A recent article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegraph reminds us that however net savvy our students think they are, they still have much to learn in higher education. The comments attached to the article are worth looking at also.
Perhaps we need to rethink our vision of teachers and courses in higher education. Instead of each class having one instructor, the professor, a better metaphor might be the medical model. The professor is your primary medical provider but you also have access to specialists in a variety of fields depending on the needs of your case: reference librarians in this instance, but also instructional designers or instructional technologists, professors from other courses or fields.
In medicine, neurologists and gastroenterologists are considered doctors. Isn’t it time we started thinking of librarians and instructional technologists as faculty also?
This metaphor has enormous possibilities. Wow. Deeply cool. Thanks.