Dreading days of Zoom-based conference sessions for the Association for Educational Communications & Technology’s virtual convention (#AECT20), I was hooked as speakers from all over the world shared COVID-pandemic approaches! The theme, Towards Culturally-Situated Learning Design and Research, hit home along with this priority list to meet COVID-19’s educational and societal challenges:
People first. Content second. Technology last.
Following are a few takeaways for implementing these priorities in online teaching and course design.
PEOPLE
For many students, this may be their first time experiencing freedom of how and when they spend time learning. This opportunity has added challenges of helping students develop self-regulated learning strategies.
- Need ideas? This recent presentation on student management by the eLearning Team has many using Canvas tools! (Full recording of powerpoint here)
Connecting with peers, family, friends, and creating community in socially distanced and remote learning contexts to reduce isolation is a global need. Pandemic effects are traumatizing to many as well, increasing this need to be and stay connected.
- Browse this collection of detailed examples for creating community in online contexts from Equity Unbound and OneHE’s collaborative efforts.
- Hear about Ferris examples in this 2Min Tech Tip, Creating Community, from eLearning.
CONTENT
Students value learning when it’s clearly relevant their future, supporting them as they power through their learning challenges. Relevance and authentic assessment is critical in an environment filled with traumatic events and high stakes politics.
- Focus on Closure, Not Assessment for Student Success was shared in the spring and is worth re-reading to pare down your workload as students (and faculty) hit full exhaustion and overwhelm stages with our recent shift to remote again.
- These structuring discussions and connecting your content resources for supporting our campuses in stressful times were curated by the POD Network.
- This Scaffolded Anti-Racism Resources collection provides numerous examples to use across all disciplines. (Both of these and more are found on the Teaching Tools page of this blog).
TECHNOLOGY
Once relevant content is narrowed down and authentic activities selected, choosing the right technology ensures increased access for all students. eLearning@Ferris.edu is always happy to help you with your ideas as you (and your students) go forward into this new and constantly shifting educational climate.
- Ferris eLearning’s Training Services and Resources page shares a wide variety of places and methods for getting help with your technology needs, including face-to-face (virtual per guidelines), hybrid, and self-selected online options.
From the “national and international voice for improvement of instruction and the most recognized association of information concerning a wide range of instructional and educational technology,” (AECT, 2020) this clear message of people, content, technology threaded its way through the presentations. I am thankful for all of the presenters who shared in this virtual conference, the support from Ferris allowing me the time to attend, and the many Ferris faculty and adjuncts who already demonstrate these skills in their teaching.
