Virtually Autumn: Summary

There are some common threads that have run throughout the summer we've spent preparing for a virtual autumn. If you don't want to re-read all twenty of the prior posts, here's your one-stop shop!

What will it take to make online learning a success for students and teachers this fall? It depends on how you define success, I think. One approach would be the pedagogically defensible one: we measure success as it relates to how well students achieve the course learning outcomes. I could write a blog post about that, but it would be too short: many learning outcomes are just as achievable virtually as in face-to-face classes. Thus, if you want to use this definition of success, then achieving success will depend in large part on how well you

• translate your learning outcomes into ones that are achievable virtually, and then
• communicate those outcomes to students and earn their buy-in to the course design and its philosophy

However, because of current circumstances, I'll take a perhaps unpopular approach (because it might smell like I'm advancing the perspective of student as consumer) and define success as: meeting or exceeding the students' expectations (and let's add: the teacher's expectations, too). With this definition, the big question then becomes:

What will it take to meet or exceed student and instructor expectations this fall?

In this case, I'll advance the five themes that I've seen tie together much of what I've explored this summer in this series:

• Flexibility
• Expectations
• Onboarding
• Support
• Sustainable

Flexibility

Since we're developing what might become a "new normal," I think what it will take to make online learning a success is flexibility. We'll need faculty and students to be willing to accept that change (a universal constant) has happened, and that our expectations need to be flexible and adjust accordingly. Measured against what was relatively comfortable and safe, I honestly think that even the best virtual instruction wouldn't initially succeed - but it will eventually. We also need the faculty and students to be flexible in practical ways: faculty might consider making course policies more flexible (e.g. deadlines, more liberal use of asynchronous instruction), and students might consider (with faculty help) identifying the upsides to virtual instruction, such as its flexibility. Properly designed, virtual instruction should help students have more on-demand learning resources and also work around the student's schedule (e.g. family and work obligations, which might have radically changed due to COVID-19). Students might even realize that the flexibility potentially offered by virtual instruction will cut down on commuting time and expense, including parking permits.

Purposefully Establish Expectations Early

I feel that a sizeable portion of student feeling of success/satisfaction with a course depends on clear communication and expectation-setting at the start of each semester. Two things faculty sometimes do will absolutely tank a course: 1) increase expectations over the semester and 2) promise features/supports that the faculty can't sustain. Both of these are manageable, and virtual instruction makes the latter particularly challenging, especially when faculty probably don't yet know how all of the facets of each course are going to work (new software, new workflows, etc.) So, I've been advising faculty, as much as possible, to explicitly explain how (and why) the virtual course is designed the way it is, to help students understand the rationale.

Onboarding

I'm also a huge advocate of throwing off the shackles of "content coverage" as much as possible. This is particularly critical immediately following any course redesign, especially when new technology and workflows are introduced to the students. I'm imploring faculty to spend at least the first week of instruction (maybe two) to provide low- or no-stakes opportunities for students to practice and become familiar using technologies essential to the class, like:

• Zoom
• making video recordings
• using shared Google Docs
• turning in assignments on Canvas
• using Google Classroom

Technical Support

Along the same line, I'm also vastly expanding the portion of my class syllabus that contains tech support information for students, with particular emphasis on providing lots of links to tutorials and resources about how to use the hardware and software I'll be asking them to use. Tech support could consume vast amounts of faculty time, and so it is well worth trying to head off all potential problems by trying to anticipate them and then providing support resources in advance.

Make Sustainable Changes; Don't Over-promise

It is better to make small and meaningful changes that you can maintain over the academic term than to start strong and then fade over the term. It is hard to know what is sustainable at first, of course, but don't try to redesign a course perfectly the first time!

The final message I'd like to share, which I've been spreading through my higher ed sphere of influence, is motivational. Faculty do have a heavy lift this summer and fall (and beyond), but course redesign for virtual instruction is a wise investment (even without additional compensation) for two reasons:

1. If we don't do our very best now, and if we don't either exceed or actively adjust student expectations, then we might not have jobs for long
2. The work we put into course redesign now, if thoughtfully done, will help make future semesters so much more efficient to run. I've spent most of my summer creating digital content and designing Canvas courses, but I anticipate that I'll more than make up that time in future semesters. I also hope to leverage that work in scholarly/creative activities that will also benefit my career – when life hands you lemons, make lemonade!

Conclusion of Conclusions

In sum, what faculty can do to improve the educational experience this fall (and always, really, whether teaching virtually or in person)?

• Be flexible with your students (and compassionate too!)
• Provide early and clear communication of expectations, including why you made the course design decisions you did
• Purposefully onboard students to your workflows/technology
• Advertise as many support options as you can think might be relevant
• Don't overpromise: start course redesigns with few and sustainable changes targeted for major impact

Instruction starts tomorrow at California State University, Fresno! It will no longer virtually be autumn, but we'll actually be there! I'll keep writing the EduProffer blog here, but not in the "Virtually Autumn" series. I hope this thread has been useful, and please stay tuned for more!