Amod Lele

My POV piece following a #NERCOMP22 panel: bu.edu/dli/2022/05/23… Students don't like technology as much as you think.

@readywriting Sorry to hear it. Many good vibes to you.

Please send good vibes my way. This may be the worst day of my life so far and I’m hoping there won’t be another one that is far, far worse so…

@FromPhDtoLife It could be reasonable for academics to sacrifice themselves for the good of the academy if the academy ever sacrificed itself for the good of academics. I think the last time that happened might have been around 1958.

No. Do not say this, do not imply it, do not go there. Academic culture guilts folks -- esp folks who are marginalized in the academy -- into sacrificing themselves for the good of students or science or scholarship. Don't shore up a bad hegemonic narrative that harms people.

And Pronto. #nercomp22

Alternatives to discussion boards: collaborative writing, collaborative annotation, Padlet. #nercomp22

Good question: how do you assign groups for groupwork? In corporate groups, they mix people intentionally. So idea: use surveys to assemble groups based on personality types that fit roles. So you don't get a group that's all project leads. #nercomp22

Discussion-board panel: "Conflict fosters critical thinking." True for sure. Tricky if students have learned to see disagreement as dangerous or disrespectful or insulting, but maybe an even more important lesson in that context. #nercomp22

Panel on improving engagement in online courses begins by attacking discussion boards, from mulitple angles. Which... fair enough. #nercomp22

"For technology, less is more. I want to be in person as much as possible and have technology in the background to support it." #nercomp22

One student: "COVID brought us together, I helped others with their work afterschool." Another: "I didn't have that. I felt a lot more alone." #nercomp22

@readywriting This IS a tech conference, so I wouldn't say "gaslighting" is a fair description of the questions. I'm happy that it's an organic movement from questions about tech to answers about deep learning and connection: I think that's exactly what this audience should hear. #nercomp22

Whew, I feel like they are gaslighting these students a little by harping in the tech question. But these students are saying they want to be able to slow down and do some deep learning, rather than just checking boxes. #nercomp22

So I'm really excited about this upcoming panel - four HS students talking about technology and learning. I am especially curious to see how what they say matches up with what my two teens are saying. #nercomp22 events.educause.edu/special-topic-…

Student: "I would like an app where everything for the class like grades and assignments are in one place, like Google Classroom with other things." Looks like the LMS is not dead! #nercomp22

"I personally don't like technology. I like the old-school way with paper and pen." From a HS student's mouth. Prepare to hear a lot more of this from the "tech-savvy digital natives". #nercomp22

If you think students are distracted by social media in the classroom, imagine how they'll be during remote teaching. #nercomp22

HS student: "Before covid, if I looked confused, my teacher picked up on that. During covid, I had to go out of my way to say I was confused." #nercomp22

Confirmed: description of remote class was "It felt like I was watching a YouTube video, but of lower quality." #nercomp22

Students on the panel are all very good with self-directed learning, finding resources online. Wonder if that's in part because they were learning a lot less from their remote high school classes. #nercomp22

Panel on the students of tomorrow, in their own words #Nercomp22

It’s exciting to see an exhibit hall that’s full of people! #NERCOMP22

Interesting though that the thing VR has been most effective at is treating PTSD. #NERCOMP22