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I am now a somewhat experienced online educator. As I am sure you can guess, this outcome was not a choice I made, rather, it was thrust on me (over a weekend, way back in spring 2019). But I—and my students—more or less survived to tell the tale. Until COVID-19, I had studiously avoided online teaching (which was not required by my small college), just as I steadfastly refused to use any of the “bells and whistles” tied to our online teaching platform (now CANVAS; before I got involved, it was Blackboard). I did the bare (read: “required”) minimum on CANVAS before COVID—I posted a copy of my syllabus there and kept track of student attendance. That’s it.
That’s all changed, of course. So have I learned anything about and from my online teaching experiences? Yes. My three spring 2019 courses migrated from exclusively face-to-face meetings to synchronous online gatherings. I then taught an asynchronous online course in June 2020 and another in January 2021. My three courses this spring are synchronous online offerings. As I plan my department’s fall 2021 schedule, we are all hopeful that we will be back on campus and teaching face-to-face (though I suspect that online elements will be with us now and for the future), just as I expect hybrid (i.e., part face-to-face, part online, either synchronous or asynchronous) and asynchronous courses will become a routine feature of campus life here and elsewhere. Perhaps something is lost, but maybe something is gained, too. Perhaps these gains include:
Zoom means never having to cancel class. As I write this, a major snowstorm is heading my way; we may see 11 or more inches of snow over the next two days. In the past, that would mean my college would close and classes would be canceled. Not so now (unless power to the internet goes out). Tomorrow and the next day will go as planned because my students and I were meeting virtually via Zoom, anyway. So, the pleasure of a snow day is lost but the ability to stay the course in my courses remains (and despite their misgivings, such constancy is good for my students, as well).
CANVAS is not inherently evil—OK, it’s actually useful. I’ve learned to like CANVAS—not a lot, mind you, as parts of it are clunky—but it’s OK. I like the grade book function so that students can monitor how they are doing any time they like. I like having all their assignments uploaded by a designated time so I can grade them en masse. I like not having to tote a stack of papers back to my office. I like the fact that students can check the syllabus anytime without asking me for yet another copy.
Online discussions can be done, but timing is everything. I’ve learned that online discussions can happen. Sometimes students inadvertently speak over one another, but my students are always polite to one another and quickly take turns. I do think there is more “mind wandering” in the online classroom, especially since I can’t monitor 30 Zoom-ed faces with ease to see who is engaged and who has checked out (you may not believe me, but this can be done readily in the classroom). Still, sometimes something wonderful happens—we have the “snap, crackle, and pop” of a great discussion online—we laugh, we get serious, we question, we think, and time flies. It cannot be forced, though. And I’ve learned that there are some days where students are just not up for it—they are tired, over-wrought, stressed, whatever—and when that happens, ending class early, cutting short a discussion, or whatever needs to be done is acceptable. With luck, the magic may return next time.
More is more, as long as it is less. I know this is confusing, but for some time, various teaching gurus have advocated shorter writing assignments—let’s call them “reflections”—but more of them in lieu of the dreaded “big” research paper (a bear for students to create, a drag for faculty members to grade). I still tend to assign one main paper during a semester but I have lots of one-page or so reflections as well as quick personality scales and related inventories for students to complete and to—importantly—think about with respect to the topic at hand. Short assignments can be graded quickly and many don’t merit many comments (though when the spirit is moved, I add them). And I confess I like SpeedGrader, which is a part of CANVAS. But the main point is, students are writing and thinking and submitting weekly assignments that (I hope) motivate them to think about the course material.
I suspect if we asked our students, they might also offer up some pedagogical benefits tied to the pandemic. Still, I (they) miss the spontaneity of the classroom, the odd intimacy of the classroom, getting to know one another in person, and fostering real connections—these are all things that I (they) value that are missing. But we will have them again (we hope) come the fall semester. Still, I don’t think things will ever be the same again because some of the tactical necessities of online teaching will find their way into the face-to-face world of education. Maybe that’s OK?
