SoTL corner - August 22, 2022 This week is a busy one … so I’m making the SoTL Corner easy on myself by featuring research done by Viola Manokore and myself. In October of 2020, we conducted a research study involving instructor surveys, instructor interviews, and student surveys. Much of this research was done with NorQuest faculty and learners. Our project was rich and complex. Survey data had to be coded by themes, sorted, and then reexamined for emerging patterns and significances. Interviews had to be note-taken or transcribed and then reviewed, compared, and correlated. Then Viola and I framed up three different inquiries and went through the process of writing articles and submitting them to peer reviewed journals for publication. This last part is like playing tennis. You submit the article, they send it back with suggestions, you make the changes and send it to them, and so on. In the end, both parties (writers and editors), end up with articles that are sharp and specific. Of course, not every SoTL inquiry must be as rigorous or academic as the one that Viola and I undertook. In fact, many SoTL studies are informal and remain in-house. Research questions, observations, and findings are shared only within a particular department. The relevance and application of these inquiries are very specific to a particular cohort or a particular course or instructional strategy. And there is a lot less stress ab out polishing and publishing! That said, it is kinda fun to put yourself out there and submit to online journals. This is something that Viola is very experienced with, and I am trying to catch up! At this point we have three articles published online and, in the last 90 days, they have been downloaded 288 times by researcher from all over the world. What follows is a quick snapshot of each article. If you want to read the full article, or just download it to read later, just click on the title! Our first article, TPACK Tried and Tested: Experiences of Post-Secondary Educators During COVID-19 Pandemic (based upon 140 Alberta instructor surveys) explored educators’ experiences during the rapid shift from face-to-face to emergency virtual remote teaching and learning as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings suggest that educators who were more comfortable with their TPACK (technical pedagogical content knowledge) had an easier transition to virtual remote teaching. Institutional support, students’ digital literacy/access, and overall wellbeing were also identified as factors that influenced educators’ overall experiences. This article really unpacks the whole concept of TPACK as well as Hutchings’ model for SoTL inquiry. It also shares many of the strategies and practices (for example: flipping the classroom, improving communication strategies, incorporating activity into synchronous lessons, and moving to a competency model) instructors used to be successful in a new teaching modality. Our second article, Replication or Reinvention: Educators’ Narratives on Teaching in Higher Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic zeroed in on the instructor interviews we conducted (11). The interviews yielded rich anecdotes about the shift to emergency remote virtual learning. Our thematic analysis revealed that educators’ experiences were influenced by three main factors: (a) student engagement, interactions, and persistence in learning; (b) competence in the application of teacher technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK); and (c) overall wellbeing of faculty and students. The article showed just how different the pandemic shift was for our post-secondary instructors. While some found the adjustments to be invigorating, others were frustrated and a little lost. And they let us know that! The third article, “I Did Not Sign Up For This”: Student Experiences of the Rapid Shift from In-person to Emergency Virtual Remote Learning During the COVID Pandemic was the latest to be published and I think it is the most interesting to read. In it you will hear the voices of our students and you will come to see their experience as much more complex than just simple “learning interactions”. Our students were impacted by the stress of the pandemic itself, varying levels of access to and confidence with technology, and a general sense of disconnect (even abandonment!). For this study, Viola and I used a model developed by Athabasca University’s Dr. Terry Anderson as an organizational frame. The data was organized and analyzed according to Anderson’s six factors in online teaching, namely: (a) Independent Study; (b) Peer, Family, & Professional Support; (c) Structured Learning Resources; (d) Community of Inquiry; (e) Communication; and (f) Paced, Collaborative Learning. The results are both affirming and concerning. You should click on the link and take a quick read! Now our research study is becoming a bit stale. It is time to check in with the field again. Are the instructors and students still struggling with the new teaching modalities, or have they attained a new level of comfort? So, what you planning to investigate this year? What aspects of student learning or of your teaching practice might need a closer look?
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My greatest anxiety in synchronous online teaching a class of students is this feeling of being disconnected and not literally, but again socially, emotionally, epistemologically. I am facing my two-dimensional screen, telling myself that all is good and to stick to my plan—delivering content, directing activities, facilitating turns “to speak”—all the while wondering… Are you there? Can you ‘see’ me? Are you okay? Where are you? Are we okay? (Tarc, p. 121) This sentiment from Paul Tarc, an Associate Professor in Education at Western University, is echoed, over and over again, in the transcripts and survey answers from the research study that Viola Manakore and I are currently working through involving ACIFA partners. Here are just a few quotes I lifted from instructors we asked to relate their greatest challenge in moving to online instruction:
Last month, when our online engagement learning team began to meet as a small community of practice, I think this disconnect was our starting point. But after several meetings, we began to ask ourselves some different questions:
Engagement or Interactivity? As you might have guessed, after reading the first two installments on this topic (April 12 & 19), our faculty learning team concluded that, while engagement and interactivity may be linked, they are not synonymous. This is especially the case when we limit our notion of engagement to deeply connecting with the content and skill development in our coursework. Having students compete in online quizzing (Kahoot, Quizizz and the like), respond through the chat or status bar, use the online whiteboard, engage in virtual icebreakers, and indicate their opinions through polling software (Mentimeter, Polly, etc.) might break up tedious synchronous lessons, but these activities may or may not promote true engagement. For some of our students—who prefer independent, asynchronous learning—such work is just busy work, more of a distraction than a support. That is not to devalue these interactive activities. If such activities keep many students attending and alert, and give the instructors a sense that “the students are there”, effective instructors will find ways to integrate such interactivity into both the synchronous and asynchronous coursework. In fact, such activities can enhance a feeling of community and promote student to student connections. Quizzing apps help students to consolidate and remember concepts and terms and promote competition and even teaming (depending on the app being used). Having students regularly indicate their status in the chat (Let me know if you are with me… thumbs up or down?) or having them “flood the chat” (Type your answers into the chat but refrain from hitting enter until the instructor gives the signal!), can help turn the chat box from a nuisance into a powerful feedback and learning tool. Before class or gap time energizers (Scavenger hunts, people bingo, riddles, chair exercises, etc.) can provide some humour and wake up a sleepy cohort. And polling helps the instructor gain a sense of where students are at, and how they might adjust their presentations and activities based upon student readiness. In addition to some of the interactive activities suggested above (quizzing, chat, icebreakers, and polling) which provide immediate feedback, some more suggestions put forward by our engagement team to create energy and build community included:
Coping with the Disconnect But while all of the activities above might encourage more participation and even help improve attendance in synchronous classes, they may not help instructors overcome the unease of teaching to a computer screen and the bittersweet longing for things “as they were before Covid”. In a recent publication Paul Tarc, captures this sentiment quite eloquently: For me, as an educator in higher education with considerable autonomy of my curricular materials and teaching approaches, the greatest lack in the in the virtual classroom are the greatly diminished multi-sensory feedback loops. These feedback loops are crucial to the relational, and emotionally-laden, labour of educating. The capability to quickly read the body language, facial expressions, class dynamic and circulation of ideas and affects is greatly minimized in the virtual classroom; in turn, so is a spontaneity and capacity to engage and expand the intersections of teacher (identity, experience and knowledge), students (Identities, experiences and knowledge) and curriculum. (Tarc, p. 122) There’s something about teaching face to face that many educators find energizing and invigorating. Much like the professional hockey players that have been forced to compete without the roaring crowds and professional musicians who play without the appreciation and applause of their patrons, experienced classroom instructors are also missing such immediacy and intimacy. Imagine a stand-up comic doing their routine without the cues and clues of a live audience! How hard must that be! It is a bit like writing a blog never knowing if people are reading and appreciating it, or simply clicking on it and leaving... So, what can we do to cope with the kind of disconnect that many instructors (and students) are feeling in the wake of this year-long and continuing emergency remote online teaching? Here’s a few reminders that I keep telling myself:
Considering the needs of both students and instructors As we march forward to a post-Covid reality, there is considerable buzz around what we have learned and achieved as post secondaries in our rapid move to online learning. Institutions are looking at the past year as evidence that we are ready to move on from 19th and 20th models of learning. The 21st century learner wants more flexibility in how, when and where they learn – and we found ways to make that happen! And there are savings and opportunities to be had! Having many more students take their programming online, and having instructors teach from anywhere significantly cuts down on the physical requirements of a college or university and opens up student enrollment on an international scale. As a result, many institutions are committing to more asynchronous online, hybrid or Hyflex models of instruction; this is the way forward after Covid! And it may be so. However, before we rush off and sound the death knell for structured, scheduled, corporeal, in-class instruction, we also need to need to remember that not all of our students are comfortable with the requirements and trade-offs of learning online. At NorQuest, many of our students have struggled with their schooling, and they have come to our college for the community, routine, support, and structure that face to face learning offers. We must remember the needs of these students and build a blend of programming options that allows our students to succeed. In addition, we must also look to the needs of our instructional staff. Throughout this pandemic they have been asked to shift the way that they teach, and for some instructors the change came rather easily. But, just like our students, we are not all the same. For many instructors, it was a very steep learning curve. I know of many instructors who have felt isolated, helpless (tech and tools were challenging), and frustrated. Like Paul Tarc, they wondered if they were truly getting through and they were concerned for the learning (and even well-being) of their students. Some of these instructors have confessed to me that the past year has caused them to re-consider their work and worth as an educator, and to entertain the notion of a career change. They no longer have the zeal they used to have when preparing for their classes and sharing a community with their students. And this wrinkle around instructor engagement often gets lost, as we try to press our hot irons through issues related to student enrollment and engagement in our current teaching reality! Just how can we make sure that our instructors are also feeling engaged in their learning? Especially those instructors who hunger for the kind of interactions and “multi-sensory feedback loops” that previously gave them energy and connections. How do we continue to support these faculty in their professional growth? How can re-instill confidence and provide validation for their efforts? How do we build programs that allow these instructors to thrive alongside their students? These are questions program builders and instructional leaders cannot afford to ignore. And they are just a few of the questions that keep me up at night. I’ll end this blog with several questions for you. What has sustained and kept you engaged as you worked through the pandemic pressured teaching transitions this past year? And what will keep you engaged and energized as we transition to new ways of providing education and training to our students? Feel free to send in your responses or further questions through the reply feature below! Tarc, P. (2000). Education post-‘Covid-19’: Re-visioning the face-to-face classroom. Current Issues in Comparative Education (CICE), 22(1), 121-124. Wow. one whole year. That's how long it's been since this whole Covid warped reality has been with us. Remember the first time you had to line up outside the Safeway store and then, when you got in there were arrows on the floor and empty shelves where there should have been toilet paper and canned goods? Remember going out on an errand in the middle of the day to find the streets deserted? I thought that we might go through a short lockdown of working from home for a few months but eventually we would be back at the college together - hopefully by September. But it hasn't turned out that way. And there are so many things I miss:
These informal interactions, would often lead to powerful conversations and important insights. They also gave us an opportunity to “switch off” if we needed to. Covid-19 has really complicated the role of the Faculty Developer. This year, like everyone else, your Faculty Developers have been pushed in ways we never imagined. Our roles have changed, we’ve had to learn quite a number of new technologies, and we’ve had to find new ways to reach out and connect with the instructors we serve. It has been an intense, anxiety-inducing, exhausting, and surprising year. For our Faculty Development team, the intensity ratcheted up almost right away. Overnight, our instructors were suddenly thrust into situations and roles they weren’t quite prepared for. And It was our responsibility to support them. As Faculty Developers, it meant shifting to more of an “emergency services” role. Oh, we weren’t dealing with life and death medical emergencies but there were emergencies all the same. Joan and Maryna were constantly dealing with Moodle and BBCU emergencies. Instructors were struggling with the new online environment and their requests for support needed to have immediate responses. It was “all hands on deck” as training sessions and resources were quickly developed. Moodle Help was swamped with emails. And while instructors wrestled with the technology and isolation, they also struggled with self-confidence and the fear that their face-to-face persona and classroom interactions would not transfer very well to the new environment. Sarah and I also learned, very quickly, how to be of service to faculty who were trying to be engaging and compassionate in this online reality – without burning themselves out. As a team, our Faculty Developers were extremely busy, but also somewhat energized. It was a time when our roles were stretched to the limit. We were an “essential service”. That felt good. But, as instructional coaches, we also experienced – both first and secondhand – the real frustrations of our colleagues and students, and we often felt powerless to change things. And that was hard. Then came the growing anxiety, when we, like everyone else, realized that this wasn’t just a short-term event. Just how were the lockdowns affecting our NorQuest students? Would our enrollments fritter away to nothing? What would this mean for the future of many NQ programs? How would the isolation, uncertainty, shrinking budgets, and pandemic pressures affect the instructors and the teams that we work with? How was it affecting our close colleagues? Like many other departments, our team shrunk in size as seconded people were sent back to their departments. For the past couple of months, it has just been the Joan and Jeff show. For my part, I found it much harder to get a full night’s sleep. My head was swimming with all of the questions above and many more. How could I continue to support faculty, when it was so hard to reach them? Like many of you, I started to put in longer and longer days. Having no commute, I could now start work at seven and I was often online from that point right till supper hour. And the breaks were few and far between. Nobody came by my desk and suggested going for a walk to Second Cup or catching a bite at the Commodore. In an attempt to reach more instructors, our faculty development team shifted our approach. We had to find new ways to connect with our instructors and promote collaborative reflection. These ways included the Monday Morning Musings, one-on-one meetings with new instructors, Marvelous Moodle Minutes, Faculty Talking Circles, and, more recently, the Faculty Community of Practice and the Learning Teams. At the same time, we each found ourselves on quite a number of committees and working teams, and we began to look at projects that might better support faculty by bringing resources and supports under one umbrella. And that was exhausting. The days began to seem like one long video meeting - as one meeting ended the next would begin. Only after work hours ended, would I have to do the “heavy lifting”, when I could plan, write and think without the interruption of emails, Teams chat, or Teams meetings. That’s why I took the last week off. It was an attempt at a “circuit breaker”. Let’s see if I can establish some healthier routines! Find a better work/life balance. Practice what I preach… But for all the stresses and disappointments, there have been some bright moments. We’ve learned how to more effectively teach in synchronous online environments and structuring assessments in ways that students need to apply and understand rather than simply choose or remember. We've also learned many things about setting up our Moodle courses so that they're more interactive and less of a repository of readings and assignments. Hopefully many of these learnings will not be lost when we go back to doing something closer to face-to-face learning. NorQuesters have also found many ways to connect with each other even though we are not on campus in the same numbers. NorQuest Esports, faculty socials and trivia nights, Unscripted presentations, fellowship meetings, informal department “check-ins”, and learning teams are just a few of those ways. And hope is on the horizon. Like many Albertan seniors, my mom and my in-laws have had their first vaccine shots and that gives me a bit of comfort. In my very first email / blog I wrote about the challenges ahead and one line that resonated with more than a few people was "Just Breathe". I think that we need to keep coming back to that. This pandemic has asked us to learn patience, to be perseverant and not to be panicked or paranoid. I’m just thankful for our community at NorQuest. We’ve really had to draw on each other this past year, and that’s also not such a bad thing. Let's see what the next year brings. Pandemic Pressures! “I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay, small acts of kindness and love.” –J.R.R. Tolkien This weekend I found myself reflecting on some very difficult things:
I found it a bit wearying. It did not help that what we are experiencing on a global scale, we are also experiencing in a more immediate way; on a NorQuest scale.
As instructional staff, we are under a lot of daily pressure. Pressure to engage and support our students at the same levels as pre-pandemic. Pressure to ensure that our students will gain the knowledge, skills and professional judgements that will ensure their success in their careers. Pressure to work from anywhere, with less opportunity to collaborate, less opportunity to commiserate. Pressure to be a “team player”, to keep working on a positive culture and to look forward to the future of teaching and learning. If you are anything like me, you’ve probably been sighing more frequently lately, and you may also fervently long for when things were a little simpler, like say, a year ago? Oh, this pressure has not necessarily been put upon us by the college itself or by our deans, chairs and managers. The NQ leadership messaging from the outset has been encouraging and full of grace. In fact, much of the pressure comes from ourselves. Most instructors at NorQuest College are “wired for service”; we desperately want what is best for our students and we often sacrifice hours and hours trying to meet their needs. We are also acutely aware of our own shortcomings as educators, as “tech facilitators”, and as care providers.
No matter the source, the pressure is there. The isolation and the steady stream of negative news does not help. This past week there were numerous articles and TV features about stressed-out teachers. My frequent interactions with faculty also bore this out. Instructors told me that:
Yikes! When I listened to all of this, I realized that I was struggling with many of the same pressures. So I asked many of these same instructors for coping strategies. How did they continue to keep their heads above water and find satisfaction in their work? Here are just a few suggestions:
These strategies, suggested by our colleagues, can be quite helpful. However, just like dieting, knowing the plan and actually sticking to it are two different things. (Guilty as charged!) It might be worthwhile to find an “accountability partner”, a friend or a colleague who can “check in” to chastise us when our self-care actions do not actually align with our intentions. One last suggestion given – and this is my favorite – reach out and start a conversation with someone new or someone you have not talked to in a while. There is a tendency for all of us to get a bit myopic, seeing the world only through our own field of vision. One of our colleagues shared that, when she feels weighted down with planning, decisions and problem solving, she seeks out conversation. Just talking to a student or a colleague from a different faculty can help us see that there is a bigger world out there. Our work is just our work. Other people have very different stressors and satisfactions, and listening to them can give us new perspectives. Opening up your heart and mind to the world of someone else can be extremely beneficial, to them and to you! After this reflection and inquiry, I know that I have some work to do on establishing a healthy work/life balance. Perhaps you do too. I am looking forward to this week’s Faculty Talking Circle with Sarah Apedaile and Sherry Greenbank. I hope you have time to join us. That’s all for this week, Jeff Student Survey (a few quick observations)
As part of our research study into the transition to online teaching due to Covid-19, Viola and I sent a survey out to NorQuest students, to see if their experiences align with instructor perception and experience. One week in, we already have 400 student responses! Now properly examining and unpacking such a data set will require a considerable amount of time and focus, but I thought I might share just a few tidbits. The students considered a number of closed and open questions, but the two that were the most interesting were:
Concerning “what works”, the two most frequently mentioned aspects were 1) the ability to watch pre-recorded lectures or recordings of the synchronous classes on their own time and in their own way (25), and 2) the flexibility of online learning so they could plan their own schedules around work, family commitments and other class work (17). Quite a number of students also remarked on how the online experience has saved them time and money with no commute and a flexible schedule (13). Students also wrote that they appreciated instructors who used the tech effectively (“BBU lessons are awesome!”), especially when the instructors use the chat and microphones well, weave in games, breakouts & polls, and maintained regular communication through check-ins, forums and messaging (8). Several students remarked that “Moodle organization has improved” (6), PowerPoints and lectures are more concise (3), and that instructors are giving more clarity about expectations between lessons (3). In addition, there were students who confessed that the online experience has taught them more about tech and that they have become much more self-disciplined (4). The list of what wasn’t working for the students ran a little bit longer. Okay, a fair bit longer. Here are some of the issues that bubbled to the top of the list (so far, I’ve only got through 200 or so of the 400 responses):
Of course, it is early in the data analysis stage, but I thought I might share some of the findings. There seems to be several very different groups of students going through this change: those who are actually thriving in a flexible environment where they can watch recordings and take charge of their learning, those who feel disconnected and long for the in-person connections, and those who are challenged by the technology and demands of online connectivity. Moreover, a great deal depends on who their instructors are and just how engaging they build their asynchronous and synchronous environments. I hope we might address some of these findings in the talking circle on Friday. What is SoTL?
One of my roles at the college is to encourage instructors to examine closely their teaching practice with an eye to what works and what might not be quite so effective. The thought is that every one of us, no matter how experienced and skillful we are, can get better at the practice of teaching. Instructors who are reflective practitioners plan their lessons thoughtfully, seek feedback from students and colleagues, review their lessons and sometimes watch them over again (handy to do in BBU!), and make timely and skillful adjustments to their ensuing lessons and units. Those who want to take reflective practice to the next level engage in something we call “the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning” (the NQ definition of SoTL is included at the end of this musing). By doing so, these educators move from reflection to research. Not only do they seek answers to questions they may have asked about their own teaching, they also look for learnings to be shared with colleagues and applied in wider contexts. SoTL is a relatively new wrinkle in post-secondary education, having been on the scene for only 30+ years or so. Before this time, the research focus for many instructors and professors seemed confined only to their area of teaching expertise; literature professors studied literature and health care instructors studied advances in the world of medicine and care. Teaching was just a vehicle for conveying what they learning in their studies and research; it didn’t merit study in itself. However, this changed in the 1990’s. Many post-secondary instructors started to realize that there the practice and pedagogy of post-secondary instruction was not something that could be taken for granted. Skillful use of teaching approaches, strategies and innovations could make learning more interactive, engaging and powerful. And so these post-secondary educators began to research not only what they taught, but how they taught. Since that time, SoTL has gained in popularity. There are now conferences and publications established so instructors from a wide array of academic, professional or vocational fields may share their questions and findings in working with students in post-secondary settings. One such conference is the STLHE conference (The Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education) and another is the Symposium on Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (sponsored by Mount Royal University and held annually in Banff). Both of these conferences attract SoTL researchers from around the world! At NorQuest College, we have had quite a number of SoTL projects conducted in the last couple of years. Instructors have asked:
The NorQuest Research Showcase last year featured a number of these inquiries and several are now being prepared for presentation and publication. Just this week Viola Manakore and I hope to launch one more SoTL project. Our inquiry will ask instructors, from NorQuest College and from other colleges and institutes across Alberta to respond to a survey and perhaps participate in informal interviews. Our objective is to explore the experiences of post-secondary educators and students as they have transitioned from face-to-face learning to alternative forms of instruction during COVID 19 pandemic. More specifically, we would like to know:
Obviously, Viola and I are not the only researchers looking at this issue. There were some surveys and questionnaires sent out early in the pandemic that captured some of the confusion and quick thinking of the time. That said, I think we are in a very advantageous position to follow-up on some of this research. Instructors have had five months to make adjustments, explore technologies and get feedback. Now is the time to capitalize on what they have learned and consolidate it, so that it might be shared. So, I hope that, when the invite to participate in the study comes to your email this week, you will choose to jump in and share your learnings! If you have any questions about SoTL or are thinking of perhaps starting on a project of your own, please contact me. I will be running workshops later in this term, but a preliminary conversation is usually the best way to get started! The NQ SoTL definition: The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) involves the close examination of the relationship between teaching and learning at the at the post secondary level. Faculty members who engage in SoTL conduct focused inquiries into their teaching practice with an eye to improving the engagement and achievement of their students. SoTL is primarily concerned with investigating and improving the “how” rather than the “what” of post-secondary teaching practice. Such inquiry necessitates the identification of an innovation, problem, or process to study; a review of previous research and seminal literature; the skilful and deliberate implementation of innovative teaching practices and strategies; a detailed reporting of success and failure; thoughtful analysis and reflection; and the eventual dissemination of findings through presentations or publications. SoTL may include inquiry into teaching aspects such as course design and implementation, classroom or online facilitation, review of assessments or assignments, innovative learning formats or systems, and/or program evaluation. Ultimately, SoTL adds to the growing body of knowledge related to post-secondary teaching and learning by providing practical applications for promising educational theories and innovations. References:
Not sure what to write about this week. I have a couple of pieces started on online instructional practices and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, but I think I’ll save those two for a week when everyone is back. So this week’s Musings will be short and sweet.
Find Ways Forward This past week I’ve been reflecting on the Q’s and some of the next steps in the ambitious culture initiative we’ve all been involved in. I think the Q’s provide some very good starting places for individuals and units to build community, establish trust and continue working on the real work of providing quality educational experiences for students who come to NorQuest seeking a safe place to grow in their understanding, acquire new skills and create opportunities for themselves. That said, Covid and cutbacks have made it hard to keep positive. Enrollment numbers, especially of international students, are significantly down and that has caused some departments to face some very challenging scenarios and decisions. Once again, there is anxiety and uncertainty around staffing, support and service. Well perhaps now it is even more important to look to the Q’s for some direction and hope, while we face these troubling circumstances. Difficult decisions and uncertain conditions necessitate that we “show compassion”, “have honest conversations” and “find ways forward”. That means moving past the tendency to make our Q’s into cute but empty catch phrases or Coke bottle slogans, and dig deep to examine how we can put the principles in the Q’s into practice. I’ve had a quick look at some of the data emerging from the “difference makers” work and there are all sorts of suggestions and opportunities that were shared. The question is, “Are we ready to make that commitment?” How can we show, in our words and actions, that we are continuing to grow in our understanding of safety, inclusion, community, support, opportunity, respect and care? Moreover, how will this be very evident to our students and to our colleagues? More on this in a later musing, time to do some more deep digging! Learning with and from Faculty…
This past week I had the chance to learn a lot from our faculty. On Friday we held the second Faculty Talking Circle. While the first Talking Circle focused on “Making a Community Online” (Belonging), the second circle dealt with “Learning about Teaching – courtesy of COVID” (Mastery). Eighteen faculty participated in the exchange of teaching ideas, tips and tools. A business instructor said that she builds community in her classes through the use of WhatsApp (instant messaging). Many of our students are already very familiar with this app and creating groups so you can share ideas, remind students of deadline, and just chat has proved invaluable. As one participant remarked: “Email is something that old people use to communicate, if you want to connect with students - you need something instant”. Several other instructors suggested just picking up the phone and calling individual students; the time investment pays off in the relationships built. One nursing instructor shared that she promotes engagement through Mentimeter (an interactive presentation app). She said that Mentimeter was easy to use and was not as competitive in nature as some other programs like Quizlet. Other applications and tech tools shared were Jeopardy Labs, VoiceThread and Loom. If you don’t know what these are or how you might use them, just google them. Or send me an email and I will connect you to a faculty member using them! But a significant part of the conversation just circled back to practices we know to be effective in both face-to-face teaching and online environments. Connections are built and interest sustained when you engage emotions, inject humor, and promote creativity. And the care and attention paid to setting expectations, clarifying roles, giving intermediate and overall deadlines, and ensuring contributions are just as important when putting student into online groups, as when we put students in group in our classrooms. In fact, perhaps even more important. It is easier to “supervise” groups in a classroom than it is to do so online. Joan shared that it is helpful to develop some simple “participant guidelines” for many different online tasks (wikis, forums, breakout groups, group project work, etc.), in order to avoid confusion and promote effective, on-task work. Last week I was also able to participate in Allison Fieldberg’s “Teaching Wheel” presentation for FSCS. Allison used the four main characters from “the Golden Girls” (a sitcom from the 80’s) to explain four different zones of online teaching. While teaching synchronously using Blackboard Ultra, Microsoft Teams, or other presentation programs seems to be “sexy” (like Blanche Devereaux), it can be difficult to get full participation, it can be hard to schedule, and it takes a fair bit of preparation. Alison advocated a more balanced approach so that teaching isn’t just concentrated presentations and Moodle assignments. Students can be supported through layers and levels of activities such as independent readings, online activities, collaborative documents, group chat, asynchronous discussion (forums and blogs), and pre-recorded audio and video. These activities were compared to the other three golden girls (Sophia, Rose and Dorothy), they may not be sexy, but they are golden all the same! Taking the challenge extended by Allison’s presentation (not everything needs to be sexy and synchronous!), and the need to “engage emotions, inject humor, and promote creativity” I decided to make a simple little music video using PPT and saving it as an MP4. The task would allow me to explore how best to share recordings (Dropbox, Google Drive or YouTube) and, at the same time, act on the Culture Q our that team was focusing on for the week (“Work at play and play at work”). The result was “Empty Chairs & Empty Classrooms” my cheesy interpretation of a song from Les Miserables. Here’s the link, https://youtu.be/9IfE_PiPoLs. Let me know what you think! I hope that it brings a wistful smile to your face. By the way, the best way that I found to share a big file like this is through personal YouTube accounts and making sure that students control their links. Other ways can work, but this is simplest. Brave New Horizons? This past week I had the chance to work with instructors and instructional leaders in a number of different situations. In our conversations a metaphor kept surfacing, one that intimated that we have all been a little at sea, we’ve buffeted the waves and are looking to make some course corrections. I’ve been doing some thinking about that, like all metaphors… it works until it doesn’t. The COVID 19 pandemic set off a storm that we are all experiencing. More specifically, at the college, it caused us to jump into action, with a call for “all hands on deck” and people put themselves to work: bailing, tending to the sails, and taking turns at the rudder. We saw managers and staff working side by side handing out computers, making phone calls to check on our students, solving tech and logistical issues, and finding innovative ways to deal with the situation (like running a program out of one person’s garage). As the violence of the storm settled a little and the waves quieted a bit, we’ve had a chance to do a bit of a re-assessment. We know that the storm isn’t over and we will be asked to make any number of adjustments and sacrifices going forward. Government cutbacks - both federally (LINC) and provincially - are not going away, enrollment numbers are uncertain, programs and campuses are being re-examined, and the way our courses and instruction might look going forward may be very different from the way it has been. Already the U of A has been discussing the possibility of keeping all classes online when start-up happens in the fall, and at NorQuest I have heard some talk of “hybrid” instruction, with face-to-face classes complemented with regular online teaching. People are trying to figure out their new roles, as instructors and leaders, in changing conditions. There’s been some tension as people try to reclaim their authority, figure out their ongoing responsibilities, and try to enlist (conscript?) others in visions for post-secondary learning. As such, there is some skillful negotiation and navigation that needs to take place in order to settle in to new routines. And we are also seeing dear colleagues leaving the college for both financial and programming reasons. Now I know that there is also some sadness for what was left behind. The comforts of the safe harbors that we have left are beginning to be a fond, nostalgic memory. However, this storm is testing our mettle. It is helping us to discover new abilities, as we adapt to online and distance programming. We have been given the opportunity to work together and determine what will be required of us going forward, as we set out towards new horizons. But before we get too much further, it may be worthwhile to take a moment and acknowledge the work and investment that has already happened. We need to value and validate those around us and acknowledge their efforts and commitment. Most of our students have been patient resilient and accommodating as we shifted our programming. Our colleagues have been supportive and encouraging, sharing materials, innovations, and ideas. Our leaders have been willing to jump to the emergent needs, and take on unpleasant and difficult tasks. So while last week I focused my thoughts on perseverance, resilience and thankfulness, this week, I hope to make a point of saying “THANK YOU!” to the individuals and groups I will be working with. Thank you to security, the cleaning group, the staff, the administrative professionals, the faculty, the instructional leaders, the leadership and management groups and the executive. As we survey the horizon, anticipate what may lie ahead, and start making preparations for our journey in the coming months we will need to draw on each other’s strengths and work together. From your friendly neighborhood faculty developer… Last week, I sent out a meeting request to faculty for a Friday morning MSTEAMS meeting; a Faculty Talking Circle on Creating Community Online. It was a bit of an experiment, based upon some suggestions from Bev Suntjens and a couple of others. In the end 43 faculty joined us for an informal sharing session. It was a big group, but somehow we managed to share and compare quite a number of ways that instructors work to make their online environments a little less sterile and a little more connected. People suggested scavenger hunts (LINC students run and find object in their homes), chat cafes (leaving the link open before and after class so students can catch up), breakout rooms, chat board competitions, offline groups (through what’s app or Facebook Messenger), forums and wikis, and a whole host of other ideas. The Faculty Talking Circle was great, and I am thankful for the help of Joan and Sarah, especially when I had to shut my computer down and restart partly through the session. And that’s the reality of online teaching that just keeps coming back. Sometimes the technology works for us and sometimes it throws curve balls and we have to react quickly. Sometimes the WIFI works and sometimes we come across as garbled or as modern day equivalents of Max Headroom (for those of us who remember the 1980’s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt56RMbpq_0). Instructors have shared some of the challenges they faced in the past few weeks: 1) uneven attendance, 2) students who have limited or shared access to computers, 3) students who have financial or familial pressures that trump their schoolwork, 4) students who have little aptitude for technology, and 5) instructors (themselves) who are uncertain and unfamiliar with many of the online learning possibilities. Now, with the semester coming to a close for many of the programs, people are challenged with making sense of the experience and of assessment evidence that calls into question the hallmarks of quality: fairness, reliability, reliability, and rigor. Did my students get a fair deal this term? Can I confidently stand behind my assessment measures? Can I trust that the judgements I make about student progress are sound and reward diligence, understanding and the development of professional judgement? Of course, these are issues we struggle with every term, but the online environments have challenged us to look at assessments in new ways and has further raised concerns about academic integrity, honesty, fairness, and trust. And as I reflected on all of this, this past weekend, I kept coming back to three words: perseverance, resilience and thankfulness. I am constantly amazed at how most of our instructors and students have persevered through the challenges, and in the past week I heard from many who said they were ready to take the “next step”. They were interested in intentionally and pro-actively planning out their online experiences for the coming term, learning about and leveraging the online tools and the teaching strategies that they and their colleagues were discovering. As NorQuesters, we have shown a measure of resilience and determination, and that has served us well. Does that mean that there aren’t those who are struggling with the uncertainties brought about by this new reality? Certainly not! I’ve been hearing that students and staff alike have been accessing many of the supports found in NorQuest for both academic and mental health support. And I wonder how many more are just hunkering down and hiding their anxieties. I hope each of us, as NorQuesters, can keep a “weather-eye” out for colleagues and students who may be showing signs of the strain and stress and to find ways to support these people or help connect them to services that might assist them. But most of all, this weekend I found myself thinking about thankfulness. At this point, Alberta is not experiencing the wave of hospitalizations and ICU admittances that were initially predicted. Our province and our Chief Medical Health Officer (Deena Henshaw) have done an admirable job in limiting the effect of the virus. Having two front-liners in my house (a nurse and an HCA) I am especially thankful for that! And at NorQuest, we have, so far, managed to stay clear of the kinds of outbreaks that are plaguing various institutions and businesses across this province. And, as my week continues, I think I want to continue to focus on that, on thankfulness, and not on the moment-by-moment frustrations and fears brought on by the virus or changing technologies. |
AuthorJeff Kuntz Ph.D. ImagesExcept where indicated, images used in the blog posts are personal photos, images from NorQuest College or images from Pixabay. Pixabay is a vibrant community of creatives, sharing copyright free images, videos and music. https://pixabay.com/ Archives
March 2024
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