Mindset Adjustments
Comparisons. I have had to let go of the comparisons. I still do it, but frankly, there is no direct comparison teaching online vs. in person. The rules of the game are entirely different. That’s a healthy realisation, but what if you still have a unit that’s primarily designed for face-to-face? How do you fit a square peg into a round hole? Challenge ongoing.
What can I realistically achieve? I accept that I may now achieve only about 75% of what I normally would, so I tend to look at the learning objectives and cross reference those with what I think I can make exciting. When I find myself not wanting to let go of material, I try to come back to the question; “what do they need to do?” It’s the doing that’s important, not just the knowing.
Time
Any extra time spent building rapport to develop a mutually beneficial online learning community can pay huge dividends. I now spend significantly more time chatting with students and my role now extends well beyond what I previously deemed to be the professional boundary. Though it's tempting to move things along, it's an investment that produces relationship benefits not only for me but between the students themselves.
Another 10% of class time can easily be taken up with technical issues. Someone will have internet, audio or video problems and transitions between presentation slides and other media are never quite as seamless as the ‘in-house’ version. And now we have to get comfortable with lag. You ask a question - silence. Or, you type a question and wonder whether anyone is still out there. The clock ticks along.
Cognitive Load
Can be described in one word – heavy. I now need to be a technical trouble-shooting expert; monitoring conversations on the online chat, keeping an eye out for virtual raised hands, or for who has mysteriously exited or entered the session, all while attempting to hold an engaging presentation and lead meaningful discussions. There are a hundred moving parts.
And it is here, I give in - to the chaos - and often resort to humour. If I lose my train of thought, I readily confess and employ emojis to express my incompetency. Thank goodness there’s usually one student who can remind me of what I was saying!
Preparation
My preparation has increased significantly, as I now try to imagine what the student sees when looking at a laptop screen for a focused period of time. What will solicit a creative thought process? A slide with six bullet points on our corporate template or a high res image of the Great Barrier Reef?
Scenario planning adds another dimension. For every activity, I think about scenario A, B and C. How will the exercise work online if everyone shows up? What about if only half of them show? I can now confidently create and dissolve breakout groups in a single bound.
Coffee!
My preparation always involves caffeine. Because I find I need to be more animated, a couple of double espressos is now a regular part of my routine. I now also stand up to present. It’s surprisingly liberating after spending far too many hours sitting down. It seems to help amplify my enthusiasm and energy (with the hidden agenda of hoping some of that energy transfer to the students). It is little wonder I am exhausted by the end of class!
Wrap Up
I try to reflect on what has worked, what hasn’t (there’s plenty) and what could work next time. I spring feedback polls, adhoc chat questions and surveys on the students to avoid getting blind-sided. I find students genuinely appreciate the effort, especially when your learning environment offers more of a partnership than a hierarchal relationship.
The only trouble with that insightful practice is when you are barely one step ahead of the game, the analysis gets short changed and quickly moves into the ‘not so urgent but very important quadrant’. I am not afraid to admit it; that quadrant is getting pretty full.
Adjusting to the detachment is a work in progress. It’s becoming more manageable, but I can’t wait to get back into a real live classroom. It’s so much easier to create magic there.
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