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KIERAN 00:04
Welcome to Wired Ivy, Summer Shorts!
KIERAN 00:09
Kieran here, and I’ve got a question for you… Does the room where it happens always have to be a room?
[MUSIC]
KIERAN 00:17
In ages past, information distribution
Was a problem with few solutions.
True, a printing press could be gleaned
By a man of means and esteem,
But with literacy scant, and paper steep,
The dispersal potential, while intensified,
Remained circumscribed…
And not cheap.
KIERAN 00:35
Which is why the best shot
for knowledge dropped
By a founding father, or a scholar,
To spread a lot farther
Was to assemble a conclave.
KIERAN 00:43
Rooms were not prerequisite for compromise and understandings
To happen, but they happened with greater haste
When meetings took place,
So the place to be was in the room.
[Record scratch]
KIERAN 00:53
Ok, ok… I know there’s only so far I can go with this attempt to make a treatise on taking an inventive approach to in-person versus virtual teaching a tribute to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton.
For one thing, I can rhyme but I can’t sling. When I try it sounds more like an homage to Theodor Geisel. So be it! Dr. Seuss taught me how to read.
KIERAN 01:13
Plus, I’m long past the age when I believed embarrassment was literally fatal so the possibility of looking foolish is worth the risk, in my opinion. Especially for educators.
Because for someone to learn something from your lessons, first they have to remember what you said. And I’m betting you won’t forget this commentary any time soon. No matter how hard you try.
Pretty sly!
So… back to my original disquisition.
[rewind]
KIERAN 01:38
...so the place to be was in the room.
KIERAN 01:40
While it was once difficult and expensive
To distribute information this is no longer the case.
The means of moving ideas from one person in one place
To other people in other places has traveled past...
Horse-and-buggy, railroads,
Telegraph, telephones,
Radio, television,
Mainframes, PCs,
Laptops, smartphones,
ARPANET, Internet,
Dial-up, cable,
Satellite, ethernet,
Wifi, 5G,
And into the 21st Century.
KIERAN 02:08
An Information Age that has open doors previously closed.
Now a physical room, though presupposed,
Based on tradition and glory,
is but one of many sites to tell your story.
KIERAN 02:18
Looking for minds at work? You’ll find millions of them in virtual classrooms.
Students who enroll for credit, for necessity, or for love;
Faculty who volunteered, or were shoved.
So yes, independence from place-based learning has been transformative.
The technology liberating,
The impact sweeping.
Yet there’s room for compromise in teaching.
KIERAN 02:38
Which room was once the only option. Here’s my proposal:
There’s now an arsenal of content delivery options at your disposal.
You don’t have to pick between a room and Zoom, A lectern or broadband.
Your choices are unlimited… not OR but AND.
KIERAN 02:54
For example, with a close at hand constituency,
And open eyes, you might see
That a blend of here and anywhere could be the key.
Let the learning goals lead, combine the best of both,
In a blended, aka hybrid, approach.
A mix-tape of cadence, locations, and folks.
Same class, same instructor, in-person, online,
connecting with students in different places and times,
or all together, synchronized.
KIERAN 03:20
It doesn’t take a genius so don’t be mislead,
You don’t have to reinvent the wheel... or higher ed.
You don’t have to work harder, just be a smarter self-starter.
Marshall your courage, take a risk, and no remorse,
Just explore innovative ways to deliver your course.
That would be enough.
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KIERAN 03:39
Let’s hear what you have to say! Send us your questions, comments, and suggestions! You can leave a voice message at speakpipe.com/wiredivy or send an email to kieran@wiredivy.org (kieran is spelled k-i-e-r-a-n) or dan@wiredivy.org (dan is spelled d-a-n).
And help Wired Ivy grow by sharing, subscribing, rating, and reviewing us on your favorite podcast app.
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