Doubtfully Digital

As our time teaching during the crisis phase of COVID-19 levels off, many of us are taking a breath, just glad to have made it through this past semester.  Prior to the pandemic, many of us were planning on taking time this summer to do what we enjoy - time for travel, outdoor moments, sleep, reading, and of course often writing. As the summer progressed we would then prepare for our fall courses. I'm sorry to share - and excited to say - that this summer will be disrupted just as your spring semester was. My apologies come from the grief we all feel regarding things lost. And I strongly encourage you to find ways to refuel yourself during the summer, especially if you are not teaching. Now my candor - if you want to be a successful instructor with excellence in your online classes, you will have to begin preparing now. Many of your universities and schools are likely building committees to help you prepare for the fall. But if you keep reading this blog, you will have a profess

Good day Dear Readers, If we have learned anything during this time, it is the importance of flexibility, nimbleness and compassion in teaching and learning. I had the intention of blogging weekly and you are well aware that this was interrupted. I feel the need to apologize but that is not necessary. Let me share further. I'm a helper by nature  - hence my chosen profession in social work. I had hoped to have a big impact through this blog as many educators moved from residential teaching to online teaching. I adore the challenge of building community, of backwards design of learning activities and accompanying students and educators who have found themselves in the land of online learning; nothing delights me more to see their eventual success when they had so many doubts. I very much wanted to be as helpful to as many stressed educators as possible. I had hoped to provide tools that could help on the fly, that could help them understand that being human with their students

So You’re Going Synchronous: Seeing People Live!  You believe that your class content requires that you hold face-to-face sessions. Your university is requiring that you hold synchronous sessions. You’ve decided that to stay connected as a learning community holding some “live sessions” are beneficial to everyone. You’re talking about synchronous, real time teaching in an online classroom.  There are many benefits to this, without question. Let’s go through some helpful information that you can utilize to get started.  Credit Where Credit is Due   I have to share with you that most of what I will present here in today’s blog comes from the resources offered to all from Columbia University’s School of Social Work. I participated in the Institute for Teaching Online Pedagogy about 2 years ago. This course is open to all regardless of your connection to Columbia.  I’ve learned so much about being effective at building online learning communities and leading them in distance e

Shock and Awe: We May Be Ready, But They Are Not Yesterday our students returned from spring break. And many of those students participate in our online classes, so we didn't believe we would need the week many others of you may have between spring break and going to online classes because our students were already online learners. I was prepared for the slow transition from break, where students may not be as receptive as usual.  You too know that dread of getting back to work after some time off. Oh my ignorance. Oh my naiveté.  Oh my poor assessment skills.  You see, despite most of my students being online learners, both in synchronous and asynchronous classes, they were not ready. COVID-19 had upended life for them in ways they were not prepared for. I discovered this, to my embarrassment, when I began receiving emails form students late yesterday afternoon.  Several students have shared that they just cannot come back to class this week. They are juggling e-learni

Pivot Point: Which Delivery Method Meets Your Need Most of us are either waiting to hear from our institution that we are to take our teaching online, or have gotten that message to get to it.  Many are also getting information on how to make that happen, with links and instructional videos, and directions and ......... so much to take in as we also respond to communication from anxious students. We are officially at the pivot point.  Just like the basketball player pivoting back and forth on one foot to protect the ball, you are now asked to do the same to ensure your students meet their learning outcomes.  You are the the learning expert and you now need to decide which way you will do that.   Transition Time Tip : You are not designing an online class.  You are taking a face to face class online.  You are pivoting to get the job done during an emergency.   To Go Live or Not To Go Live How many weeks or sessions of material do you have to cover?  Most likely, you hav

Doubtful About Teaching With Tech: The Prep and The Plan: Part 2 Quick Tips for Online Teaching  My first post covered the first of our quick tips for online teaching.  Many of you are here because you just discovered your university will practice social distancing hoping to slow down the spread of a pandemic. Sounds dramatic but let's applaud all who are working to keep our students and each of us healthy.  Quick review: You've outlined your class session goals, reviewed what you have and what you need, and developed a communication plan. Let's move on to our final steps in The Prep and The Plan stage. Learning About Your Tools  Most schools and universities have a learning management system (LMS). They also have various degrees of use by teachers and faculty.  By this I mean that some of us are required to use our LMS often and some of us only us it for a few things like providing students with access to articles and our syllabus. In either situation,