There are no more teachers, only a community of learners…
I want to talk a bit about SFU Surrey well more so TechBC for a second. Looking back at the experience it was definitely an experiment as a whole. The curriculum was untested, we learned through an online course management system. The classes were modular as opposed to semester based. But the underlying philosophies are what allowed the school to be an innovative hub. Teachers and students were peers, we were all learners in the same vein of how R Murray Schafer described it as “there are no more teachers only a community of learners” The space was open, no physical or mental doors. We were all learning, experimenting, growing, cross-pollinating, evolving, collaborating together.
Recently I’ve gotten word that SFU has decided to remove Design for Digital Environments. It’s a course taught by Russell Taylor an amazingly passionate and inspiring teacher. After reading Peter Merholz recent presentation about designing systems/experiences and not the products it brought me back to my foundations. Design for Digital Environments is the basis of the Interaction Design stream at SFU Surrey. I take for granted that this way of thinking is common knowledge amongst practitioners. Peter does a great service in educating those who did not have an opportunity to be exposed to this type of thinking but why would SFU destroy it for a new cohort of practitioners?
I attended the Grand Opening for the new SFU Surrey campus to support it and its initiatives. It’s an amazing facility and I envy that the students won’t be learning in an old Zellers space but I feel it is unfortunate they will never benefit from the life changing education I had. The philosophies have changed. I hope that any alumni from the school will lend its support to those who inspired and taught you. Let the SFU administration understand the value of courses like Design for Digital Environments as well as other courses that will soon follow.
I understand that some of our courses were redundant with SFU courses and adopting a semester system is aligned with the rest of the university. But removing a course for, the only reason I can think of, not having “SFU Standard” quantitative measurements is not a good reason. So what if we learn theory and get evaluated on our practice? We don’t need to appease SFU’s masters with grades and tests. Those grades do not reflect the knowledge that a one learns. Test scores are temporal, knowledge is forever.
