Humanized Online Teaching Showcase
Tomoko Lance
Japanese Instructor
Butte College
Reflections
Where I was.
I have been teaching online since the wake of Covid-19.
My lecture style was to teach on Zoom and send the recorded video to the students on the same day while using the teaching materials I created to contain and summarize the lesson contents.
It was optional for students to take the synchronously or watch the recorded video lectures at their convenience.
This system was a combination of face-to-face classes and online classes, so it was a reasonably satisfying class format for me. I discovered many high-quality online programs including YouTube videos, web news sources, and articles that are related to the Japanese language, culture, and history thanks to the online teaching.
However, I have always wondered if there were better ways to communicate with students or facilitate student-to-student connections. Regularly offered virtual office hours or occasional chat hours were not too popular or successful to promote effective communication.
Where I am.
I was born and raised in Japan, immigrated to the United States and lived here for many years, and have been teaching Japanese for 10 years. Until I experienced Covid-19 in 2020, I have taken my role as a Japanese teacher seriously and taught without being deeply involved in the complicated structure of this country. However, taking this program at the Humanizing Academy this summer, and as I progressed through the modules, I had the opportunity to open my eyes to many issues: political, economic, racial, and poverty problems, etc. that I hadn't felt close to me before. This course is not just about creating advanced teaching methods and teaching materials using educational theory and the latest technology, but also about creating classes that are truly human, focusing on the psychological aspects of students with various backgrounds. I was able to reaffirm the necessity and possibility of designing such 'warm and caring' online courses.
Where I am going.
My goal. After taking this course, I realized some of the most important and essential elements that I want to focus on as a language teacher. They are warm and wise feedback, community through interaction between students, and warm, asynchronous communications. A notable point in learning a foreign language is communicating with others through various means. Of the four language acquisitions of "writing," "reading," "speaking," and "listening," most students have a strong desire to "be able to speak Japanese." I will provide an environment and various class programs that facilitate the students' needs. I will set up a place where students can easily visit and share a wide range of topics, not just subjects. I included this space, "Nihongo no Chashitsu" Japanse Tearoom. Besides the tearoom, I will strive to create a program by setting up Flip, a video/audio discussion app, and Discussions, and offer occasional 'live meeting places on Zoom where students can drop by casually so they won't feel isolated. Also, as a student of the Humanizing Academy myself, I experienced the warmth of this course. I sincerely hope that I will be able to interact with the students in the same way my teachers of this program showed as I have been able to receive feedback from teachers and questions I have received through e-mails.
Liquid Syllabus
This is a photo of Hōryuji Temple, the oldest wooden structure in the world and a World Heritage Site. While many Japanese language students cite pop culture as a motivation for their interest in the Japanese language, I dared to choose a photo of Hōryuji Temple, one of the representatives of traditional Japanese culture, for JPN1 homepage. Language represents culture. This website is designed to convey to students not only pop culture, but also that Japan has a wonderful traditional culture.
Course Card
Origami is a paper craft loved by people of all ages around the world. Crane origami is the most famous and is a symbol of peace and harmony. The world flags are symbols of inclusivity.
These two powerful messages are included in the cranes folded with the national flags of the world.
Homepage
To acknowledge and support the interest of many students in Japanese pop culture, the Canvas homepage features a variety of images. This is to create a friendly atmosphere. By visually presenting familiar Japanese pop culture and Japanese texts, students' anticipation for new adventures can be heightened.
While recognizing their enthusiasm for pop culture, I strongly feel that it is my responsibility as a Japanese Language instructor, to introduce my students to traditional cultural products that are rich, profound, and uniquely different from any other cultures in the world. Thus, I presented both modern and traditional images.
Getting to Know You Survey
In this survey, I reconfirmed why they want to study Japanese in this class. The message is that even if it is an online class, we continue learning Japanese together while sharing the place and process of learning with other students. In addition, I focused on reducing the students' anxiety, reassuring them of having the instructor's support, and making them feel that they could support each other.
Ice Breaker
Flip is used for self-introduction at the beginning of the semester.
Exchanging their interests through discussions and watching classmates' self-intro should be a powerful connector.
The top motivation for learning Japanese is the popularity of pop cultures such as anime, manga, and games, so it would be a perfect icebreaker activity and a great starting activity to build a community among students. Facilitating students' connecting space is essential.
Bumper Video
Encourage students to observe and compare English and Japanese to develop their linguistic senses which help them get familiar and feel confident to speak Japanese. Providing this basic but essential information facilitates students' readiness to dive into this uniquely different subject.
Microlecture
Students are assigned to create their self-introduction right from Lesson 1. English and Japanese are very different languages grammatically and culturally. Introducing the key differences and characteristics of the Japanese language will help students' comprehension of the contents of the lesson and build a strong foundation of 4 language skills.