I was interviewing one of our students yesterday (on Zoom, of course) for an outstanding student award that is given each year at our graduation. This particular student is one I know quite well. I have respect for her opinions. So, I asked her a question that I have been thinking a lot about recently, “What is the very best thing about being a college student during a pandemic?” For a very slight moment, she looked at me like I had lost my mind because it was not a question she had heard before or even considered. We all seem fixated on the bad parts of the past year.
As I expected, this student recovered immediately and gave a fabulous answer, “I have learned to do so many things that I never thought I could do. I have become comfortable with all kinds of technology that I did not even know existed. In many ways, I was in a rut and the pandemic has yanked me out of that rut and pushed me to become a better student.”
I image that, at some point in the future, we will look back on this weird time and there will be a few things we are grateful for. Of course, COVID is horrible and the number of deaths and serious illness around the world is a terrible tragedy. Nevertheless, many of us (and I certainly include myself at the head of this list) have been yanked out of our daily ruts and forced to adapt and evolve. “Adapt” and “evolve” --- two of my favorite words.
As is so often the case, our attitudes influence how we judge the life that goes on around us. One of the things I hope to do soon is evaluate my life over the past year and consider in what ways the pandemic has been helpful to me. How have I adapted? How well have I evolved? Is it all horrible or can I find positive changes that have made me a better person and a better teacher?
A friend of mine, Dick Minot, Clinical Assistant Professor at Loyola Marymount University, recently sent me his thoughts on remote teaching during the past year. His words have pushed me to consider evaluating the changes I have faced and my reactions to them. This is not a bad exercise for any of us. You might be surprised, if you think carefully, at how many positive effects have resulted. They certainly do not outweigh the sickness and suffering but, I think, it helps our mental health to realize that it has not been all bad news.
REMOTE Teaching: One Professor’s Reflections by Dick Minot
As I am writing this, it
is just before we dismiss for Spring Break 2021. I am in the midst of my second full semester
of REMOTE teaching/learning. This Spring Break will be like no other and most
certainly unlike the 2020 Spring Break where the “new normal” was just
beginning to show itself. In fact, in my case, I was preparing to head to New
Zealand to see friends at the end of their summer for a few days. I was
cognizant, at least somewhat so, of the buzzing that surrounded this “COVID 19
thing.” Well, Spring Break for me lasted about 3 days as I soon found myself in
almost daily Zoom meetings with my school and department. In what turned out to
be a period of 14 days, we had to prepare for this REMOTE teaching/learning
that was about to become our new way of life.
Panic. Frustration.
Helplessness. Angst. Inadequacy. You name it and the emotion was there. REMOTE
teaching/learning was here. No one had much time to think about it. It was just:
“Do It.” And, by the way, don’t lose
anything in the transition from the classroom to REMOTE.
In my case, I completed
the Spring 2020 semester without too many issues. I then went on to teach a
summer session in REMOTE format and that went pretty well. That was followed by
the Fall 2020 semester that again went pretty well. I was gaining my stride and
confidence in this REMOTE teaching/learning mode. Now here I sit with half of
the Spring 2021 semester REMOTE teaching/learning behind me. And I have decided
to take stock of where I am in all of this.
You may notice that I refer
to the new norm as REMOTE teaching/learning. I do this as this is truly a team
effort between “instructor - teaching” and “student - learning”. We can say that this connection has always
been the case but let’s try to agree that we took this connection for granted in
the past as we were able to be in the classroom with the students each week. As
a teacher I know once said, learning is like a dance. In order for it to work I
can lead but the students need to follow. In pre-COVID days, the connection was
more obvious. We could look into their
faces and see their eyes change as we made a good point or a bad point. We have
lost this connection to a certain degree. If we are doing REMOTE
teaching/learning in an asynchronous fashion we may never see the faces of the
students or hear their voices. If we are doing this synchronously then we can
maintain some of that feeling so long as the students maintain video contact
with us.
After a lot of
contemplation, I have come to the conclusion that REMOTE for me has taken on
the following meaning:
Responsible
Engagement
Mentoring
Opportunity
Teaching
Encouraging
Responsible
We are Responsible for
the teaching/learning that we are performing. This is no different than when we
are in the front of the classroom. It is very easy, actually too easy, to make
excuses for how hard this is for us to do and do well. In fact, it is hard for
the students also. When the students used to see us, we were clearly in charge
of the classroom. When the students see us now, when they actually see us via
Zoom or whatever technical system is being used, we ARE still in charge. WE
have not abdicated that responsibility simply because we are in front of the
camera. Many of us are not in the world of those “online universities” that we always
assumed did not offer the kind of education that we did. BUT now we find
ourselves not only in that online position, but also defending what we do as
rigorous and just as good as we did it before this pandemic started. We are
Responsible to maintain that quality and we can do it.
Engagement
Engagement is a two-way
street in this new normal teaching/learning environment. We recognize that we
have a harder time engaging with the students but in order for effective
learning to take part, the active Engagement of the students may be more
important now than ever. They need to know that the learning is still taking
place as the learning process is still alive and well. We are now truly in an
era where we are leading students to the water and we need them to drink it now
more than ever before. It is too easy for them to just “checkout” and simply
“be present”. The teaching may be going on but the learning has decreased. We
need to be more diligent in the sessions to ascertain who is Engaged and how we
can Engage every student.
Mentoring
Mentoring is probably
the one thing that keeps many of us in the classroom. We have the chance to
influence the future leaders. What greater thing can be offered to anyone? And
it comes with the territory. When you hear a student say, “Hey professor, do
you have a minute to chat about something?” what a rush that is. It is not about a class problem but just a
chance to see how you got to be where you are and what advice you might have to
offer to them on their path. This is the most vulnerable you will be anywhere in
teaching. Today, we are still that
Mentoring person even though we do not have a close physical presence in the
classroom or our office. Take those chances to let the student know about you.
You will still be richly rewarded for that act and remembered by the students
for being open and caring.
For example, what a
great chance we now have to drive home the issue of ethics in action. We are
faced with the realization that students may cheat. News Flash! Students have
always had the opportunity to cheat. We simply assumed that because we are in
the front of the class it cannot happen. We now have the chance to Mentor these
students on what ethics look like. We can teach them and we can place our trust
in them to deliver. If we do this, we know that it is harder for them to
disappoint when they are trusted to do the right thing.
Mentoring is not solely
directed at the students. We have the ability and responsibility to Mentor our
peers who may be having difficulties in their lives and careers during the
horrors of this pandemic. Take a minute to just stop and ask your colleagues
how they are doing. You might be surprised by the response.
Opportunity
This REMOTE teaching/learning
environment is an opportunity for many of us to reflect on a career of
traditional teaching and to reengage in learning ourselves. When is the last
time that you really put yourself in a situation that you did not feel
comfortable? This is an Opportunity for us to truly show what we can do. The
students need to know that their part in all of this is an Opportunity for them
to show what they can do. This is a great learning exercise of what the
business environment will be for many of them. It is not a burden. It is an
opening. A true Opportunity for both the professor and the student to show each
other what they can do.
Teaching
Finally, Teaching
appears on my list! We are still Teaching. The medium has changed but the task
has not. Why are we, some of us, now concerned with quantity rather than
quality of the content? When we are in the classroom the quality of the content
drives the Engagement. But, now that we do not “see” the students it seems like
the quantity of content being covered may be a replacement for quality. Busy
work may occupy the students time but it does not push them to learn. It is the
active part of learning to analyze a situation, to work in groups that Teaching
is all about.
Encouraging
Encouraging. I decided
to look up the definition and found the following: adjective, giving someone
support or confidence; supportive and positive and giving hope for future
success; promising. What a time to be Encouraging to both the students and our
peers. This REMOTE teaching/learning situation will not last forever BUT the
teaching/learning will last forever. What will we learn from this that we will
take into our future classrooms when this current REMOTE teaching/learning is
just a memory? As one learned professional once said, “If you are doing the
same thing in your classroom today that you did five years ago you should get
out”.
We are both the teacher
and the learner. What will we have learned from our adventure in this REMOTE
teaching/learning exercise that we have had presented to us.
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