Helping International Students Succeed in an Online Environment

Higher education around the globe has taken a shape-shifting crash course since March with academics, staff and senior leadership trying to make sense of the new challenges presented with online teaching. It has indeed taken us all by surprise – a surprise that is surely manifesting a need for adaptive and transformative measures. We have no previous playbook or the proverbial ‘CliffsNotes cheat sheet’ to navigate the appropriate and adequate responses needed to give our students a great learning experience. So, I want to begin this blog post by emphasizing that nothing about the current situation is normal – in fact, far from it! We are in a makeshift transit - curiously searching for and adapting to online pedagogy. This is perhaps the correct response, so please don’t be hard on yourself for not being in perfect sync with online teaching methods. I say this because even though online teaching has been here for quite some time, and is based on tried, tested and well-researched pedagogy, what we are preparing for in the Fall term is not like regular online teaching, but a variation of it – an amalgam of our face-to-face experience, our familiarity with technology and our desire to help students succeed.

In this blog, I have addressed some issues international students might experience in the move to online learning and have penned down a few experiences from teaching international students in the online Spring term. Fair disclaimer: these tips are quite general, and the academics, staff, administrators, online support teams, and instructional leads will be the best people to decide on the future terrain for their faculty units.

But - deep breaths first! And hang on to your newly acquired skills of baking, for we will need all that comfort food soon enough!

Computer & Digital Literacy

Computer and digital literacy are going to be a concern with international students as well as our national students. First off, we must throw out the assumption that if one is an expert in the League of Legends online game then by default that person is an expert at navigating online courses! We must expect that some students might not have studied in an online environment before or have the right familiarity with the technology needed for university-level classes. Some will be hearing the word “Brightspace” for the very first time in their lives! Demystifying the relevant LMS is a great investment for long-term benefits.

What might help?

An online orientation package “An introduction to Brightspace” that has pre-course activities relevant to the course being taught. This describes how to log onto Brightspace, how to access content and assignments, how to submit assignments and check grades, and a glossary of frequently used terms to help ease into the more content-heavy material.
Short, low-stakes, simple English and bite-sized activities at the beginning of the course to ease into online navigation for ourselves and the students.

Asynchronous vs Synchronous

Dalhousie is a truly global community, and we are all now challenged by the space and time that separates us. In this situation, we have the option of teaching synchronously or asynchronously. Synchronous learning happens in real time and provides opportunities for active in-depth learning, a dynamic environment, and space for developing communities of learning. However, it is limited by the rigid and inflexible aspects of time and technology. Meaning - synchronous learning is dependent on strong internet and bandwidth to be effective. Synchronous sessions eat up class time as students struggle with joining the session. Moreover, some of my students attending class from China, Oman and Peru have been kicked out of the session because of internet issues. Students’ learning experience is interrupted by weak internet leaving them frustrated by no fault of their own. On the other hand, asynchronous learning is flexible, custom-paced and affordable. Its challenges include a sense of isolation which can be remedied within the options of discussion boards and group projects. I find the asynchronous part of my classes to be more effective, in that, students have the flexibility to work in their own time and can manage internet issues without feeling they have lost important information (Pritchard, 2019; Lederman, 2020; Pearson Education, 2020).

What might help?

Recorded and captioned lectures (or provide downloadable transcripts). Option of translations for captions can provide linguistic support to students who might struggle with English (Note: Not all video recording software has caption translation feature).
Clear and simple communication for assignments – step-by-step instructions/exemplars that reflect expectations.
Use of collaborative technology to promote asynchronous community of learning. (Brightspace discussion board, live Word docs, Padlet, etc.)

Academic Content

Academic content and linguistic limitations provide challenges to international students as they balance first-year courses in Fall or continue in their consecutive years. As academics, our challenge lies in making content accessible (and yes, by accessible I mean comprehensible for all students.)

What might help?

Internationalizing our curriculum by introducing diverse authors so international students can identify themselves in the content.
Diversifying TAs who can provide linguistic support.
Making the Writing Centre front-and-centre to provide language support.

Connecting students to ESL Programs with English for Specific Discipline courses and Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) courses for faculty.
Offering library services in other languages, as well as English.
Delivering bite-size and punctuated content – punctuated content can be extended to formative assignments.
Adopting a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) approach and giving local and international students alike multiple mediums to express themselves.

Workload

With the new teaching and learning platforms and transitory status of course delivery, there might be a shift in the workload. Considerations must be made for developing online content and assessments, online marking and providing feedback to students (DeWitt, 2020). This increased workload is three-pronged: 1) instructional, 2) administrative, and 3) assessment driven. If you possess the Poseidon’s trident, you have nothing to fear; however, for us, less equipped with magical tools, we need to make decisions about how to best balance this workload. Merill (2020) even advises in favor of planning to do less, if possible!

In addition, for international students, consideration must be made for linguistic challenges and adjustment to a new academic culture. International students come from extremely diverse academic cultures, and it is important that they are made aware of the academic expectations including language, critical thinking, assignment formats, and knowledge organization within assignments.

What might help?

Rethinking what collaborative learning looks like in an online environment (Collaborative PowerPoints, Discussions as assessment, Recorded presentations as assignments, Virtual Teams for discussions).
Negotiating and being flexible with the load of content, assignments, and assessments without compromising quality.
Seeking collaborate projects with other faculty members on assignments that have overarching themes to develop transdisciplinary approach to learning while reducing homework/marking.

Consistency of Design

Consistency of design in online courses is the key to smooth class delivery. This will decrease the learning curve for online navigation and the repetition will promote focus on content rather than the mode of delivery. Individual faculties might want to come up with their own design and stay consistent within it.

What might help?

A fixed weekly or monthly schedule (X number of pages to read every week, or one reflection assignment at the end of each month, or X number of tasks every 2 weeks etc.) Think habits!
Consistent design and delivery of outcomes, announcements, content, assignments, and feedback. (Remember repetition gets the message across!)
Sticking to one designated LMS for ALL communication and assignment submission can help us stay organized.

Communication

Constant and consistent communication of weekly expectations will be key. Research on class communication shows that frequency of communication ensures the understanding of the message. We have to be aware that even in a face-to-face course, the first day of class is a very different experience for our international students coming from various linguistic, academic and cultural backgrounds. I am always thinking about how to level the playing field.

What might help?

Setting up weekly communications that include expectations and tasks.
Proactively explaining assignments and classwork throughout the course.
Constantly referring to the course outline.

Avoiding cultural-specific colloquialisms/idiomatic and figurative language.
When using culturally specific expressions and references, taking time to explain what these references, idioms and colloquial expressions mean. This promotes inclusivity and generates great discussion!

Intercultural Aspects

Being an international university requires us to promote intercultural competence not only in our disciplines but also in our communication. The best thing about a culturally diverse class is that it automatically provides space for developing intercultural competence. However, this competence does not come naturally and needs us to be deliberate in its undertaking. In my experience international students show more engagement and interest in classes when the content is relevant to their history, geography, and culture.

What might help?

Acknowledge and celebrate diversity of thoughts and points of view.

Deliberately seek other ways of knowing.
Promote global citizenry by incorporating global stories in the curriculum.

Academic Integrity (AI)

Students might not have the right AI literacy for a Canadian university context. Research on the topic shows that students plagiarize only when they are anxious, stressed and pushed into a corner (University of Calgary, 2020). It is a desperate attempt necessitated out of threat of failure.

What might help?

Lead and encourage discussions on AI.

Promote AI workshops offered through the Writing Centre.
Have a Brightspace FAQs discussion thread.
Make Urkund reports available to students before the final marking.
Encourage a pre-draft submission for AI feedback before the final submission.
Create assignments that encourage critical and personalized responses.

Bite-sized smaller assignments with low stakes lessen the rate of AI infraction.

Reincarnation of the proverbial dog that ate the homework

For many reasons (genuine or make believe) students are sometimes unable to comply with course expectations. Students communicate these reasons genuinely when the fear of consequences is reduced. Expect that there will be issues with noisy roommates, insufferable siblings, tech issues, ghosting of synchronous classes, family members sleeping in the next room – oh, the list is endless and worthy of its own blog.

What might help?

Class engagement as assessment – using discussion boards to engage students in conversations is an important step in creating learning communities. In our ESL Programs department, we encourage our international students to post on discussion threads and respond to at least two of the posts from their classmates on a weekly basis. To encourage participation, we have assigned a percentage to these discussions. Students are encouraged to post podcasts and written threads. It is a joy to see them participating in these discussions, practicing their English language skills, and developing understanding of the content through critical discussions – all the while making social connections with their peers.
Considering a range deadline (Monday to Wednesday) rather than the infamous ‘submit by 11:59 pm.’

As I am way over the word limit given to me, I will stop writing now. I will, however, add that these are trying times. It is okay to not know things, please reach out and ask for help. Dalhousie services have amazing people who are there to support you in this journey.

You can contact me at: Ayesha.mushtaq@dal.ca
Twitter: @ayeshaamushtaq