Baby Steps

I recently watched Flower Darby's webinar entitled 8 Small Teaching Strategies that Deliver Big Results to Engage Online Students an Improve Learning.  The webinar was offered through Magna Online Courses.

She started the webinar by posing two questions that instructor's can ask themselves when transitioning content into an online learning environment: How do help others to learn and succeed in an online teaching environment? and How do we create an environment that is welcoming and supported?  Students working online often feel like socially isolated, which is compounded in our current circumstances (COVID-19).

There is an assumption that students can easily navigate online courses with little external supports, but that is not always the case.  Many students feel anxious.  Students may have had a past experience that was negative or no experience whatsoever.  They may be unsure of what to expect or feel a lack of being supported by their instructors or others in the institution.  Faculty can also experience anxiety, or a lack or engagement working online.  They may have no training teaching online and therefore do not know what to expect.  Almost everyone is familiar with the social norms of a F2F classroom (i.e.: teacher at the front, students in desks) but many people have no experience with online classrooms.

Online is a viable option for learning as it improves access to education.  Yet we need to ensure that students have the organizational skills, motivation and confidence to reach out when they feel they need help.  Problems facing disadvantaged, or under-prepared can be amplified online, so supports need to be in place to help these students.

It is important to acknowledge the emotional presence as a part of teaching and learning. 

Her final takeaways were:

1. Make small adjustments or modifications and use backward design intentionally.  
2. Harness the science of emotion - as an instructor be passionate about your topic and be emphatic to your students (show them that you care).
3. Design your program for persistence and success
4. Make cognitive connections.  Activate prior knowledge, train students how to categorize knowledge and provide a framework for the course work.  

Saskatchewan Polytechnic has a copy of her book, Small Teaching Online, written with James Lang.