CoTL 2020 Keynote 02 | Dr. Kathy Takayama | 12:30pm - 1:30pm

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Communities, Voices, & Portals of Engagement During a Time of Disembodied Learning

In our sudden pivot to remote teaching and learning, we have found ourselves trying to adapt to an unanticipated cadence and structure that was driven by necessity and not by intentionality. What might it mean to provide a "space" that extends beyond "transactional and practical", but one that fosters community, compassion, and dialogue? Freire posits that "dialogue is not a mere technique to achieve some cognitive results, [but] is a means to transform social relations in the classroom" (Freire 1987). While some assume that online environments democratize the classroom, they also run the risk of creating new hierarchical structures and relationships and redefining identities. I will share my past lessons learned from creating online communities, where spaces were designed for learners to take risks, uncertainty and failure were positioned as generative processes, and diversity and difference were values that strengthened our insights and affirmed participatory inclusion.

CoTL 2020 Schedule - Program at a Glance