OK, but ... an institutionally adopted LMS has the advantage of a known point of access for course information. Students have a lot to manage and keep track of as they make their way through their courses, programs, degrees. If each instructor decides upon a self-selected means of communicating course information etc. significant complexity and mental load is incurred by the student. I see some important advantages to students 'coming to expect [an LMS]' and feeling 'comforted by the inevitability of its use.'

In higher education, I think the LMS was also (or primarily?) built and put into use to accommodate the workload demands of higher enrolment by making course management easier.

I feel excited when I think about causality in association with ungrading. I wonder how ungraded students will approach their studies in courses that are ungraded but also how they'll approach their studies in courses that aren't ungraded, how they might approach learning at work, at home, and in their communities, and how this might impact their mental health and wellbeing.

This makes me think about the multiple and often unpredictable outcomes of collaborative endeavours such as group projects or group-based in-class activities in higher educational settings.

This makes me think back on the Beck et al (1991) article on grade orientation and the Pulfrey & Buchs (2011) article on performance avoidance and autonomous motivation. When grades become the focus of education, a reinforcing feedback loop can cause task-completion to trump learning and motivation to succumb to performance avoidance. When grades become the focus of education there is a strong pull towards playing the game of school (as depicted in the vignette at the start of the 'Grading is a Scam' video) which can kill curiosity, authentic engagement, and risk-taking, as well as conflate grades with self-worth.

I think the most demotivating aspects of many grading systems is that they offer few (if any) ways to recover from early F.A.I.L.s (first attempts in learning)

Many anticipated a certain degree of academic learning-loss due to 1-2years of emergency remote instruction but too few (in my opinion) anticipated the significant losses resulting from 1-2 years of limited social contact, especially during very important formative years for youth and young adults. Many students are struggling with social cues, talking to strangers, making friends, the norms of lecture halls and seminar rooms ... with belonging. We don't need to arm our students for battle; we need to triage their 'injuries' and then development a treatment and rehabilitation plan

Most aspects of life are collaborative. Why do our education systems place such high value and emphasis on independent student work/assessment? Outside of educational systems, when does anyone do anything of importance under conditions that forbid them from consulting with someone they know to be knowledgeable and think might be able to help them complete a task appropriately?

I think there is a need to lift the iron curtain on struggle for our students (and ourselves). Learning is not always easy, but there can be a great sense of accomplishment that comes from struggling through a problem, concept, proof, etc to get to an answer/conclusion. There can even be joy in the process of struggling. But this is one of the places where I see grades get in the way of learning. When I struggle toward an incorrect or incomplete answer/conclusion/attempt and am faced with a poor grade, the struggle seems meaningless. If I struggle toward an incorrect or incomplete answer/conclusion and this is acknowledge as a step in learning the struggle is purposeful.