In nature, estuaries are meeting places. Fresh water, salt water and land come together, enabling productivity and biodiversity that is greater than the sum of its parts. Similarly, university faculty members and learning and development professionals may be able to create—or enable the creation of—what I refer to as “intellectual estuaries.” These spaces bring together often-unlikely groups of people for learning that can be greater than the sum of the knowledge they bring. The presenter has developed this concept over several years of research and practice. Design of these spaces involves boundary spanning or blurring, openness to possibility, productive tensions and inherent ambiguities. Intellectual estuary design is to traditional instructional design what the un-conference is to the conference. Examples will be shared from experience at Fielding Graduate University, where Malcolm Knowles was a founding faculty member, from Royal Roads University and from consulting practice. After introducing the concepts and examples, there will be round table sessions in which individuals can begin to apply the ideas to their own contexts.
Of Interest to: Post-secondary education, Instructional designers, Researchers, Educational technologists
