One of the most actionable concepts was offered by the Maryland crew. For their introductory course, individual faculty have put together 2-week modules in their areas of expertise (e.g., social networking). Each module includes a brief description, some discussion questions or issues, and some readings that are a mix of classic and state-of-the-art. The module is then “facilitated” by the instructor. Nice concept, somewhat like what we’ve done in our intro course here, but ours was somewhat less modular and/or tied to individual faculty. The UMD iSchool faculty are considering making their modules available more broadly; stay tuned.

For me the question is still very much one of balance - how to ensure that the students get and share an iSchool identity (why else are they here), but also start learning about, researching, and publishing as a member of a research community as soon as possible.

In the brainstorming we were dared to come up with things that were as removed as possible from how we now do the business of doctoral education. Many of the ideas floated were related to sharing - of students, courses, faculty, research lab apprenticeships, etc. There was also quite a bit of interest (inspired perhaps by the nice examples from Maryland) in orienting PhD students to societal impact and projects that serve the world. And somehow clouds kept showing up, though I can’t remember why!