Humanizing Learning - Part Two.
Students want connection, and instructors can forgive themselves for not being perfect.
This is my second report from the Technology and Education Seminar and Showcase (TESS 2020), the annual conference hosted by eCampusOntario. This year’s theme: Humanizing Learning.
On Day Two of TESS, a couple of presentations provided some much needed insight on the perceptions of instructors and students on pandemic pedagogy. Most universities and colleges have been conducting surveys since the Great Pivot of 2020, and some trends are emerging. Prior to TESS 2020, UBC provided some preliminary findings from a small survey of about 500 students affected by the overnight switch to online learning in March, and the University of Waterloo received feedback from some 8,000 students attending its Spring Term (May-August). Both of these surveys indicated that students were under a lot of stress. The causes varied, perhaps a result of when the surveys were conducted (April vs. June/July), but some similarities emerged: feeling less engaged and less motivated, having less contact with the instructor, concerned about the quality of the education they were receiving.
Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
So it was very interesting to hear about two surveys done by the University of Ottawa and the Canadian Digital Learning Research Association (CDLRA). The Ottawa survey presented by Jovan Groen and Aline Germain-Rutherford took place over the summer and included instructors and TAs in addition to students. They were interested in understanding how people perceived the transition from classroom to online instruction. Of their respondents, 56% of students and 66% of instructors hadn’t experienced online learning or teaching until the pandemic struck. As with UBC and Waterloo, Ottawa students felt challenged by the strain of isolation generally, and the lack of interaction with classmates and instructors specifically. On the other hand, the greatest challenge faced by instructors was the learning curve associated with the increased use of technology.
The CDLRA’s Nicole Johnson presented some of their findings from the Canadian Pulse Project which they created to “track the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic” on higher education in Canada. The uncertainties raised by the pandemic — on society generally, and on universities and colleges in particular — weighed heavily on the 600 or so instructors who answered their two surveys from spring and late summer. Their study revealed that in the spring, 38% of Ontario educators who responded felt pessimistic about the future of higher education, but by late summer this had fallen to 15%.
The data collected by these organizations doesn’t provide enough information to come to solid conclusions, but that won’t stop me from conjecturing for a moment. I remember reading a tweet from a colleague in March in which he pushed back on the notion that the students were suffering from the sudden shifts brought on by the pandemic. “The kids are alright” he suggested, noting none had raised any concerns about how he had shifted the course to an online format. But the surveys are consistent in indicating that the kids aren’t alright; like everyone else, their lives have been disrupted, and they’ve had to adjust to that. And that adjustment could be aided by greater connection to their peers and instructors.
The other realization, that the pessimism among instructors might be declining, leads me to believe that the educators who had never experienced online education in any meaningful way have become more comfortable with this way of teaching. My hope is that they’re realizing that online education works, that it advances student learning, that it offers ways of building community and connections, and that it is not the work of the devil.
The keynote of the day, given by Santa Ono, president of the University of British Columbia, also looked in part at the impact of the Great Pivot on instructors. He discussed five lessons for higher education that have emerged during the pandemic, and it was his fifth that he addressed directly to educators that resonated the most: forgive yourself. He talked about instructors trying to be perfect when doing things that are new to them or difficult for anyone, and encouraged them instead to embrace the fact that they will not get everything right. He thinks that demonstrating vulnerability will help students cope as well. From his lips to my students’ — and my own — ears.
For Fall Term 2020 this blog will be exploring issues informing education during a pandemic. It is appearing as part of a graduate seminar on online teaching and learning. You can read more about the seminar or see the other posts.
Post 28/60.