The thing about intangibles is that they're really hard to talk about. Intangibles are, says Tony Bates, "what we feel or think to be there, but can't quite put our finger on it (both realistically and figuratively)." And, says Bates, "Teachers and instructors as well often feel 'intangibles' in many contexts. One in particular is assessing 'soft' or 'durable' skills such as creativity." And it is in detecting these intangibles that in-person teachers have their advantage. Or so it is claimed. "But the same applies also to online learning. For instance, I have participated in asynchronous, online discussions that have been as rich if not richer than most in-class discussions." To me, intangibles are the result of a process of subsymbolic recognition on the part of an observer - that's why they're a 'feel' that can't be 'put into words'. They're an acquired skill, borne out of practice, which is why new online instructors find the online experience so pauce. But after you've done it a while, you begin to feel them.
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