The Manifesto for Teaching Online

An update to a provocative manifesto intended to serve as a platform for debate and as a resource and inspiration for those teaching in online environments.

In 2011, a group of scholars associated with the Centre for Research in Digital Education at the University of Edinburgh released “The Manifesto for Teaching Online,” a series of provocative statements intended to articulate their pedagogical philosophy. In the original manifesto and a 2016 update, the authors counter both the “impoverished” vision of education being advanced by corporate and governmental edtech and higher education’s traditional view of online students and teachers as second-class citizens. The two versions of the manifesto were much discussed, shared, and debated. In this book, Siân Bayne, Peter Evans, Rory Ewins, Jeremy Knox, James Lamb, Hamish Macleod, Clara O'Shea, Jen Ross, Philippa Sheail and Christine Sinclair have expanded the text of the 2016 manifesto, revealing the sources and larger arguments behind the abbreviated provocations.

The book groups the twenty-one statements (“Openness is neither neutral nor natural: it creates and depends on closures”; “Don’t succumb to campus envy: we are the campus”) into five thematic sections examining place and identity, politics and instrumentality, the primacy of text and the ethics of remixing, the way algorithms and analytics “recode” educational intent, and how surveillance culture can be resisted. Much like the original manifestos, this book is intended as a platform for debate, as a resource and inspiration for those teaching in online environments, and as a challenge to the techno-instrumentalism of current edtech approaches. In a teaching environment shaped by COVID-19, individuals and institutions will need to do some bold thinking in relation to resilience, access, teaching quality, and inclusion.Section 1: Politics and instrumental logics
1. There are many ways to get it right online. 'Best practice' neglects context.
2. We should attend to the materialities of digital education. The social isn't the whole story.
3. Online teaching need not be complicit with the instrumentalisation of education.
4. Online teaching should not be downgraded into 'facilitation'.
5. Can we stop talking about digital natives?
Section 2: Beyond Words
6. Text has been troubled: many modes matter in representing academic knowledge.
7. Aesthetics matter: interface design shapes learning.
8. Remixing digital content redefines authorship.
9. Assessment is an act of interpretation, not just measurement.
10. A digital assignment can live on. It can be iterative, public, risky, and multi-voiced.
Section 3: Re-coding education
11. Openness is neither neutral nor natural: it creates and depends on closures.
12. Massiveness is more than learning at scale: it also brings complexity and diversity.
13. Algorithms and analytics re-code education: pay attention!
14. Automation need not impoverish education: we welcome our new robot colleagues.
Section 4: Face, space and place
15. Online can be the privileged mode. Distance is a positive principle, not a deficit.
16. Contact works in multiple ways. Face-time is over-valued.
17. Place is differently, not less, important online.
18. Distance is temporal, affective, political: not simply spatial.
Section 5: Surveillance and (Dis)trust
19. Online courses are prone to cultures of surveillance. Visibility is a pedagogical and ethical issue.
20. A routine of plagiarism detection structures-in distrust.“An insightful, engaging and thought-provoking book. The Manifesto for Teaching Online is essential reading for students, researchers and educators wishing to critically reflect on the current status quo in distance education and examine alternative futures.”
—Rebecca Eynon, Associate Professor and Senior Research Fellow, Department of Education and the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford

“This book has few peers, offering practical takeaways but never shying away from asking hard questions about the work of online teaching. The authors push the conversation forward in ways that will change the landscape of online education for the better.”
—Jesse Stommel, Executive Director of Hybrid Pedagogy; cofounder of Digital Pedagogy Lab
 
“The Edinburgh team have been cutting through the hype of e-learning for the past 15 years. This neat volume is full of ideas and inspiration for any critical educator who wants to move beyond the usual ‘what works?’ cheerleading that continues to dominate ed-tech.” 
—Neil Selwyn, Distinguished Research Professor, Monash UniversitySiân Bayne is Professor at Moray House School of Education and Sport at the University of Edinburgh, where she is Director of the Centre for Research in Digital Education.

Peter Evans is Senior Teaching Fellow at Moray House School of Education and Sport at the University of Edinburgh.

Rory Ewins is Lecturer at Moray House School of Education and Sport at the University of Edinburgh.

Jeremy Knox is Lecturer at Moray House School of Education and Sport at the University of Edinburgh. He is Codirector of the Centre for Research in Digital Education within the School of Education.

James Lamb is Lecturer at Moray House School of Education and Sport at the University of Edinburgh.

Hamish Macleod is Honorary Fellow and Senior Lecturer at Moray House School of Education and Sport at the University of Edinburgh.

Clara O'Shea is Associate Lecturer at Moray House School of Education and Sport at the University of Edinburgh.

Jen Ross is Senior Lecturer at Moray House School of Education and Sport at the University of Edinburgh. She is Codirector of the Centre for Research in Digital Education within the School of Education.

Philippa Sheail is Lecturer at Moray House School of Education and Sport at the University of Edinburgh.

Christine Sinclair is Honorary Fellow at Moray House School of Education and Sport at the University of Edinburgh.