We’d like to welcome you to the course site for Disruptive Technologies in Teaching and Learning. One thing you’ll notice right away is that this site is probably a lot different than the kinds of course websites you are used to seeing. First of all, it is open … that means that the conversations, writings, and really everything else is not behind some sort of log in. We want you to become comfortable with the notion of openness and understand how important we feel it is in the creation of a learning community. The second thing you’ll notice is that this site is built on the idea of an ongoing text. We want to welcome you into the idea that you have been invited as a co-author in an ongoing open dialogue related to disruptive technologies in teaching and learning. This is not a simple course website, but an evolving and dynamic learning community with continuity from year to year through extended discourse.
You’ll find everything from previous semesters here and we hope that you dig into the past to see what we have previously explored and think about how your contributions will continue to create an open community for sharing knowledge.
With all that in mind, this is a course. That means we will work together to arrive at goals along the way. That also means we hope that you realize this isn’t about working to a single endpoint. We will be doing things that build upon the past and invent new thoughts related to the work we are doing. Our goals for those participating are to gain a deep appreciation for building learning communities that foster social connections and open knowledge sharing. Additionally we hope you will work to understand how emergent technologies can be explored, and ultimately exploited, to support new forms of pedagogy. Through our readings, writing, conversations, and activities we hope you will arrive at our milestones with us.
For now, explore what has been done and look around. A good place to start is with the syllabus. From there, feel free to read what has gone on and if the mood strikes you, contribute comments to older conversations.