Through my time in the Global Society of Online Literacy Educators certificate program, I have thought a lot about my own pedagogical practice, in synchronous in-person (Face2Face of F2F) courses, as well as the opportunities I have had to teach online (synchronous and asynchronous) courses. I used to think about my online pedagogy being a natural extension of my in-person pedagogy, but as we have discussed, online pedagogy is different than F2F pedagogy–it is not a one to one overlap (GSOLE, 2019) and requires "high authenticity ... , high interactivity, and high collaboration" (D'Agustino, 2012, p. 148 as qtd. in Mick & Middlebrook, 2015, p. 136).
It seems apparent in thinking about it, but I had never given thought to what my explicit values were as an online literacy educator, and as I have continued to think through my work and my values, I have identified three core tenets of my values as an online literacy educator:
Multimodality & Play
Community of Practice
Reflective Practitioners
In each of the following sections, I provide a brief framing of the value, and then reflect on my own growth through the certificate program (and my own practice and praxis as an online literacy educator).
Students in online spaces are automatically dealing with multimodal spaces: There is an emphasis on visual literacy, alphabetic text, spatial design, and the incorporation of audio and video, which can incorporate bodies in movement, or gestural modes of communication, fulfilling all of the New London Group's 5 modes of communication (as cited in George, 2002). However, often missing from this notion of multimodality is play (Mick & Middlebrook, 2015). Having students try things they have never tried before, asking them to play with modalities and not be penalized for being a novice in this new space. This is why I rely on a grading contract–my students are not being asked to produce high quality podcasts that could be shared
In my own work, I have tried to embody this sense of play. I try to design infographics, videos, music-informed pieces, podcasts, and other digital projects. I want my students to make cool shit, and if I'm not trying to do the same, then I am being hypocritical. So I try and play with modalities, stretching the possibilities. And I found myself struggling with this value when creating this website. The artifacts I include do have multimodality in them, however, when I tried to make a video piece reflecting on my growth, I found that I struggled (plus, I have a sinus infection at the time of this writing and my nasally voice just threw me off again and again). So I am writing this alphabetically– a mode of communication that is still valued and valid, but might seem at odds with my value. But this is where I think my value comes into play: Alphabetic text doesn't need to be avoided, instead, a composer needs to think about what it affords and what it does not afford (I wouldn't be able to hyperlink in a video piece, the hyperlinks would need to be in an alphabetic/visual accompaniment).
Finally, in my own growth as an instructor through the certificate program, I have relied on multimodality and play through assignments like the "Bad Design Challenge" in my Developing Online Literacy Instruction and User Testing unit. Play is not just individual, but happens within a community of inquiry and practice, which leads me to my next value.
As I mention in my OLE Theory reflection, I see community of inquiry (and/or practice) a core value of my work as an educator–but it takes more intentionality to do so in an online space since students may not feel connected to the community of the classroom in similar ways to F2F courses (but the use of video and audio can humanize my teaching ethos/presence to help students avoid feeling like they are writing to a dehumanized presence who makes comments on their writing).
And while "community of practice" is a truism of any writing classroom (there is a community of people who are learing and practicing ways of writing/composing), more importantly, I think that the community of practice also needs to reflect how I practice. Going through the GSOLE program, I have been involved in a community of practice, working on reflecting on my own values, navigating shifting these values into praxis, and also considering institutional constraints that may challenge our values and possibilities when teaching (I was once given an online course with a fleshed out curriculum and told to not change anything– even if it clashed with my values as an instructor). So being in a community of practice means not only considering the institutional structures and constraints that we as online literacy educators are confronted with, but also helps us rely on a broader network of others who are doing this work. This is why I appreciate the various modules in the certificate program constantly referring to grounding our theory and praxis in research: There are folks who are doing this work and are researching these things, we do not need to just make it up as we go along. So I have found myself asking my colleagues about ideas and possibilities with my online teaching, and I have found myself reading more research on online pedagogy to consider my various whys when I think about my work. Which leads perfectly to reflective practioners.
Mick & Middlebrook (2015) mention that asynchronous platforms allow for more engaged reflection since students are working at their own pace. However, students need to be taught how to reflect well (Yancey, 2016).
My artifacts in this learning eportfolio are all reflective pieces of my work and development as an online literact educator. This cumulative reflection about my growth and development is also an in-depth reflection. And these reflections are not simply "look at what I did," but consider why I made the choices I made and how I can see my own growth and development throughout the process of completing the certificate. GSOLE's (2019) tenets and principles of online literacy instruction include continued professional development and reflection. And through this work, I believe I have continued to grow and develop as a reflective practioner of online literacy education. I will continue to take what I have learned through this process and refine and iterate my teaching–using the tenets of user testing and iteration as a way to continue to grow and strengthen my teaching (both online and F2F). As my infographic on OLE Theory notes at the bottom "It takes time, but it's worth it."