Opportunity to Reflect

I know it’s Monday and thus this post is a day late, but, let’s be honest- days don’t have any real meaning any more. I have been humming Morrissey’s Everyday is Like Sunday to myself for days now. I had every intention of writing this post yesterday afternoon but then a thing happened that I couldn’t ignore. The sun came out. So I had to take advantage of it and sit on my back porch at least for a little while so that I could get some Vitamin D and listen to the birds.

That little porch time also gave me time to reflect which has been sorely lacking in the go go go that has been the past three weeks. I have spent so much time responding to the various ways that folk have reached out to me, email, social media, LMS discussion posts, Zoom, Skype, FaceTime, that I have not really had the time to really and truly reflect on what is happening. This need for reflection is not simply good mental health practice but anyone who is really invested in critical pedagogy knows that reflection rests at the heart of theory and practice.

So I am reflecting. Not just on how I feel in an internalized check-in but also in an effective way of documenting what has happened and what is possibly to come. We have gotten through the critical mass of putting end of term content, assessments, and activities online and now we move to the task of what final assessments will look like. For many that means moving in-person proctored exams to something else, be that a timed exam online or a take-home project or assignment. The next few weeks will be critical in that regard. But then what comes after this?

Many institutions (mine included) are already planning to put their summer term courses online. All of the information shared online suggests that a September online delivery could be a possibility as well. Now is the time to really reassess courses and start fresh with a good universal design online pedagogy practice that is inclusive and equitable. Those who have experience with online course design will already have the tools and framework to make this happen. Many don’t. So I am taking this opportunity and space to think and reflect out loud on what needs to be in place for equitable online course delivery. This is going to be a bit bare bones but I will probably be returning to some if not all of these concepts going forward in the next few weeks.

1. Start with the pedagogy: Start with a desire to be as open and inclusive as possible. If your heart and soul is not in that space, ask yourself why? Also ask yourself what the following words mean to you: open, equitable, accessible, inclusive. These definitions will guide you.
2. ADDIE (or similar iterative processes are your friend): Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, Evaluate. This is the process that should inform your online course development and delivery. So once you know where your pedagogical heart is reflect and analyze who your students are and keep that in mind.
3. Look at your learning outcomes, objectives, and goals: What are the student outcomes of your course? Don’t know? Then reflect on why you don’t know and then find a way to know. There are many people who can help you with this (i.e. someone like me, an Educational Developer with Instructional Design background)
4. Think accessible and inclusive assessment: Think of how even the students with the smallest of tech and littlest bandwidth can complete assessments or access information you. This isn’t the time for Oscar worthy film productions. That time will come, but it is not now. Build in lots of choice.
5. Chunk your course into easily consumable pieces: You know how many weeks your term or semester is. You know what your outcomes are and what sorts of assessments you would like to see (with choice). So think about how that would look in a manageable and equitable way. This isn’t the time for 14 small modules and no that time will never come. Scaffold learning opportunities (again someone like me can help with that).
6. Identify a connection strategy: How are you going to connect with students? Think of a few ways but not too many. Everyone is in information overload right now, and no student or faculty needs an email, a discussion post, a tweet, and a 20 minute Zoom meeting that says the same thing. Choice is good but each way of connecting should be optional and not mandatory. Think of your students. Think what kind of bandwidth (technological, physical, and emotional) you have.
7. Make a wish list : The last letter of ADDIE is E for evaluate, which means the fun part is going back and tweaking what didn’t work and making wish lists along the way of what you would like to fill gaps you see. Trust me if you need a particular tool for something it probably exists as open source or freemium and you can implement it next time. The important thing is not to start with the tech, start with the pedagogy.
8. Reflect and revisit: Yes reflect, early and often. Make notes that clearly indicate highs and lows. It is an iterative process and if something doesn’t work the first time that is totally okay. You are modelling an inquiry-based pedagogy.  

So how’s that? Eight steps to a new course. Easy right? Lol, nope it’s not easy at all in fact, but we will get there and you are not alone. That’s the important thing to remember, you are not alone, there are many people and resources around to help and it will all be okay….eventually.