In the first year of my PhD program I took my first online class. I was intending to write a dissertation about religious practices on the Internet, and the course promised to be incredibly useful. In 2000, not many people were yet publishing about research techniques specific to an online context, and the course was populated by grad students from a variety of disciplines.
Halfway through the course, the professor disappeared. The chair of the department assured us that we would be graded fairly on the papers we had already turned in (and we were), but the course simply ended.
Years later, I found out this was a bit of a pattern in the course: the professor would start out engaged, but would gradually stop posting, stop grading, and stop responding.
Though hopefully no one has reached the point of vanishing, the end of this semester has been rough on many of us -- professors and students alike. I've been teaching some of my classes online for about fifteen years, but moving all my classes online has been more than stressful. Many elements of this semester were abnormal for online teaching: normally no one would combine synchronous, asynchronous, and hybrid classes while also flipping back and forth between on-campus and online settings! Many of us are also trying to juggle care for elderly parents, young children, or both.
As we finish the semester - and get ready for a similar, if possibly more planned? - Spring, I'm curious what your best coping techniques have been. I have an ever-changing wall of post-it notes to keep up with due dates and content, which has been helpful. I've also started playing darts again so that I can throw pointy things at my wall without fear of (much) damage.
Leave your ideas in the comments, or ask for specific suggestions!
Alyssa Beall
Teaching Assistant Professor
Religious Studies & Philosophy
Thanks for getting this learning community started and for sharing your experiences. For me, throwing myself into my online classes has probably helped me to cope with the broader upheaval of everyday life. It gave a little more structure to my days and something to focus on.
ReplyDeleteI experimented with new types of assignments and new methods of delivery. But that turned me into a grading pump constantly giving feedback; it worked for a while but eventually wore me down. I think I could use some advice about how to reduce that load without, however, just giving into a fully automated, mechanical process. Any ideas?
One more thing I observed today. We were doing individual presentations on Zoom. They were available to the whole class, but I couldn't believe that almost every student only came for their own presentation and then left. I realize that might be the most efficient use of their time, but I'm surprised that there wasn't more curiosity to learn what other people were doing. I wonder whether other people have had the same experience or have found ways to build online community among students. Any ideas?
Grading was also a big issue for me this semester, especially when caps on some online classes were raised. I know at least one professor who is leaving audio comments in the grading system on Blackboard, but I admit I haven't tried that yet!
DeleteI did start using VoiceThread for assignments this semester, having the students contribute short comments or questions on lecture slides (or on a separate VT with slides curated for that purpose) which worked well. I could record answers to individual questions as well as go back to do a summary response to all the comments on a slide -- it was still a lot of work, but it felt more natural.
Hi Everybody, welcome to this new and evolving learning community in the humanities, I hope this finds you all well, and transitioning relatively smoothly through the end of the semester.
ReplyDeleteI will presume that I, unlike Alyssa, am not the only one who has never actually taken an on-line class before as a student; and thus now as a teacher, it feels incredibly odd to move pedagogically into a domain I never experienced from a learning perspective. My relationship to the Internet in general is, shall we say, limited at best -- basically coming down to fantasy sports leagues and streaming music!
I have tried very hard, especially during these final weeks, to not 'vanish' from my students -- this has meant desperate attempts to create passionate recordings of my lectures while standing in front of my computer at home with my cats. Also having to deal over the last year with quickly aging parents who have been moved into a retirement community near Cleveland, OH, and all the concerns related to health care, COVID, and institutional nursing homes -- have left me virtually (no pun intended!) void of inspiration, creativity, and desire to grow and evolve within our new teaching paradigms. So, with regard to coping techniques, backgammon and darts have become as competitive and collaborative in my household as anything else I can imagine (I just wish 'gammon wasn't so darn mathematical, and at times random with the dice throws -- I'm often left feeling powerless and at the whim of the dice gods -- which is maybe how it should be).
I too have found that the amount of time necessary for grading and responding has been disproportionately burdensome -- maybe especially since as a TAP, I have a combined, approximately, 200 students. I'm...excited...to learn more about tech stuff like leaving audio comments and voice threads, continued exploration and experimentation are often all I/we've got left to move forward into such uncharted pedagogical waters!
I'm especially looking forward to meeting many new folks within this community, and sharing ideas and dreams about how to move forward this spring and beyond. May the end of your semester conclude with minimal distraction, and may you and your loved ones have an amazing holiday season :)