Arguing that authorship isn’t what it used to be - how we assess students and understand plagiarism needs to shift. Manifesto authors Dr James Lamb, Dr Hamish Macleod and Dr Christine Sinclair are joined by Dr Amy Collier, Associate Provost for Digital Learning, Middlebury College.

Text has been troubled: many modes matter in representing academic knowledge. Online education extends the possibilities of producing assignments and artefacts that are both highly creative and deeply critical. James Lamb presents this as an exciting and challenging territory for teachers, as we consider approaches to assessment and evaluation that move us beyond long established textual orthodoxies and ways of communicating and interpreting knowledge.

A routine of plagiarism detection structures-in distrust. Plagiarism detection systems are seen by many as merely administrative aids to ease the academic assessment workload. Hamish Macleod argues that when used routinely, they send a message of fundamental suspicion which risks distorting teacher-learner relationships and students’ emerging understanding of academic dialogue.

Online can be the privileged mode. Distance is a positive principle, not a deficit. Resistance to online teaching sometimes stems from the view that it is a ‘second best’ mode. Christine Sinclair argues for the need to value good online education for the rigorous, responsive and creative teaching it enables.

Amy Collier responds to the talks before Clara O'Shea chairs questions from the audience.

The Manifesto for Teaching Online can be purchased via MIT Press