Tim Owens

In Weller’s second chapter he attempts to take the rhetoric of how technology might be changing education head on with real data. Too often the hyperbolic proclamations of higher education’s impending upheaval as a result of X, Y, and Z are made by people with a dog (or startup) in the fight. It’s extremely important to recognize areas where technology absolutely is changing the way people learn, but within the context of how things have changed. I love the Weller rightly points out that the broader distribution of information and resources is actually an opportunity for higher ed, not a dystopian precursor to its fall from grace. - Read More -

This semester we are working on a faculty initiative in collaboration with UMW’s Center for Teaching Excellence and Innovation run by Mary Kayler. We have 29 faculty on board who have committed to getting their own domain and hosting through the Domain of One’s Own and building out their digital presence as well as exploring what it means to be a digital scholar. We will meet with them 6 times over the course of the semester to provide guidance on the technical aspects of this but also to reflect and discuss the process and implications for academia. As part of this we will be reading Martin Weller‘s book The Digital Scholar which aligns perfectly with the goals of the initiative. I can think of no greater place to take notes and reflect on the readings than right here on my blog and so this series of posts will do just that. If you’re interested in following along you’ll find it easy to do so. Weller’s book has an open license and is available to read in its entirety online (but I’d also encourage you to buy a copy because he’s awesome and the book is excellent and one you’ll refer back to often when talking to faculty about this stuff). We will be posting our syllabus and curriculum for the initiative and the faculty involved will be blogging their reflections over here. - Read More -