As we all learned in together in April, there has been an abundance of forgiveness for our distance learning failures and a generosity of understanding. We flocked to instructor collectives (like this one started by a UVA graduate school buddy of mine) to share ideas and debug our technology.
When we forgot to unmute during video chats, we laughed it off. Everyone was concerned about navigating a plethora of applications and learning management systems (LMS). The 180-degree twist appeared to be just that: temporary.
Was I the only one who enjoyed the move from face-to-face to online teaching? It meant more time in my day without a commute and an opportunity to pause and evaluate how I could use instructional technology to help students learn more effectively and personally.
In March, teachers were the lifeline for children and their families; we gave the constancy and caring that students needed during an uncertain period. We saw a lot of social media posts about how stressful it was for parents to help their children learn while also working from home.
Teachers’ ability to engage, monitor, encourage, distinguish, and motivate students was immediately recognised across the country. Memories faded after a summer of extended seclusion, and families returned to school with higher expectations for this school year’s curriculum.
The first step was to focus on high-quality content area education. Teachers are now required to establish virtual norms, build an online community, meet the social-emotional learning (SEL) needs of students at a distance, uphold behavior standards, and, oh, did I mention measuring engagement and delivering feedback for learning…through a screen, due to increased expectations and accountability. All the while, students, families, and the general public were watching, monitoring, and criticizing.
The new school year has started after a summer spent debating and planning distant and hybrid learning options. Teachers spent the majority of their summer engaging in professional development, scouring the internet for resources and ideas, and adapting lesson plans for use in a virtual classroom. We were all meant to be ready for this Fall, but there was a lot of opportunity for improvement.
Don’t get me wrong: I think it’s great. This summer, I listened to several excellent webinars (my favourite recordings), consumed books and articles (my favourite reads), and identified my top five strategies for engaging students online and increasing involvement.
Still, courses resumed a few weeks ago, and I’m feeling like a first-year teacher again, as author Nancy Frey described in the Distance Learning Playbook, Grades K-12. My syllabus, modules, rubrics, and teaching tactics are all in use, as one would expect from a teacher.
I know my material and have fantastic materials (especially these faves from my PhD course on Cross-Cultural Education for Diverse Learners), but I’m still second-guessing each of my virtual instruction decisions as if I hadn’t taught for over 30 years.
However, as a new-to-distance-instruction instructor, I’m honing my educator sixth sense, which I utilise to stay one step ahead of the game and anticipate student behavior. Since my students are no longer within reach, I’ve lost the ability to manage distractions. Fortunately, I’m learning that the ingredients for effective teaching stay the same regardless of the medium of delivery.
Student-centered thinking, awareness of the wealth of information that each student brings to class, attention to connection building and a healthy climate, clear learning objectives, and meaningful feedback are all still important aspects of good teaching.
It’s easy for me to be sidetracked by the idea that everything about teaching and learning has changed. It hasn’t happened yet. Instead, I recognise that the important things have remained the same, and that teaching is still a challenging profession. We’re keeping up the good job and supporting all of our pupils. Plus, there’s a plus for educators this year: we’ll be able to learn more than ever before.
5 Ways to Engage Students and Increase Participation Online
- Ask a question and have all of the students respond in chat without touching the “send” button. After a brief interval, have everyone push “send” at the same time. Allow for a brief moment for everyone to scroll through. You won’t be able to read and comment on each one, but you will have full involvement and will be able to save the chat to your LMS class website.
- By forming established groups for breakout rooms, you can save time. For a month or longer, use the same groupings.
- Allow students to submit their work by photographing what they wrote, made, or worked on. This allows students with varying levels of access to resources to complete their work and demonstrate mastery of the learning objective in different ways.
- Send video links to students in chat and invite them to watch on their own during a break. For example, provide the class a link to a 3-minute clip and ask them to join you in 7 minutes.
- Edit your name at several points throughout the class to include a crucial vocabulary term, the day’s theme, or an interesting fact.
