: March 14, 2013 - 5 views

www.edweek.org/...index.html

education news

shared by Vicki Davis on 27 Mar 13 - No Cached
  • Vicki Davis on 27 Mar 13
     
    Building a digital district. There are some great resources from Edweek on this topic. There is also a PDF or print version of the technology counts 2013 version.
Vicki Davis

GRAMMY in the Schools | Make your future be music - 2 views

www.grammyintheschools.com

education news music edu_news

shared by Vicki Davis on 19 Mar 13 - Cached
  • Vicki Davis on 19 Mar 13
     
    Just in. Nominate your favorite music teacher for this award!!! "The GRAMMY Foundation® and The Recording Academy® are partnering to present the first-ever Music Educator Award, to recognize music educators for their contributions to our musical landscape. Whether singing in the shower, playing in their college marching band, or performing on the GRAMMY® stage, musicians of all levels have had music teachers that have made a difference in their lives, and this award will acknowledge that contribution.  The award is open to current U.S. music teachers from kindergarten through college, and the first annual award will be presented at the Special Merit Awards Ceremony & Nominees Reception in 2014, the night before the GRAMMY Awards®. The Music Educator Award recipient will receive an award and honorarium of $10,000. In addition, nine finalists will also be recognized for their contributions and they will each receive an award and $1,000. Everyone can nominate a teacher - students, parents, friends, colleagues, community members, members of The Recording Academy, school deans and administrators.  Teachers are also able to nominate themselves.  Once a teacher is nominated, s/he will be notified and encouraged to fill out the complete application. 
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