Humanized Online Teaching Showcase
Lia Deromedi, English Instructor, Butte College
This site provides examples of instructional resources created in the Humanizing Online Teaching Academy, a professional development program at Butte College, funded by the Culturally Responsive Pedagogy & Practices grant from the California Community College Chancellor's Office.
Reflections
Where I was.
At the start of the Academy, I was pretty content with my online courses. I usually get high praise from students on the clear organization of the material, which is something I value. However, there was very little personality. I had a homepage with a banner and the buttons, but nothing that showcased my humanness. My modules were organized as followed: Course Information, Canvas navigation videos, Grammar Extra Credit, then Week 1, Week 2, and so on until the end of the semester (or they may be organized by unit only, with a few weeks per unit). Within each Module, there is: Weekly Information page, materials clearly labelled, readings clearly labelled, and assignments with due dates. I still like that organization, but now see where it could be improved.
Where I am.
I am still unsure of the use of video. It's not that I don't grasp the concept or that I don't know how to use the tools (or even that I don't already use videos). My uncertainty hinges on how many and what kind of videos I would like to include, especially recording more than mere words/images. As a part-time instructor, I cannot justify the unpaid hours of prepping a million new videos that feature my face when my lecture videos with just my voice suffice to deliver information. Perhaps, primarily voice is enough to humanize the materials with strategic new bumper videos featuring my face. Likewise, requiring students to video themselves makes me incredibly uncomfortable. With all that said, I adore the liquid syllabus and think it puts my sad little pre-class welcome email in its place. I think it is my most humanized new element, and it's one that I will replicate for other courses. The ice breaker also puts my previous discussion to shame, and I love the idea.
Where I am going.
Adobe Express has been my favorite new tool, so I intend to create some Module introduction videos for each unit. I love the idea of the bumper videos, just these brief ways for me to direct students to where/what I want in an approachable way. The course survey is another wonderful addition; I usually have students send in a response answering a few questions. The survey is brief, approachable, and a safe space for them to hopefully share any needs they may have. This is something I will use in every online course. I'm going to take stock of the information I currently have out there. I don't want to make my pages too busy, but I do want to provide more instructions. I realize now that I expected them to be able to figure a lot out on their own, and I want to be more of a guide online.
Liquid Syllabus
The Liquid Syllabus has everything I want the students to know as they begin our class in one aesthetically-pleasing, easy-to-navigate place. Beginning with a little bit about me lets them know that there is a person behind all the information they will read below, which will hopefully make it less overwhelming. I have tried to interject personality throughout so that the information isn't too dry. I provide information about the specific course, my own teaching, the expectations I have for the class, and many helpful links to College services that they can utilize before and during our time together. I hope that this shows that my primary goal is their learning, which I demonstrate through support.
Course Card
It came to my attention with this activity that some of my previous course cards may have been rather unwelcoming. I found copy-right free images that I felt tied into our course theme. But, for this particular class, several semesters in a row that image has been a tattered American flag behind barbed wire. I wish I was joking. The course theme focuses on inequalities in the United States, so it's apropos. But it's entirely unwelcoming. It could even be considered threatening. It was a reality check for me to choose a welcoming course card. Still using copyright-free services, I chose a photo featuring college-aged people that represent our diverse student body reading/studying in a library. This highlights the community-building we'll be doing by working together, as well as all the reading in an English course.
Homepage
My previous homepage included the banner at the top and the buttons and the welcome blurb (though it was longer). It did not have links to the initial modules, a welcome video, or a contact card. All of those new elements contribute to the overall feeling of welcome and support that I aimed for with the homepage. My very short welcome video is full of smiles and brief sentiments that I hope serve as kindness cues. I hope that the less formal language and the helpful links demonstrate that I am there to support them in our class and at the college.
Getting to Know You Survey
I believe my survey of seven questions offers a good mix of general questions, such as preferred name, and more specific ones, such as what they're most looking forward to this semester (I give them the option not to link it to our class). It gives me some information about how they're approaching our work online, such as asking how they access Canvas or if there's anything they anticipate interfering with their abilities to be successful in the class. I think it's important to give them a private opportunity to share any issues that they may currently have or anticipate which may affect their work. The questions don't come across as invasive, however, and are grounded in supportive language.
Ice Breaker
The Ice Breaker assignment that I chose highlights an object that has meaning in the student's space. This is deliberately broad; it could be something alive like a pet, something small like a piece of jewelry, something large like a piece of furniture, and so on. The student has the option to record a video or audio for this assignment. It is important to me that videos not be required components of my online courses because of mental health and other issues. I used my bookshelves as a model and described a few of the reasons/things on it that explain why the shelf space is special to me. I hope that through showcasing all the different things that students value in their spaces, some commonalities or curiosities may arise, building that sense of community and connection to each other as people with lived experiences.
Bumper Video
I accidentally recorded a bumper video for a different online course that I have been working on concurrently. That course, Introduction to Literature, has a module for each genre unit. This brief bumper video introduces the module, how to navigate it, and what it contains. I like the idea of creating bumper videos for each new module in every online class to guide students through the work. My modules contain an informational page that outline the materials and assignments within it, including links, and I want to make sure that students begin there then work their way down. A video is a quick way to provide these instructions. I hope that this will help mitigate questions students have about where to find things and the progression of our course.
Microlecture
The microlecture is exactly like my PPTs that I show in my in-person classes: a mix of information and questions for discussion/thought. I used the program we were told not to use because I like how it moves from slide-to-slide, but also because I always use PPT and Snagit and I simply wanted to try a different tool. I really like the images available, as well, though the layout is limited. The best part is that I can rerecord only sections as needed, rather than the entire lecture. I may not repeat its usage, but I'm still glad I tried it. It has a clear learning objective and I believe that mix of instruction/questions strikes the perfect balance for my English course. I chose to make a microlecture for the same class as my bumper video to keep the instructional videos consistent. I hope that the brevity of the material in the slides, combined with more voiceover and complementary images, will feel approachable as I introduce the text and the key things I hope they'll know and think about before we get into the nitty gritty.
The Humanized Online Teaching Academy is adapted from the Humanizing Online STEM Academy, by Michelle Pacansky-Brock, Mike Smedshammer, and Kim Vincent-Layton. This website was created by Lia Deromedi and is shared with a Creative Commons-Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 license.