Teaching in the Digital Age and more words of wisdom from Dr. Tony Bates
I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Tony Bates, the author of Teaching in the Digital Age at the World Conference on Online Learning in Toronto. Tony is a leader in the field of 
online education and I was thrilled to receive an autographed hard copy of Teaching in the Digital Age at the conference. I use this as the textbook for my Teaching, Learning & Technology online course. Although the book was written 2015, it is still very relevant and worth checking out.
Dr. Bates is an outspoken advocate for preparing faculty members in the art and practice of teaching. In his 2017 end of year blog post, he laments:
“Without a grounding in pedagogy and a knowledge of the research into how people learn, it is impossible for most instructors to see the real potential of digital technology for improving their teaching.”
Tony’s stance on this important problem (lack of faculty training in pedagogy and how people learn) is similar to other critics of higher education in the US like D. Fink, John Sener, and Richard Felder.
I’ll end my blog post with a recent quote from Tony:
“Technology is best used when it helps solve an actual teaching problem.”
Learn more about this issue, OER, Innovation, and Online Learning in Tony’s “That was 2017 in online learning” blog post. Also, check out his FREE digital book for guidelines about teaching & learning in the digital age.
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