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The Rifts Between Us

The Rifts Between Us: Integrating the Siloed Disciplines of Education & Technology through Interdisciplinary Design

DATE: Tuesday, September 15

TIME: 12 - 1 pm ET

LOCATION: Online. Click here to register

Use the Hashtag #edsilos to keep our conversation going on social media!

In one of the final reports published in 1995 by the now dismantled Office of Technology Assessment, a group of educators and technologists envisioned the future of teaching and learning in America. Two contributors to this study, Beverly Hunter and Bruce Goldberg of BBN Technologies, cast a cautiously optimistic view of the year 2004. Their unique vision imagined a "seamless interaction of the human, institutional, and technological components." In their future, "the 'learners' and 'teachers' are people of all ages, in all walks of life." The borders between "real" life, life lived through technology, and life in the classroom are dismantled for the sake of an integrated approach that propels each person into a passion for life-long learning. Speed past 2004, past Web 2.0, past the release of the iPhone, and a handful of Unicorn Tech Startups, and Hunter's and Goldberg's vision feels naively optimistic.

It's a vision that many of us share and aspire to but find unreachable. Instead of an integrated world in which technology and real life blend in harmony, we often face a fractured world, bouncing between technologies that each represent a different discipline, a different view of the educational harmony we believe is possible.

In this webinar, educators Renee Hobbs and Christian Shockey engage in dialogue with Mark and Paul Johnson, founders of Pathwright. We'll explore the many rifts that exist between communities like instructional designers, technology creators, and classroom teachers.

JOIN US TO EXPLORE THE QUESTION: How can we move towards addressing the rifts between us in ways that advance digital literacies and online learning?