Building the Ship while Sailing: Faculty Learning Communities and Technology - Allen S. Brown and Qiaona Yu, Faculty Focus

Dana Schutz has a visually cacophonous, 13-foot-long painting titled Building the Boat While Sailing. In reviewing the work for the New Yorker, Andrea Scott referred to it as, “an allegory for the process of making a painting.” We think this painting might also serve as an allegory for teaching, which is very much its own creative process. Even in courses with clearly stated objectives and fastidious alignment, the learning environment changes shape frequently as a given term unfolds. Moreover, with each new section and group of learners the process begins anew. Diligent instructional design is an ongoing and iterative process, and it presents time and knowledge demands that can be difficult for faculty to resource on their own. The challenges presented by such a dynamic situation are particularly evident when one attempts to incorporate new digital technologies into the teaching and learning process. https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/faculty-development/faculty-learning-communities-technology/