When COVID-19 forced me to move my face-to-face teaching online, I hated the idea.
Aversion to online teaching is common. An international Educause study on teacher’s perceptions of online learning found 90% of surveyed academics were apprehensive about teaching online. More alarmingly, almost half the teachers believed online learning has either no effect or a negative effect on student learning.
Teachers’ pervasive dislike of online learning suggests there is work to do in how we adapt to teaching online.
I’ve discovered the most significant shift teachers can make to assist this transition may not be technological or pedagogical, but conceptual. We are no longer classroom teachers, physically commanding the front of a room. We are now more like hosts of a YouTube channel or late night talkback radio DJs with the occasional caller.
If this comparison sounds apt, then it may also be instructive. Perhaps we can learn from how mass culture spreads ideas and teaches new skills. We may want to appropriate the aesthetics of pop culture such as podcasts, audio books and YouTube to enrich the shared experience of being online.
I’ve found myself eager to start my online classes with theme music to set a mood, cue my audience and embrace the transition from teaching to hosting.
Some fresh research, such as The 2020 Handbook on Creating Meaningful Experiences in Online Courses, characterises successful online learning by the quality of the relationship between teachers and students, where meaningful classroom experiences facilitate the successful transfer of knowledge. For me, knowledge, empathy and creativity remain the soul of good teaching. How we reconfigure this trinity online is personal. My driving questions are now: how can I use technology to define and refine my desired class experience? How am I earning the respect of my students/audience?
I have found that my online learning platform equips me to pursue this individual and collective engagement. It allows me to instantly run polls, invite students to post material, build groups and facilitate discussion. It also empowers students to engage as individuals by giving them more options to communicate by. Students who may not speak up in a physical class can now ask or answer that question from the safety of their homes.
The chat function becomes a de-facto twitter feed hosting parallel discussions on multiple topics, which I integrate, folding both asked questions and written comments into the presentation at the speed of thought. My mantra is now please talk in class. I can simultaneously address the class and my students individually. It feels like quasi-telepathic communication. I can do things online I can’t do in person. I feel like an augmented version of my teaching self
Keeping track of all these moving parts is exhausting. I feel like an air traffic controller, shifting pixels on a screen, reminding myself these avatars are real people, with aspirations tied to their reasons for being in my class. I owe them a memorable show.
I don’t yet love teaching online, but I see that I could. That already feels like revolutionary change.
– Yannick