Abstract
In this concluding chapter, we depart from many of the typical conventions of a conclusion (synthesizing the content of chapters; tying up loose ends) and, instead, use the ideas and conclusions of the various authors within the book as points of departure for further, and always incomplete, dialogue. Rather than wrapping things up, we leave them open. How could we do anything else, when many of the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic for postgraduate education have yet to play out? In any case, for us, online postgraduate taught education is not something to be solved, streamlined or standardised—it is, and should remain, a rich tapestry of methods, purposes, contexts and practices. For these reasons, this chapter takes the form of a conversation between the editors, looking back over the chapters and forwards to the challenges of online postgraduate education in a postdigital context.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
https://twitter.com/timbocop/status/1348651874224889858. The iceberg received thousands of likes and retweets, along with many comments expressing teachers’ frustrations with the lack of recognition of their efforts. These conversations made clear that teachers were experiencing online teaching during the pandemic as more onerous than classroom teaching, without being given additional time or sufficient support for teaching development or course design.
References
Aitken, G, & O’Carroll, S. (2020). Academic identity and crossing boundaries: The role of the Programme Director in Postgraduate Taught Programmes. Higher Education Research & Development, 39(7), 1410-1424. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2020.1737658.
Aitken, G. (2020). A postdigital exploration of online postgraduate learning in healthcare professionals: a horizontal conception. Postdigital Science and Education, 3(1), 181-197. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-020-00103-w.
Aitken, G., & Hayes, S. (2021). Online postgraduate teaching: re-discovering human agency. In T. Fawns, G. Aitken, & D. Jones (Eds.), Online Postgraduate Education in a Postdigital World: Beyond Technology. Cham: Springer.
Aitken, G., Jones, D., Fawns, T., Sutherland, D., & Henderson, S. (2019). Using Bourdieu to explore graduate attributes in two online Master’s programmes. Advances in Health Sciences Education, 24, 559–576. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-019-09885-6.
Bayne, S., Evans, P., Ewins, R., Knox, J., Lamb, J., Macleod, H., et al. (2020). The manifesto for teaching online. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/11840.001.0001.
Buchanan, R. (2021). Networked Professional Learning in the Postdigital Age: Asking Critical Questions of Postgraduate Education. In T. Fawns, G. Aitken, & D. Jones (Eds.), Online Postgraduate Education in a Postdigital World: Beyond Technology. Cham: Springer.
Carey, B. (2020). What We’re Learning About Online Learning. The New York Times, June 13. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/13/health/school-learning-online-education.html.
Fawns, T. (2019). Postdigital Education in Design and Practice. Postdigital Science and Education, 1(1), 132–145. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-018-0021-8.
Fawns, T., & Sinclair, C. (2021). Towards ecological evaluation of online courses: aiming for thick description. In T. Fawns, G. Aitken, & D. Jones (Eds.), Online Postgraduate Education in a Postdigital World: Beyond Technology. Cham: Springer.
Fawns, T., Aitken, G., & Jones, D. (2019). Online learning as embodied, socially meaningful experience. Postdigital Science and Education, 1(2), 293–297. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-019-00048-9.
Fawns, T., Gallagher, M., & Bayne, S. (2021). Institutional contexts in supporting quality online postgraduate education: lessons learned from two initiatives at the University of Edinburgh. In T. Fawns, G. Aitken, & D. Jones (Eds.), Online Postgraduate Education in a Postdigital World: Beyond Technology. Cham: Springer.
Fawns, T., Markauskaite, L., Carvalho, L., & Goodyear, P. (2021). H2m Pedagogy: Designing for Hybrid Learning in Medical Education. In E. Gil, Y. Mor, Y. Dimitriadis & C. Köppe (Eds.), Hybrid Learning Spaces. Springer.
Hodges, C., Moore, S., Lockee, B., Trust, T., & Bond, A. (2020). The difference between emergency remote teaching and online learning. Educause Review, 27 March. https://er.educause.edu/articles/2020/3/the-difference-between-emergency-remote-teaching-and-online-learning. Accessed 15 June 2020.
Hounsell, D. (2021). Feedback in Postgraduate Online Learning: Perspectives and Practices. In T. Fawns, G. Aitken, & D. Jones (Eds.), Online Postgraduate Education in a Postdigital World: Beyond Technology. Cham: Springer.
Jandrić, P., Knox, J., Besley, T., Ryberg, T., Suoranta, J., & Hayes, S. (2018). Postdigital Science and Education. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 50(10), 893-899. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2018.1454000.
Jandrić, P., Ryberg, T., Knox, J., Lacković, N., Hayes, S., Suoranta, J., Smith, M., Steketee, A., Peters, M. A., McLaren, P., Ford, D. R., Asher, G., McGregor, C., Stewart, G., Williamson, B., & Gibbons, A. (2019). Postdigital Dialogue. Postdigital Science and Education, 1(1), 163-189. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-018-0011-x.
Janssen, C. (2021). Risk-averse academy needs to get on board with new tech. Times Higher Education, March 17. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/risk-averse-academy-needs-get-board-new-tech. Accessed 1 April 2021.
Johnstone, S. M., & Krauth, B. (1996). Balancing Quality and Access: Some Principles of Good Practice for the Virtual University . Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 28(2), 38–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/00091383.1996.9937749.
Jones, D. (2021). Postgraduate Education in A Postcurriculum Context. In T. Fawns, G. Aitken, & D. Jones (Eds.), Online Postgraduate Education in a Postdigital World: Beyond Technology. Cham: Springer.
Jones, C., Asensio, M., & Goodyear, P. (2000). Networked learning in higher education: practitioners’ perspectives. Alt-J, 8(2), 18–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/0968776000080203.
Lee, K. (2021). Embracing Authenticity and Vulnerability in Online PhD Studies: The Self and a Community. In T. Fawns, G. Aitken, & D. Jones (Eds.), Online Postgraduate Education in a Postdigital World: Beyond Technology. Cham: Springer.
Marley, C., Faye, A., Hurst, E., Moeller, J., & Pinkerton, A. (2021). Moving Beyond ‘You Said, We Did’: Extending an Ethic of Hospitality to The Student Feedback Process. In T. Fawns, G. Aitken, & D. Jones (Eds.), Online Postgraduate Education in a Postdigital World: Beyond Technology. Cham: Springer.
Paxon, C. (2020). College Campuses Must Reopen in the Fall. Here’s How We Do It. The New York Times, April 26. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/26/opinion/coronavirus-colleges-universities.html. Accessed 1 April 2021.
Riel, M. M., & Levin, J. A. (1990). Building electronic communities: success and failure in computer networking. Instructional Science, 19(2), 145–169. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00120700.
Sinclair, C., & Hayes, S. (2019). Between the Post and the Com-Post: Examining the Postdigital ‘Work’ of a Prefix. Postdigital Science and Education, 1(1), 119-131. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-018-0017-4.
Stone, C., Downing, J., & Dyment, J. (2021). Improving student retention and success within the context of complex lives and diverse circumstances. In T. Fawns, G. Aitken, & D. Jones (Eds.), Online Postgraduate Education in a Postdigital World: Beyond Technology. Cham: Springer.
Weller, M. (2020). It’s forever 1999 for online learning critics. The Ed Techie, May 14. http://blog.edtechie.net/e-learning/its-forever-1999-for-online-learning-critics/.Accessed 1 April 2021.
Zimmerman, J. (2020). Coronavirus and the Great Online-Learning Experiment: Let’s Determine what our Students Actually Learn Online. Chronicle of Higher Education, 10 March. https://www.chronicle.com/article/coronavirus-and-the-great-online-learning-experiment/. Accessed 1 March 2021.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Fawns, T., Aitken, G., Jones, D. (2021). A Little More Conversation, A Little Less Factionalisation: Thoughts for the Postdigital Future of Online Postgraduate Education. In: Fawns, T., Aitken, G., Jones, D. (eds) Online Postgraduate Education in a Postdigital World. Postdigital Science and Education . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77673-2_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77673-2_12
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-77672-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-77673-2
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)