What Happened?

Twitter, COVID, Remote Work, & LOSS

I have been lucky in my work to always feel deeply connected to my colleagues and the physical space I work in. And, for the last 18 years, equally fortunate to feel connected to many others from around the globe in my profession. A couple years ago, I stopped using Twitter... That happened during COVID, and the result was that I not only lost a lot of connectivity to the people in my field, but also to the people around me in my physical workspace who were working from home. Even now, as we have “come back” to campus, we are still not really here... I feel, and have felt, a great loss.

Back in Happier Times, Todd was Happier

As evidence of the kinds of communities that have supported my work and my well-being, I have a couple to share. I have been a part of a community that lasted many years called the CyberSalon. They are teachers and instructional designers in the Phoenix area who meet once a month in local bars. I met so many inspirational people in that setting. I even started a similar group in my area north of Phoenix and it lasted for about three years. These sort of informal gatherings were close to my heart for professional development is concerned. They embodied not just friendship, but a deep professional commitment to the cause.

For almost thirteen years I have been a part of the digital storytelling community, ds106. I have been a good participant and an active member along with many other inspirational educators. How many people do you know that have a license plate sporting the name of a college course they're taking? And how many are willing to stop on a freeway to take a photograph of them wearing a shirt supporting their course and a freeway exit sign with the course number on it. I am either very committed to the course and people, or just a bit fanatical.

As if having a license plate with a college course number on it isn't enough, I have literally met people from that same course in other countries! Below are some ds106 classmates in Scotland who I had never met face to face until a couple years ago. We had been involved in this course for almost 10 years together, and yet I had never met them in person. We had, over the years, many hundreds of interactions across Twitter. When I visited Scotland, we went to a pub and had some great conversation! One of the amazing things about the internet is it allows us to create these loose ties that over time can form much stronger bonds!

Looking back, I had a deep and vibrant community and I had lost it. Or at least it felt that way. I knew the people were out there. Some had moved to Mastodon. Some had stayed on Twitter. I still could call people or email them, and I did. But, the overall feeling was that I had lost my community, and it hurt.

GRIEF

COVID was especially difficult for all of us. Fewer conferences to meet and informally gather with colleagues. Coffee shops closed. Everything was just Zoom school. Nobody was happy. At least not Todd.

I'm able to walk to work every day. I walk home for lunch every day. I am present on campus every day. When we returned to the campus, only some of us came back full time. There were a lot of empty desks & empty chairs. The sound of laughter was harder to find, and people didn't just stop by to say “hi” and maybe share a hug. In my case it was particularly difficult. The team I had started with was not the team I ended up with. Good colleagues left, and reorgs dominated. It was a mess. Where I once had a bustling and dynamic work environment, I was literally the last person left in a beautiful office space.

I was angry at the institution for casting me aside. I was angry that after 16 years as an instructional designer, the university had suddenly, and without warning, renamed me a "digital technologist." A position that does not even exist in higher education!

I knew that I was valuable, but it sure didn't feel that way. The faculty interactions I had were always wonderful. They've always been that way. I felt like I have always had a purpose of education, but it was being severely challenged. I knew I had to slow down and not be so distant. I had to re-engage with the people I loved to work with. So I did. I re-engaged with the existing structures around me and tried doubly hard to reach out to the faculty I so loved to work with.

One of the first real successes I had with meaningful re-connections was with a learning community I had been a part of for several years. We had had a lot of wonderful experiences together and I knew we could find those again. Even if just through Zoom. I was on the road to recovery.

RECOVERY

IDEA ONE: START A NEW COMMUNITY

Sometime in 2020 or 2021 I decided I needed to reshape or reinvigorate my communites. I was already onto this new "community" idea and wondered about it at other conferences. It bothered me that I had lost these people. The places. I figured a good audience to start with would be instructional designers, or similar people, and to create a space for them to share ideas. Not unlike the great Program for Online Teaching or the ds106 space, a place that people could share ideas and interact with colleagues. I created the Pacific Northwest Instructional Designers site as something that might accomplish that. But, I think it was too ambitious, or it wasn't the right time. The idea was sound but I was exhausted. Perhaps someday it will become something useful.

I have begun reaching out to colleagues in the area as well as people from outside of Washington. I have just become more willing to send an email asking if people would like to chat about almost anything! It is interesting, just as with walking by faculty offices every time you poke your head in to say “hi” they always have great ideas and lots of questions. I am learning to simply be more obnoxious and reach out to others.