Teaching Editing Skills and Standards Online

Teaching Editing Skills and Standards Online

Aviva Tuffield (2015) recently described editing as ‘the art of invisible mending’. However, teaching professional editing skills involves a complex process of making visible these largely hidden practices. For online students from diverse social, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds, training in ‘an invisible profession’ presents particular challenges. This paper draws on a case study from the University of New England (Armidale) to outline key considerations for teaching editing online. The study focuses on an editing subject that includes both an undergraduate and postgraduate offering, and which was developed in response to student requests for more ‘hands-on subjects’. The cohort represents a wide range of skill-sets, from practising editors undertaking professional development to first-year students with little editing experience. Since online students may be accustomed to content- based rather than skills-focussed modes of delivery, certain tensions arise when students undertake ‘visible’ learning activities. These tensions are heightened by the fact that working as an editor involves meeting deadlines, while online learning is asynchronous. Further, in the online setting, there are fewer opportunities for peer-to-peer interaction, which makes working as an online editor additionally challenging. Therefore, course design must effectively utilise online learning tools, while simultaneously employing learning cycles that encourage critical reflection.