Between What Was and What’s Next: Summer’s Liminal Gift to Digital Learning

Summer just hits different on campus, doesn’t it? Things slow down a bit, routines shift, and there’s finally a little space to breathe and think. How do you spend this time? Catching up? Planning ahead? Just trying to stay cool and keep up?

In today’s post, our Executive Director, Van Davis, reflects on his own summer memories and how this quieter season can be a time for asking big questions and setting the stage for what’s next. As we all look ahead to a packed fall, what does summer look like for you?

Enjoy the read,
Lindsey Downs, WCET

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A little over thirty years ago, when I was working on my doctorate in 20^th-century US history and civil rights at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, I spent a couple of summers working at the now-defunct Opryland USA Theme Park.

Most of that time, I managed the front of the house at the Roy Acuff Theater (I’ll be happy if I go to my grave never hearing “Shine On, Harvest Moon” again)!

Those weeks not spent at Opryland were either spent in the Mississippi Department of Archives and History in Jackson, Mississippi, collecting enough research material to last me a few months, or Vanderbilt’s library, poring over microfilm.

I’ve always been struck by how different campuses feel in the summer months. They’re often quieter, although it sometimes feels like the proverbial quiet before the storm. Summer on campus can be a time of possibility and promise. It’s a time to catch up on all of those things that didn’t or couldn’t get done during the academic year and prepare for the next academic year.

It’s a liminal space for us, an opportunity to reflect on the previous academic year and prepare for the upcoming one. We finally have time to ask ourselves questions like “What did we learn last year?” and “How can we, as digital learning professionals, leverage those lessons to drive innovation and student access?” This liminal space gives us the critical time for reflection, which we often don’t always have in the heat of the academic year.

At WCET, we’re also in a sort of liminal space as we reflect on the first half of the year and prepare for a packed fall. Over the last six months, we’ve been busy. We’ve provided you with information on a dynamic federal policy environment, an environment that sometimes feels like it’s changing from moment to moment. Policy moves forward as we work to keep up with what is going on in DC and let you know how it is going to impact your work in digital learning. Staff have been out in the field speaking to dozens of groups on everything from the distance education regulatory environment, AI, and the impact of digital learning on teaching and learning.

We have a lot to look forward to, though. This fall, we’ll be hosting our 37th annual meeting from October 21 – 24 in Denver, Colorado. It’s an exciting program full of sessions on things like accessibility, artificial intelligence, digital learning policy, and other promising digital learning practices. And we’re delighted that this year we will also be hosting ASWE, the Annual Summit for Women in E-Learning, as part of WCET 2025. This fall, we’ll also be releasing new resources on topics such as AI institutional policy, AI literacies, accessibility, and the learn and work ecosystem, plus a white paper that will help you make the case for digital learning on your campus. We believe that these events and resources will provide you with the opportunity to connect with others in the field, as well as gain new insights into how innovation is shaping digital learning and higher education.

So, as we take a moment to catch our collective breath, reflect on the last six months, and prepare for the next six months, we hope you also will have an opportunity to regroup. And, as always, if there is a way that I or WCET can help you, please let us know. We’re here to be a resource and to help.

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