Collo is everywhere

There seems to be a burgeoning (by which I mean two people) movement on Twitter to make Collo "online." This got me thinking about what that would possibly mean, and that got me thinking about a more fundamental question--where is Collo?

My sense is that we tend to think of it as existing in a classroom and since many of you don't particularly like having to be in the classroom once a week, you suggest making it online. Then Collo would exist on D2L, I guess. So the options are whether Collo should exist in a classroom or on D2L, or maybe some combination of the two. I don't really like those options.

I don't think a lot of what Collo attempts to accomplish is well suited to a large lecture hall. There are times when it is beneficial to get everyone in one room, but those times are not abundant. There are some things I think we can do in smaller classes, though that raises a number of logistical problems. In general, though, I don't think the essence of Collo (does Collo have a haecceity? Colloqueity?) is in any classroom.

It also doesn't (and can't) live entirely online. My sense here is that there was a time when the D2L discussion boards dominated Collo (they shouldn't) and that inclines some of you to think of Collo as existing there (it doesn't.)  Other than that, there isn't a lot of the course or the objectives that are really conducive to being online.

I think the desire for Collo to be online is really just a desire to not have to come to class at 5:15 on Tuesdays in Rogers-Stout. I'm actually sympathetic to that, but that is a lot different than moving it online. A lot of what Collo is or should be about can and should happen outside of the classroom and D2L. It should happen when you meet with each other, when you go to campus events/lectures and just generally when you're being "consciously Honors." That is, Collo is everywhere. It's in and out of the classroom, it's on and offline, it's (I need a third thing because lists are better in threes but, alas, I don't have one.)

So instead of trying to move Collo online, let's think more holistically about how to frame and structure the class so that it no longer tempts you to think that it exists in Rogers-Stout at 5:15 or on a D2L discussion board.

(Note to self: use fewer parentheses.)