Online or out-of-line

Ontario teachers on picket lines. Owen Sound Sun Times.

It was one of those re-inventing-the-wheel sessions. Neither I nor my fellow professors at the college, where I taught journalism from 1999 to 2017, sensed we were having problems getting through to our students at that moment. Nevertheless, college decision-makers called a meeting for some PD (professional development) training, this particular day. They said they had great news!

“We’re going to make teaching easier for you,” the experts informed us that day. “Online teaching is the new wave in education.”

I think I turned to one of my colleagues and whispered in Doubting-Thomas fashion, “It may just be the wave that wipes us all out, or at least leaves us sputtering for our lives.” (more…)