Philosophy as an Educational Developer

A student sat across from me in my office.  She was anxious about starting her university classes for the fall.  The problem was, she had several disabilities, and needed many accommodations to be put into place for her to join her classmates and be successful.  She was in a wheelchair as she had severe mobility issues coupled with visual impairments and many other barriers.  She, however, didn’t define herself by these limitations or see it as a problem.

A colleague of mine didn’t hesitate to suggest to me that I should advise her not to continue, as she could never pass the essential requirements in her chosen discipline.  Later, the student said to me:  “Watch me!  Your job is to point out what I might encounter.  My job is to decide how I’m going to do it.  I realize I will never be a firefighter carrying people out of a burning building but don’t tell me I can’t.  Ask me questions so I can figure out how situations apply to me.  Together, we’ll figure it out.”  That moment has shaped my beliefs about teaching and learning to this day, and I’m still grappling with those inspiring yet unsettling thoughts. I’m so glad I chose to lead with my heart which told me my role was to help her to reach her own personal potential, whatever that may be.  I carry that mission forward every day.

In the student’s case, she did, in fact, graduate and set the bar higher for those around her about to recognize that inclusivity, learning and achievement in the classroom and beyond, takes many forms.

To create inclusivity that allows everyone to reach their own potential, we need to build an even playing field.  One way I can contribute to crafting this venue is through technology (both individual and institutional), as I believe it is one of the greatest equalizers we have access to today.  It enables opportunities to participate where there was once a cavernous global void.   Languages, disabilities, learner’s needs and teaching methods can be better accommodated when we engage our minds to embed the principles of Universal Design for Learning into our courses.  I am an active player in that game and try to model those principles wherever possible.  Additionally, I am a partner in an established scholarship initiated for the University of Windsor’s students with learning disabilities, entitled the Unearthing and Recognizing Potential Scholarship, thus I am “putting my money where my mouth is!”

My technology passion lies in the belief that “There’s got to be a better way!”   That’s a guiding principle I’ve woven into my tapestry throughout my life.  I actively seek this when I work with faculty.  I would like to save them time and facilitate their “accomplish more with less” goal while sparking the desire to reach out to their students and engage their learning.  Sometimes these goals are at cross-purposes, as it usually takes time to learn these time-saving techniques. Deep learning usually invokes critical analysis of a new idea then the learner may experience a period of frustration followed by elation. My job often involves walking a tenuous tightrope to avoid invoking unnecessary frustration, while sparking the necessary sceptical curiosity needed to learn the technology and couple it with effective and appropriate pedagogy.  Often I witness that faculty don’t necessarily want to be the student when learning new technology! They just want to get the technique, tip, work-around, etc. and get on with it.  The most rewarding moments I have are when an instructor figures something out and then couples it with how they can apply it to their situation.

Conversations I can have with an instructor are usually supplemented with evidence-based literature that informs my suggestions and recommendations.  It, therefore, is a common language we share and the instructor realizes that I’m not sharing my recommendations because they are easy, but because they are informed.  This approach enables me to enhance the culture of effective teaching both individually (the faculty member has acquired a new skill) and institutionally (they may share their newfound knowledge of the informed pedagogy with others).  Further, as conversations drift into many elements of an instructor’s course, I am proactive with suggesting open educational resources wherever possible.  At my first Educause conference in 2009, I listened intently to keynote Lawrence Lessig, a Harvard Law professor, describe his involvement in the origins of the Creative Commons licensing to address copyright issues.  I was hooked!  Similar to a threshold concept, once aware of the reasons that underly the Creative Commons’ existence, it is next to impossible to retreat to another commercially dominated mindset when open access exists.  This allows the world to engage freely with openly shared work and all can benefit.

One of the greatest shifts I see in the role of an educational developer is the notion of transitioning from being the teacher “on stage” persona to being the one who is quite happy leading from behind.
For example, when I facilitate Instructional Skills Workshops, I quietly guide from the side until I’m really needed to step up.  That way, participants can develop to their highest potential without experiencing unnecessary frustration.  Similarly, in my online classes or workshops, I like to be the “online ninja” and develop the course or activities so participants can fully engage and develop their sense of community and build their personal potential, while I am fully prepared to jump in and redirect a situation if need be. I also try to model the literature’s best practices throughout my online course, so students experience those concepts first hand, rather than always needing to only read about it.

In order to help individuals meet their personal potential, I also must work to impact their institutional teaching systems and culture, and then the wider academic community and environment. The two online courses I have developed for the University Teaching Certificate (Online Education 2010-2016, and the Teaching in a Blackboard Learning Environment course 2018-present) and my other work, enables me to meet these three levels of outcomes:

• impact individual teachers to develop as online educators with the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes for that role;
• extend the institution’s objectives by building capacity with course design and deployment using the institutional learning management system Blackboard; and
• beyond the institution, as it develops the larger academic community with instructors engaged online and connected to the large body of current literature affecting online education.

While there are large goals, a colleague of mine, Jonathan Sinasac recently reflected, “I don’t have to have answers to every question; I just need to communicate hope. Without it, its impossible to realize ones potential”.

Technically, supporting teaching and learning in post-secondary education!