What does it take to teach online effectively?
Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that COVID-19 has consumed everything in our world. In particular, it has completely upended schools, colleges, and universities. Now we're all on Zoom and trying to make our way through this really difficult situation. "Unprecedented" is almost an overused adjective at this point.
Teachers everywhere are scrambling to get their students online and salvage what's left of the school year. Every education-related organization or business, mine included, is trying to help. The help started with free webinars but has since blossomed into massive lists of links and resources. Many teachers are complaining, with just reason, of being overwhelmed by information.
Throughout this time, Almy Education been working on solutions. That's our goal and we'll have more information in the very near future. In the process of beginning to offer solutions and tweak our offerings, we're learning a lot about what is needed to teach online effectively. Not just the tools, but the larger needs for teachers, students, and schools. So much of it comes back to people, not technology.
In some senses, I consider myself a seasoned online math professor since I've taught online for over a decade. In that time, I've constantly been growing my skill set, adjusting what and how I teach courses and assess, and branching out into more pedagogies like active learning. But the more I learn from experts, the more I realize I have to learn. I don't mind that, but it's been interesting to see how vast the field of online education is, how many tools and skills are needed, and how many additional and sometimes different obstacles there are to contend with. My online courses were more content dissemination and course management. Very administrative in nature and little connection between me and my students. We all just felt like we were alone “doing” this course. Now I see all kinds of ways to engage my students that in all likelihood I will be using the next course I teach since online teaching is only going to grow in importance over time, not shrink.
“The best advice when it comes to teaching and learning usually comes from those doing it every day.”
The overriding takeaway I keep coming back to is that teachers are where you get the best solutions to online learning challenges. My bias is towards practitioners, which is not a secret. But seeing the proposed solutions many are creating, even some huge organizations, and seeing how little they reflect the needs of teachers and students have only confirmed the bias I have towards practitioners. We do need support from many groups and companies, but the best advice when it comes to teaching and learning usually comes from those doing it every day. Provide the tools, like technology and software, but leave the instruction to the experts. It would be great if teaching and learning math could all be done by watching some videos and reading some text, but the reality is that’s not enough. Teaching and learning are by their very nature human endeavors. It’s the humanity that matters and is essential to a good experience for both the teacher and student.
For example, it's the little nuggets of wisdom like having everyone wait in the Zoom chat after they've typed a response and then saying "3-2-1-go!" and having them hit enter at the same time. That technique is so simple but makes a world of difference in terms of engagement and participation. Desmos is something you hear about constantly, but using it effectively and not getting lost in bells and whistles is where the challenge is. It takes working with a Desmos expert to learn little tips about what to use when and what not to use. Just yesterday, I watched a teacher use Desmos in a way that's so simple but I had never seen before and it was so effective. He took 4 open-ended responses from a list of student responses, clicked the camera icon next to them, and loaded a screen of 4 responses to start his synchronous Zoom session. No names were included but the feedback was rich and a great conversation starter.
Those little pearls, tips, tricks, whatever we call it, are the key. They're the key in the face-to-face classroom too. The difference is that so many teachers have them in the physical classroom and can share that wisdom. There are far fewer teachers who are experts at teaching remotely and have the time to share that knowledge with others. Many teachers feel alone and unsure and all the tech, apps, and videos in the world aren’t enough.
I'm excited to share soon about the additional remote teaching experts I've found and the expanded solutions we're going to have. If you're feeling like you need someone to walk you through teaching math online, you're going to have access to solutions in short order.
If there is something specific you're looking for, please reach out and let us know. We're still in the planning phase right now of our next big offering. Your input is invaluable.
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