Dublin Core
Title
Manuella Crawley - Audio Reflection
Creator
Manuella Crawley
Date
5/7/2020
Rights
Format
mp3
Language
English
Sound Item Type Metadata
Transcription
Hello, my name is Dr. Manuella Crawley. I'm an Assistant College Lecturer in the School of Health Sciences.
Question 1. What were the most challenging parts of the transition?
To me the most challenging part of the transition was the quick turnaround time. A lot of thought and creativity goes into every course that I teach, and in that it goes to the design and implementation of the class. I think hard about how each individual piece of my class will ultimately get my students to a certain learning objective, and to have to quickly turn around those existing assignments, and tests and projects, to an online environment was very difficult, while still maintaining the integrity of the intent of the class. So, the assignments, the tests, the interactive part of the transition was the hardest for me because I still wanted to give my students that experience of the in-person class, although in an environment that was online.
Question 2. What were or are the most common needs expressed by your students?
Well the most common needs expressed by my students so far, has been some of the basic things like access to the internet and access to equipment, a computer or an iPad that they are able to access Blackboard easily. Those were the biggest issues that I've come across. Beyond these technical issues, student’s needs are really, they really express just a need for more communication, more accessibility for the courses. Even more so than on a normal online class.
I think that when students sign up for an online class, and they know it's going to be an online class there are certain expectations. But when they sign up for an in-person class and it ends up being online, I think the expectations are actually a little bit higher, and so they express a lot of need for more information, more communication, more, just more. So, I think those were the biggest needs and putting them into contact with other parts of the university. I think serving as a resource has been a big part of what I've been doing the last couple of weeks. I think students have been overwhelmed by the amount of information they've received in the form of emails, and announcements, and Blackboard pages.
So, in a way I think faculty have become kind of their one-stop-shop to be able to provide students with information that maybe they've received, or they don't know exactly where to go for it, and things like that.
Question 3. How did you respond to your students’ needs?
Exactly that. I think I responded by being that resource, by being the person that connected them with the available resources on campus, who reminded them of
deadlines and where they can get help. I've heard from a lot of students who expressed needs that I certainly can't provide, but that the university is providing accommodations for and I have certainly connected them with those.
What new teaching techniques and or tools have you tried?
Well, I've tried quite a bit of new tech tools. I tried Panopto, I've tried Zoom, I tried VoiceThread and really, I think what I've tried is a lot of tools that were available to us as faculty, but perhaps in the past, we never had the time or the motivation really, to figure out how to use those and incorporate them into the classes.
I think that, you know, while the quick transition was difficult and challenging, it also gave me almost the permission to try something new, and it'd be ok to fail. It gave me the permission to try these new tools in the process of the class and see if it worked, when in the past, perhaps I would have tried to figure it out first and then incorporate it into the class.
So, I think that was a positive that has come out from this.
We all had to figure out how to use these tools very quickly, and you know some with greater success than others, but they certainly have enhanced the online classes.
What new insights have you gained about teaching in general?
I think the biggest thing, the biggest insight I've gained from this experience really, is the importance of the connection between student to student, and student to teacher. I think that the part that has been the most difficult, is creating that trust between the instructor and the student. Creating that connection that helps cultivate the relationship to improve in the class. I think students really crave that and maybe they didn't know that they crave that so much before. And I think in the past, as I mentioned before, those who signed up for online classes did not expect that. They did not expect that connection. They did not expect a real interactive experience and now with this experience, I think that they will. And I think that this will be a great insight going forward as we continue either teaching some classes online and some in-person, or completely online, or even just for those classes that were online before.
I think it'll change how we teach those classes, because now this opportunity has opened my eyes anyway, to a lot more possibilities of what an online class could be. And how it could be something more than me posting lectures and videos, and there could be a lot more interaction and perhaps, that'll be a positive that comes out of this experience.
Question 1. What were the most challenging parts of the transition?
To me the most challenging part of the transition was the quick turnaround time. A lot of thought and creativity goes into every course that I teach, and in that it goes to the design and implementation of the class. I think hard about how each individual piece of my class will ultimately get my students to a certain learning objective, and to have to quickly turn around those existing assignments, and tests and projects, to an online environment was very difficult, while still maintaining the integrity of the intent of the class. So, the assignments, the tests, the interactive part of the transition was the hardest for me because I still wanted to give my students that experience of the in-person class, although in an environment that was online.
Question 2. What were or are the most common needs expressed by your students?
Well the most common needs expressed by my students so far, has been some of the basic things like access to the internet and access to equipment, a computer or an iPad that they are able to access Blackboard easily. Those were the biggest issues that I've come across. Beyond these technical issues, student’s needs are really, they really express just a need for more communication, more accessibility for the courses. Even more so than on a normal online class.
I think that when students sign up for an online class, and they know it's going to be an online class there are certain expectations. But when they sign up for an in-person class and it ends up being online, I think the expectations are actually a little bit higher, and so they express a lot of need for more information, more communication, more, just more. So, I think those were the biggest needs and putting them into contact with other parts of the university. I think serving as a resource has been a big part of what I've been doing the last couple of weeks. I think students have been overwhelmed by the amount of information they've received in the form of emails, and announcements, and Blackboard pages.
So, in a way I think faculty have become kind of their one-stop-shop to be able to provide students with information that maybe they've received, or they don't know exactly where to go for it, and things like that.
Question 3. How did you respond to your students’ needs?
Exactly that. I think I responded by being that resource, by being the person that connected them with the available resources on campus, who reminded them of
deadlines and where they can get help. I've heard from a lot of students who expressed needs that I certainly can't provide, but that the university is providing accommodations for and I have certainly connected them with those.
What new teaching techniques and or tools have you tried?
Well, I've tried quite a bit of new tech tools. I tried Panopto, I've tried Zoom, I tried VoiceThread and really, I think what I've tried is a lot of tools that were available to us as faculty, but perhaps in the past, we never had the time or the motivation really, to figure out how to use those and incorporate them into the classes.
I think that, you know, while the quick transition was difficult and challenging, it also gave me almost the permission to try something new, and it'd be ok to fail. It gave me the permission to try these new tools in the process of the class and see if it worked, when in the past, perhaps I would have tried to figure it out first and then incorporate it into the class.
So, I think that was a positive that has come out from this.
We all had to figure out how to use these tools very quickly, and you know some with greater success than others, but they certainly have enhanced the online classes.
What new insights have you gained about teaching in general?
I think the biggest thing, the biggest insight I've gained from this experience really, is the importance of the connection between student to student, and student to teacher. I think that the part that has been the most difficult, is creating that trust between the instructor and the student. Creating that connection that helps cultivate the relationship to improve in the class. I think students really crave that and maybe they didn't know that they crave that so much before. And I think in the past, as I mentioned before, those who signed up for online classes did not expect that. They did not expect that connection. They did not expect a real interactive experience and now with this experience, I think that they will. And I think that this will be a great insight going forward as we continue either teaching some classes online and some in-person, or completely online, or even just for those classes that were online before.
I think it'll change how we teach those classes, because now this opportunity has opened my eyes anyway, to a lot more possibilities of what an online class could be. And how it could be something more than me posting lectures and videos, and there could be a lot more interaction and perhaps, that'll be a positive that comes out of this experience.
Original Format
Audio recording
Duration
6 minutes, 26 seconds