Some good points in this article, which I'll highlight first (quoted):
- Those who claim technology can replace teachers, especially those who see artificial intelligence as being able to do so, misunderstand both the purpose and practice of teaching and learning in higher education.
- Posting content – readings, videos to watch, audios to listen to, games to play – may be needed, but it is not the essence of what teaching and learning is about.
- Sharing a course outline on a learning management system (LMS), together with a curated collection of content, does not make for engaged and effective learning.
- Student-to-student interaction, self-study and the challenge-based work that students do on their own is often more important than the synchronous learning involving an instructor.
- Proctored examinations are taking place, but many faculty and instructors are seeing the flaws in the assessment of knowledge, skills and capabilities with large groups during their online teaching.
It's interesting how the sudden shift to online learning turned a lot of thinking about ed tech on its head. "During the lockdown, the focus across the entire higher education ecosystem is on the effort to discover new ways faculty and instructors can provide more connection, more support, and more presence for their students, not less." But the mistake, I think, lies in thinking that only a teacher can do this. Good environment design, good community, and good tools can also facilitate this. The role of the teacher here should be focused and often targeted support, like a professional, rather than an assembly-line worker
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