Lessons Learned: Moving to Teaching Online
I don’t know about you, but I’m tired. This has been a “long haul” and now we’ve been officially told that the Fall term will happen online. It’s been a never-ending sprint, however, now that the shock of the winter term has (mostly) past, and we're starting to prepare for a Fall term online, I’ve taken some time to consider some of the lessons I learned in my first move to virtual teaching.
1) Time is most definitely a construct
Right now, it feels like time is water flowing over days on the calendar. However, when we started this online adventure there was a tangible end date. Some faculty decided to try and replicate their in-person class and continued with synchronous lectures or asynchronous lecture videos. When I began the shift, I wasn’t constrained by lecture notes because I don’t typically lecture in my classes (a pre-1867 Atlantic Canada history course), but I wasn’t sure how much class activity was “enough.” I had to shift my mindset from “What do I need to do for 3 hours of teaching?” to “What do my students need to learn this week?” and “What are my students capable of learning in one week?” I revisited my original course outcomes and goals and let them guide my decision making. The students definitely required more information and context to succeed in their final assignments, so I made shorter (approximately 15-minute) voice-over-PowerPoints. I provided students with additional primary sources that they would’ve analyzed in groups during class time if we were still in the face-to-face environment. Instead, for their remote learning to complete the term, I just asked them to provide short discussion thread responses or respond to short surveys. We made it to the first instance of confederation in 1867, and I felt like I successfully completed my job as a course instructor.
While my remote teaching strategies were fine for surviving last-minute emergency teaching, I’ll need to plan differently for the Fall term. My teaching routine will change, and the I’ll modify the course organization to facilitate student learning. I’ll organize a completely online course in the learning management system (Brightspace) as weekly modules instead of by activity type. My face-to-face Brightspace site is typically arranged in folders that include syllabus, course PowerPoints, assignment descriptions, course activities (e.g. discussion threads and primary source assignments), and other resources. To design a completely online class, I’ll organize the materials according to what the students will need during the week: short content videos or podcasts, readings, primary source response discussion threads, and learning activities. This minimizes confusion for students and helps with organizing the course flow.
2) Relationships are key
In the winter, I was fortunate that the class had already established itself as a great learning community. The students had the opportunity to work together on in-class activities, face-to-face, right from the first day of classes. I intentionally cultivated relationships with the students and organized face-to-face class time to include space for social bonding. I sustained this through the transition to remote teaching by welcoming them back to the course (after the week hiatus), providing them with the opportunity to share a photo of their new “classroom” space (if they wanted to), and administering a short survey to gauge how they were feeling about the end of the term.
Building and sustaining relationships in any learning environment is probably even more important than the course content. However, given that we could still be physically distant for a while, students might consider their courses as an opportunity for connecting with others. So, what can we do?
Fortunately, many of the students are accustomed to creating and sustaining virtual relationships (even if I’m not... yet). Some of them have built communities based on mutual interests through social media platforms. I’m going to try and replicate some of this interest-based community building in my fall course. The students are already connected by the mutual decision to attend university and take my course! I’ll provide a welcome video and orientation to the course to set the tone. Similar to the end of the winter, I’ll provide optional student engagement through the discussion boards where I’ll ask them to introduce themselves, recommend music and television programming, and provide study tips to keep them on track in their courses. Students will engage in team-based learning activities to create connections with their peers and facilitate engagement with the course topic.
3) Asynchronous, when possible, is best
This was a huge shift in my thinking because I love to be with the students, together, in a room. Parts of my classes are very lecture-performance with class-wide discussion. I’m going to miss being in a physical classroom with students in the Fall. However, none of the current conferencing software (Dalhousie-approved Collaborate Ultra, Teams, or even unsupported *gasp* Zoom) can replicate an in-class, personal experience. It would be very frustrating to try and facilitate a synchronous course discussion in these platforms. This is in addition to the reality that students will be scattered throughout Canada and around the world, trying to complete four or five courses from a variety of time zones. They’ll have variable access to internet, hardware (like computers), and resources.
However, online teaching isn’t the same as face-to-face, and that’s okay. I’m going to create a mostly asynchronous, weekly module-based class for the students and consider my role as a facilitator and mentor. I’ll still provide them with short “lectures” that they can download and watch, but most of the class-wide discussion and engagement will occur on discussion boards or through Flipgrid. I’ll keep virtual office hours and agree to meet with students via video chat.
Most of my course assignments are already projects, essays, short primary source analysis, and visual and written reflections. My Winter course included a final exam, which became open book and included thematic essay questions and primary source analysis. I most likely won't include a final exam in the Fall term course, but require students to complete scaffolded written assignments, discussion board reading responses, discussion board primary source analysis, a group wiki, and a review of an exhibition (connecting course content with a relevant museum or art exhibition). Of course, the type of assessments you create will depend on the enrollment size of your course and the types of knowledge and abilities your discipline needs to cultivate and evaluate.
4) Multiple media for the message
Once we moved online, I realized that students would require multiple reminders through multiple media. At the end of the winter term, students hadn’t made a choice to be learning online. They were subject to a last-minute, unexpected move to remote learning (as were most faculty). So, I was familiar with my students’ personalities, learning preferences, and accommodations. To support these factors, I provided multiple ways for my students to access the important information for academic success. My content lectures became voice-over-PowerPoints that included audio and textual information so students could access the core materials through two different sources. All of my announcements were distributed through video (sometimes with mind-maps and illustrations), email, and pdf files. This allowed students to receive the most important course information through media that worked for them- including students that used screen-readers or were highly visual.
Visually mapped course announcements. Hard copy maps were saved as pdfs and uploaded to the Brightspace site for students.
For the Fall, I’ll set a schedule for important communication. It was so simple in a face-to-face class to remind students about due dates for weekly activities and major assignments. However, in the online environment, I’ll schedule important announcements in Brightspace at the start of the term, so that they’re not accidentally forgotten. It’s easy for the days to blend together when you’re working from home. This will be true for the students as well.
5) Student opportunities to engage
As previously mentioned, when students are confined to their basement apartments or at home with their families, they’ll be looking to their university courses for some social connection. This is a potential learning advantage! We hope that students learn to engage with their peers to discuss important theories, topics, or strategies in their courses. In an online environment, this engagement doesn’t occur spontaneously, so I plan to create weekly opportunities for students to connect with each other, and with me!
I’m planning to apply a team-based learning model online, so students feel connected to at least three or four other students in their class. They’ll be required to “meet” once a week, either through text or video chat, and complete a reflection on learning activities. Beyond success in my course, I know this connection is integral to academic success, creation of a scholarly identity, and persistence at the university. Connection to community is the number one reason students succeed academically.
Conclusion
I think my greatest concern moving into the Fall term is the labour and emotional burdens placed on faculty and students. Very few of us have chosen to teach and learn in the online environment, but this is an unusual circumstance. I’d encourage all faculty members to become familiar with the supports for students offered through Student Affairs. They’re increasing online resources and have a fabulous team that can support students’ success. In terms of faculty managing this new teaching environment, I’d recommend that you maintain collegial relationships. You’ll need to balance this new teaching environment with all the other pressures imposed by the university. Your greatest allies are the colleagues who are facing the same challenges presented by this new teaching environment.
If you have any concerns about moving online in the fall, please feel free to contact me or the Centre for Learning and Teaching at clt@dal.ca.
Resources
Danielle Kinsey “Exactly How I Taught My Third-Year Online Course” Canadian Historical Association, 25 May 2020.
Ian Milligan “Setting up an Online Course in LEARN: One Historian to Another” 21 April 2020.
Team-Based Learning Collaborative “Overview” Team-Based Learning Collaborative.