Dublin Core
Title
Shereen Naser - Audio Reflection
Creator
Shereen Naser
Date
5/7/2020
Rights
Format
mp3
Language
English
Sound Item Type Metadata
Transcription
Hi, my name is Shereen Naser. I'm an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology. I teach undergraduate courses in Psychology and graduate courses in the School Psychology program and I'm a school psychologist by training.
What are the most challenging parts of the transition from face-to-face teaching to online teaching due to the pandemic?
For me, I really love seeing my students every day, getting to do class activities that involve interactions, interpersonal interactions, and getting feedback from my students in those little, kind of, informal moments with my students are incredibly important to my teaching. So, it's been challenging to have to navigate online teaching and figure out how can I recreate or make sure that those informal moments are still in the mix. How can I recreate things like interpersonal interactions, in class, through activities, and things like that, while still teaching online? There are two kind of separate ways I think about this. For my graduate students who work in a real applied setting; so, school psychology graduate students, many of them need face-to-face time to practice new skills that they're learning, applied skills that they're learning, and so, trying to use videos and simulating case studies and role play are things I would have done in class anyways. But now I'm having to figure out how to really apply those in an online way.
What are the most common needs expressed by my students?
Both my undergraduates and graduate students commonly just really need more clear expectations, because, in an in-class setting, in a face-to-face setting, students often can come before and after class to ask clarification questions. Now they're needing to email and wait for a response. So, it's a little bit more frustrating and takes a little bit more time if you do have a question. So, I'm trying to work with my students to find ways to be more rapid in responding to students; things like having online office hours or having times where I make sure I'm answering all my emails or doing chatrooms, things like that, where students can come and ask questions is a way that we can kind of get around that. The other common need expressed by students is just a need for flexibility and empathy that we're all going through a really strange time right now and the way that we might have run class before, and the way we held deadlines before, might not work right now as students are juggling multiple responsibilities and their schedules are just all over the place.
What new teaching techniques or tools am I trying as a result of the switch to remote teaching?
Oh, I've tried just about everything, new tools and tricks, as a result of this switch to remote teaching. I think that there is just a wealth of software and online tools out there to help make remote teaching more accessible, more interesting, more engaging. But there's also a steep learning curve, and it's hard to know which one is the best or which one should you rely on. I have been using some mix of Panopto and Zoom to connect to my students, either through an online recorded lecture or through face-to-face meetings. I've also been relying more on videos and doing online discussion boards around videos and trying to use online media creation tools to get students to be creative about how they tell me about new information or show me that they've learned something new, and I'm really enjoying it. It's a learning curve for me, but I actually really like learning about all these new things and think I'll continue to use them in the future.
What new insights am I gaining about teaching in general?
I think, now that I've moved a lot of things online, I'm realizing I was taking so much for granted in a face-to-face setting. Just the expectation that students could easily come to campus, that students could ask me, or access me as they needed so quickly and easily, and I'm realizing that that's just not the case now, which means I have to be much more intentional about how I present assignments to students, much more specific about the directions that I give them, because I can't just, you know, if they have a question, they can’t come up to me after class and ask. I'm also having to be more specific about feedback that I give and pieces like that. So I'm not taking that for granted as much that they have access to me, and I’m trying to be much more clear in my written communication. Now, the other insight that I'm having is that a lot of students, or at least a number of students, have trouble with things I didn't think about before, like, access to the Internet or a quality computer or word processing system. Mobility. I always kind of assumed that students would easily be able to come somewhere, to a classroom for example. I think that in this new teaching environment I'm learning a lot more about what my students need. Things I might not have thought about before, because I just blanket assumed, you know, we all show up to class, we all learn in class. You have access to computers on campus if you don't have one at home. So, these new insights are making me feel like I need to be mindful of these things in a face-to-face setting and not just in a global crisis and to think more strategically about how am serving my students who have health issues and mobility issues when we get back to a face-to-face setting. Maybe I should do something like regularly get in the habit of recording lectures, or providing meeting times via zoom, instead of requiring students to come to my office hours.
How might this experience change my teaching when I return to face-to-face instruction?
As I mentioned for the previous question, I am, most definitely, going to continue using online tools as a way to increase access for my students who have mobility issues or health issues. I’ll also continue to use online tools to enhance my teaching because there are some things like doing Zoom check-ins, having reflections recorded, using strategic videos and discussion boards or media creation tools online that just make from more fun assignments and so I'd like to go ahead and continue to use those moving forward and not just rely on some of our age-old technologies like Microsoft Word for writing a paper. and So I'm excited to continue to use these creative techniques I am very excited to get back to face-to-face instruction and I really can't wait but I am thankful for this learning experience. I miss my students. I cannot wait to be able to have more of those informal moments with them, but I know that I can use online settings effectively to recreate those if I need to.
What are the most challenging parts of the transition from face-to-face teaching to online teaching due to the pandemic?
For me, I really love seeing my students every day, getting to do class activities that involve interactions, interpersonal interactions, and getting feedback from my students in those little, kind of, informal moments with my students are incredibly important to my teaching. So, it's been challenging to have to navigate online teaching and figure out how can I recreate or make sure that those informal moments are still in the mix. How can I recreate things like interpersonal interactions, in class, through activities, and things like that, while still teaching online? There are two kind of separate ways I think about this. For my graduate students who work in a real applied setting; so, school psychology graduate students, many of them need face-to-face time to practice new skills that they're learning, applied skills that they're learning, and so, trying to use videos and simulating case studies and role play are things I would have done in class anyways. But now I'm having to figure out how to really apply those in an online way.
What are the most common needs expressed by my students?
Both my undergraduates and graduate students commonly just really need more clear expectations, because, in an in-class setting, in a face-to-face setting, students often can come before and after class to ask clarification questions. Now they're needing to email and wait for a response. So, it's a little bit more frustrating and takes a little bit more time if you do have a question. So, I'm trying to work with my students to find ways to be more rapid in responding to students; things like having online office hours or having times where I make sure I'm answering all my emails or doing chatrooms, things like that, where students can come and ask questions is a way that we can kind of get around that. The other common need expressed by students is just a need for flexibility and empathy that we're all going through a really strange time right now and the way that we might have run class before, and the way we held deadlines before, might not work right now as students are juggling multiple responsibilities and their schedules are just all over the place.
What new teaching techniques or tools am I trying as a result of the switch to remote teaching?
Oh, I've tried just about everything, new tools and tricks, as a result of this switch to remote teaching. I think that there is just a wealth of software and online tools out there to help make remote teaching more accessible, more interesting, more engaging. But there's also a steep learning curve, and it's hard to know which one is the best or which one should you rely on. I have been using some mix of Panopto and Zoom to connect to my students, either through an online recorded lecture or through face-to-face meetings. I've also been relying more on videos and doing online discussion boards around videos and trying to use online media creation tools to get students to be creative about how they tell me about new information or show me that they've learned something new, and I'm really enjoying it. It's a learning curve for me, but I actually really like learning about all these new things and think I'll continue to use them in the future.
What new insights am I gaining about teaching in general?
I think, now that I've moved a lot of things online, I'm realizing I was taking so much for granted in a face-to-face setting. Just the expectation that students could easily come to campus, that students could ask me, or access me as they needed so quickly and easily, and I'm realizing that that's just not the case now, which means I have to be much more intentional about how I present assignments to students, much more specific about the directions that I give them, because I can't just, you know, if they have a question, they can’t come up to me after class and ask. I'm also having to be more specific about feedback that I give and pieces like that. So I'm not taking that for granted as much that they have access to me, and I’m trying to be much more clear in my written communication. Now, the other insight that I'm having is that a lot of students, or at least a number of students, have trouble with things I didn't think about before, like, access to the Internet or a quality computer or word processing system. Mobility. I always kind of assumed that students would easily be able to come somewhere, to a classroom for example. I think that in this new teaching environment I'm learning a lot more about what my students need. Things I might not have thought about before, because I just blanket assumed, you know, we all show up to class, we all learn in class. You have access to computers on campus if you don't have one at home. So, these new insights are making me feel like I need to be mindful of these things in a face-to-face setting and not just in a global crisis and to think more strategically about how am serving my students who have health issues and mobility issues when we get back to a face-to-face setting. Maybe I should do something like regularly get in the habit of recording lectures, or providing meeting times via zoom, instead of requiring students to come to my office hours.
How might this experience change my teaching when I return to face-to-face instruction?
As I mentioned for the previous question, I am, most definitely, going to continue using online tools as a way to increase access for my students who have mobility issues or health issues. I’ll also continue to use online tools to enhance my teaching because there are some things like doing Zoom check-ins, having reflections recorded, using strategic videos and discussion boards or media creation tools online that just make from more fun assignments and so I'd like to go ahead and continue to use those moving forward and not just rely on some of our age-old technologies like Microsoft Word for writing a paper. and So I'm excited to continue to use these creative techniques I am very excited to get back to face-to-face instruction and I really can't wait but I am thankful for this learning experience. I miss my students. I cannot wait to be able to have more of those informal moments with them, but I know that I can use online settings effectively to recreate those if I need to.
Original Format
Audio recording
Duration
6 minutes, 36 seconds