1. Reflection

[1] By way of introducing their 2023 book, Design for Learning, co–authors Jenae Cohn and Micheal Greer describe the origins of their collaboration: “Believe it or not–we [...] wrote this book without ever having met each other once in person!” (p. xix). They continue that when sharing this origin story with others, people are shocked. And for many, especially those not immersed in the world of online writing instruction and course design, it might seem almost impossible to co–author an entire book without ever actually being together. But of course people like Jenae and Michael are immersed in that online writing instruction world, and their meeting, virtually, via participation in the Global Society of Online literacy Educators (GSOLE), which they also reference in their Design for Learning “Introduction” (2023), is precisely how I know both of them as well. In fact, despite feeling like I worked for many years with Michael, I’m not sure we ever did meet in person either. Most, if not all, of our interactions occurred via email, over Zoom, even just talking on the telephone.

[2] So for folks like us, the idea that an excellent book like Design for Learning, or even the creation of GSOLE for that matter, could occur largely at distance is really not that surprising. What also makes the fact that such productive work can happen for the most part virtually unsurprising is the people involved–people like Michael. It probably would be hard to work collaboratively at distance with somebody who was not as enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and just plain willing to give things a try as Michael. But Michael was all of those things. And I know that to be true having worked for a few precious years with him as we more or less invented the two peer–reviewed journals published by GSOLE, an organization that continues to flourish and whose journals, the ones that Michael and I willed into being, are still going strong.

[3] So I wouldn't claim to have known Michael well; or, maybe more accurately, I knew Michael almost exclusively in our roles as founding members of GSOLE and its journals. Nevertheless, we shared a very–let’s say "interesting"–period re: an emergent GSOLE together!! He was inventing/editing Research in Online Literacy Education (aka ROLE) and I was inventing/editing what we then called the Online Literacies Open Resource (now referred to as Effective Practices). We were truly building those planes mid–air! I had many, many conversations by phone and Zoom with Michael as we talked through what our journals could be, should be, shouldn't be, and, of course, generally how to make the entire world a much better place–much of this having to do with effective course design!

[4] His legacy truly lives on in ROLE and in GSOLE. And that we did that work without ever spending much time f2f (aside from maybe a brief conference meeting or two) isn’t really surprising. It’s just a testament to how much energy and smarts Michael could bring to the table, and how he could communicate his warmth and passion, even at distance, in the very fabric of the work he was doing. I, like so many others, will miss Michael very much.