"Meeting students in their space and connecting to them as human beings who have fears, insecurities, and doubts about their abilities is the responsibility of ALL educators. We can not expect students to learn if they do not feel safe in our learning environment or have the background knowledge, ability, or interest (motivation) to learn. I believe in presenting a subject in such a way that students will develop an understanding about it that will spark their curiosity for learning more. I call this "hook, line, and sinker". This type of presentation style means teachers must be flexible in the way they present a subject and they must have a diverse, multi-faceted perspective of the subject. Additionally, I believe teachers must be dedicated to claiming and reclaiming a new understanding of that subject each time they teach about it. I believe this because the socio-cultural experience a teacher has with the learner, or learners, restructures the teacher's subject knowledge and the perspective the teacher has about the subject. Through the praxis of reflective teaching, a teacher's ever expanding subject knowledge helps them become more of an expert each time they teach. I have come to understand this as: teach, interact, reflect, new knowledge (TIRNK).

As an instructional designer and online teacher, much of the expertise I have about online learning has come from working with faculty who are willing to teach me using their mistakes. Together, we socially construct a new understanding and together, we have become better practitioners developing our own pedagogical perspectives.

As a long-time (20 year) online learner, I have come to understand that although it is more efficient to be an isolated learner, I do not learn as much about a subject. That means I have begun to embrace group work, online discussion boards, oral discussions and real-time collaborations.

The social experience of teaching and learning is what excites me about the education profession. I truly love being challenged about what I know by students who ask thoughtful, introspective questions. This helps me, and them, to gain a new and socially constructed knowledge. I wonder what class I'll take or teach next? And, I wonder what I'll learn".

Dr. W.... ☻