Topic Area: Online Teaching & Learning
Presented by: Jonathan Choti
Abstract:
In this talk, I discuss the changes I made to help students transition to remote instruction and how these changes ensured student success. In the changes, I incorporated student voices and paid special attention to student severally affected by the sudden transition. The adjustments I made focused on student participation, assessment, delivery methods, materials, student-to-student interaction, and student-to-instructor interaction. I make changes in my instruction especially to accommodate students badly hit by the abrupt move to online teaching in the spring of 2020. Unexpectedly, these changes benefited the entire classes I taught and ensured student success. The COVID-19 pandemic exerted undue strain on specific categories of our student population. The most affected were students who a) had to work for many hours, b) lacked technology and technical skills, c) were traveling, d) had physical and/or mental instability, and d) operate under severely deprived conditions. To help such students succeed, I diversified my assessment tasks, liberalized grading rubrics and deadlines, varied source materials, and adapted a wide range of teaching techniques to capture and sustain student attention in class. Thus, I sought student views on some aspects of the courses and prioritized their voices. I encouraged student participation and feedback, student-to-student interaction via group projects and breakout rooms. I related course materials to students lived experiences and became better organized. Moreover, I expressed by willingness to help with assignments, posted lecture slides on D2L before class, improved my online communication and reached out to struggling students while applauding top performers.
Session Resources: Importance of Inclusion and Student Voices (PowerPoint)