Alison Holmes: Mindset Matters
What have you learned from teaching during the pandemic?
Take ownership of the technology or it will own you.
Student expectations are different from faculty expectations. Work to align them.
Own IT (or it will own you)
The pandemic threw us headlong into a multi-dimensional virtual teaching environment as the technology felt like it was taking over both the teaching and learning experience. When coupled with the disorienting experience of interacting with, and accommodating students in multiple locations and spaces — physical and mental — even years of experience were an insufficient guide to conducting "class." My constant goal of creating a classroom that is not just a place for the dissemination of information, but a shared experience of exploration was irreparably disrupted as technological hiccups and mis-direction plagued what felt like every class session. Class momentum and community were constantly put in an "unstable connection" mode.
At first I resisted, but soon realized that technology would sabotage the thinking I wanted to support unless I took ownership of its capabilities and limits. This doesn’t mean that I liked the process, nor does it mean that I ever learned to enjoy it. I am a face-to-face person and still have a hard time coping with those black screens knowing a student is "out there" — responding to the material or our discussion or reflecting on their own lives and college trajectory. They are essentially all alone and I am powerless to turn their questions and concerns into "teachable moments." Yet, rather than be a passive recipient of pandemic forces, I chose to wrestle with the fate of learning in my classroom. I did the training, conferred with colleagues and had countless conversations with ITS. I prepared and I practiced. At the same time, I really tried to keep it simple — and encouraged my students to do the same. In our approach to everything from engaging students and furthering disciplinary understanding and development, to managing time and maintaining any kind of life balance - mindset matters.
Align expectations
We all try to show grace when it comes to supporting students. We adjust deadlines, bend or change classroom policies, make exceptions, and accommodate a wide variety of attendance options. We may mutter, but most people will do most things to help a student be successful. However the presumed instantiety of technology not only stepped up the pace, but often raised the expectation from students that we be as "on" as their computer and respond at "click speed." There was more demand for accommodations while disappearing into the ethernet when those new deadlines came (and went) became common. They slipped beyond reach while I had to remain endlessly contactable/flexible. The pandemic reminds us that we share responsibility for the learning in our classes — but sometimes students also need reminding as to what that looks like. I have always made it a priority to set expectations at the beginning of a semester. Recently I have found myself doing that more often - if only so I could hang onto them myself! The conversation always surfaces our assumptions about the role of teachers/ students, leaders/followers. The pandemic shines an ever brighter light on the fact that unexamined expectations sow seeds of discontent — and that we reap what we sow…
