Copyright

Elizabeth Childs, George Veletsianos, Amber Donahue, Tamara Leary, Kyla McLeod, Anne-Marie Scott

Published On

2023-10-25

Page Range

pp. 317–334

Language

  • English

Print Length

18 pages

13. Speculative futures for higher education: weaving perspectives for good

Chapter of: Higher Education for Good: Teaching and Learning Futures(pp. 317–334)
Using a speculative future use case, and a three-part multiple author format, this chapter creates a container for a conversation amongst co-authors representing various roles including online students, faculty, and administrators, regarding a change in teaching and learning. In doing so, the chapter attempts to cross theory-practice-policy lines to provide a contextualized, systemic examination of a possible iteration of higher education. The aim of this effort is to grapple with the question of ‘goodness’ given a specific context and situation, rather than with the question of ‘goodness’ in universal terms. Through the response from co-authors, and the analysis and synthesis that follows, this chapter aims to problematize the universality of what it means for futures to be “good,” highlight the messiness of speculative futures, and make visible the ways in which roles, values, identities, ideologies, and systems shape the ways in which learning futures are perceived to be “good.”

Contributors

Elizabeth Childs

(author)
Professor, School of Education and Technology at Royal Roads University
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2654-1705
https://malat-coursesite.royalroads.ca/malat

Elizabeth Childs is a professor in the School of Education and Technology at Royal Roads University (Canada). She is interested in the design, creation and implementation of flexible learning environments that incorporate the affordances of technologies and provide learners with increased choice, flexibility, and opportunities. Dr. Childs’ research interests include online and blended learning, openness and open pedagogy, online learning communities and digital habitats, design thinking and participatory design approaches.

George Veletsianos

(author)
Professor and Canada Research Chair in Innovative Learning and Technology at Royal Roads University
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6579-9576
http://www.veletsianos.com

George Veletsianos is professor and Canada research chair in Innovative Learning and Technology at Royal Roads University in Victoria, British Columbia (Canada). His research agenda focuses on three strands: design, development, and evaluation of online and blended learning environments; the study of learning experiences and participation in emerging online environments; and learning futures.

Amber Donahue

(author)

Amber Donahue is proud to be a teacher and advocate of public education, whose 17 years as a K-12 educator have taught her about the power of kindness, human connection, and critical thinking. She is keenly interested in exploring technology’s impact on society and how education systems can rise to the challenge of preparing students for life in the digital age.

Tamara Leary

(author)
Associate Professor, Higher Education Administration and Leadership at Royal Roads University
https://orcid.org/0009-0004-4112-9748

Tamara Leary is an associate professor, teaching in the MA in Higher Education Administration and Leadership program at Royal Roads University, Victoria, BC (Canada). Prior to becoming a fulltime faculty member, Tamara occupied administration roles within Student Affairs. Her research interests include higher education administration and leadership, student affairs, and organisation culture within higher education.

Kyla McLeod

(author)
Director of Student Services and Associate Faculty Member, School of Education and Technology at Royal Roads University

Kyla McLeod is the director of student services and an associate faculty member within the School of Education and Technology at Royal Roads University (Canada). She has worked in student affairs for over 25 years and enjoys the challenges associated with supporting the learning experiences of a consistently changing student demographic. Her recent research interests are in understanding how non-Indigenous student services practitioners can effectively respond to the calls-to action that were made through the final report of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Anne-Marie Scott

(author)
Board Chair at Apereo
Board Member at Open Source Initiative
Advisor at OpenETC
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4769-1577
https://ammienoot.com/

Anne-Marie Scott has worked in higher education senior digital leadership for over 20 years in the UK (University of Edinburgh) and Canada (Athabasca University), with a particular interest in open educational technologies. She is Board Chair of the Apereo open-source software foundation, board member of the Open Source Initiative, and advisor to the OpenETC (Canada). She has an MA in Literature and a postgraduate diploma in E-Learning from the University of Edinburgh.