Much like the supernatural villain of a horror movie…”It’s baaaack!” The mid-year shift to remote learning, or, as my boys call it, “weird Zoom school.” I can hear the wailing and gnashing of teeth from here (and not just because one son is on Zoom down the hall). However, as both a (college) teacher who was abruptly thrust into online instruction in 2020 and a parent of young kids who have likewise been on and off screen-school in the past years, I have some things for you to keep in mind if you’ve been caught in a sudden shift. These might help you reframe the experience a little.
1. It IS weird. Online learning, despite its prevalence in the past year, is not something any of us – even the little ones – grew up with. Our education system is still an in-person one. That experience is our memory, our metric, and the one we prefer. Because it’s comfortable. It’s always hard to step outside our comfort zones. It’s also hard not to long for what you love. I think we’ll breathe easier, though, if we go into this remembering that our classes will not be the same online. We should not expect them to be, whether we are teachers or students. It’s OK. This is a different animal, and requires different expectations.
2. So lean into it. This means not setting ourselves up for failure. Try new things. Share a document and type as you go. Ask poll questions in the chat box. Show a YouTube clip. Don’t pretend you aren’t in a new environment – but don’t think of it as “punishment” or a “downgrade.” It’s a change, like a switch in rooms or meeting times. Both of those are hassle – but not the end of the world. Have as much fun as you can. Decorate your Zooming space – maybe make signs that hang behind you that you change each day. Challenge students to bring an “emotional support” item next time. Anything that marks the difference rather than hiding it – and then moves long. “Acknowledge, then let go” is good meditation practice – it can be good teaching practice, too.
3. Diversify. What I mean here is, think of the online experience as one among many. Consider other ways you can interact outside a Zoom session. Email, chatrooms, discussion forums, and so on can be used as additional sites and experiences. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking learning will only happen on Zoom. Give homework. Create quizzes. Encourage appropriate web searches. Make supplemental videos. The point is for instructors and students to connect, and for everyone to connect with the material or try the skills at hand. Use online learning to find more ways to do that, not fewer.
4. You are not alone. I stand by the maxim that, in teaching, everyone needs both someone to steal from and someone to complain to. That’s true here, too. Ask around. Hit up forums. Look for blog posts (See? You’re doing it already!). We have all spent time in some version of this situation since 2020, so let’s make the most of that. Just as with in-person learning, traditions, best practices, and helpful brainstorms will emerge over time. Online pedagogy is still pedagogy, so let’s talk about it. Share – the good, the bad, and the ugly. We’re all in this together.
5. Show grace. After all, it IS weird. No one likes sudden shifts, even ones we may have sorta kinda seen coming. So just as you aren’t facing the logistical challenges alone, you aren’t facing the emotional ones alone, either. Recognize that it will be hard. Things will seem strange. Things will not work. People will struggle. Remember that’s universal (believe it or not, things break, fail, and get weird in person, too). Be kind. Be kind with yourself and with your students. Learning is already by definition a shared experience. The struggle of a change in learning environments is a shared experience, too. Be honest about that and make it a feature of what you do, not a bug. Always consider what you are modeling as a teacher, and try to model as much honesty and compassion as you can. All things must pass…this remote round will, too. Hopefully…
Brantley Craig 