The New Normal:  Timeline of a Paperless, Socially Distanced Class

Today I began Summer Intensive College English 2 classes with 34 students in our 250+ seating auditorium at Gyeongsang National University in Jinju, South Korea. This Timeline will cover the events that unfold in this paperless, socially distanced class.

Day 1

The first day of class was an adjustment. Thirty four students sat in our large auditorium at least 3 seats apart in any direction. Students passed a temperature check and had to sign in upon arrival.

Hardware

In the class there is a raised stage with a computer next to the lighting panel. The podium at the front has a mic stand where I placed my HP Spectre x 360 2 in 1 laptop. This computer is equipped with a stylus pen that turns the static white backdrop behind me into a space to write and share.

Software

The laptop was connected to the computer via chrome remote desktop. On the Spectre I am able to display the Microsoft Whiteboard I used for classwork. Writing notes with the stylus and scrolling around the infinite virtual space make for a world of possibilities. See my post on Microsoft Whiteboard coming soon for more on that.

In the classroom we created our virtual classroom meeting space on Google Classroom. Students were prompted to download Google Docs, Slides, and Drive in order to keep up with "handouts" required for class. We immediately put them to work so the students could start writing.

Logistical Issues

One of the biggest issues with this class is going to be getting students to speak. Students are reluctant to do more than point in the class. Tomorrow they will be introducing themselves using the Slide they made in class time today. More on that tomorrow.

Day 2

Objective

Classes today focused on remaining responsibly distanced while speaking. The masks provide a unique issue. Students miss on quite a few of the facial gestures used to communicate under optimal conditions. The students being spaced around 6 feet apart from each other made features even less distinguishable.

Atmosphere

In general students were eager to meet each other and participate responsibly. It seems the added importance of digital technology and all the frustrations included in learning new programs on the fly have placed a premium on intuitive analog activities. Students jumped at the chance to turn in their chairs and shout at each other in English.

Software

Using the same hardware as Day 1 our class utilized the "make a copy for each student" function on Google Classroom. This makes delivering individual files as assignments fool proof. Students regularly have issues submitting the assignments once finished. Creating the assignment myself and assigning it from a primary file from my own Drive makes the file nearly impossible to be lost.

The Textbook we are using, Paul Nation's Fast Track 1 published by Seed Learning, lends itself nicely to a few timely programs. Namely, the book is equipped with pre-loaded Kahoot! comprehension checks, Quizlet vocabulary sets, and Soundcloud/YouTube supported sound files. We were lucky to have selected such a uniquely prepared textbook when we did just prior to initial news coming from Wuhan in December. The textbook's core pedagogical approach is a bit difficult to maintain in practice without implementing a flipped classroom with the short duration of our class and the paperless objective. We chose this book over others presented to us as it followed a methodology that would support Nation's 4 Strand's approach. The textbook came with quite a few teacher's materials that deliver QR codes next to specific sections and makes finding resources simple for students.

Conclusion

The class was a success. The students remained socially distant, were able to engage as a group through Kahoot, and able to meet each other and find interesting information about each other using individual google docs with questions. We finished the class by working in pairs of students sitting near each other asking standard introductory questions. The students wrote each others answers in an information gap activity.

Socially Distanced Socializing Engaged!

Day 3

Today's class was smooth! We were able to utilize the Powerpoint and Teacher's Resources included in the Fast Track 1 Textbook package. The Teaching Resources were adequate when added into my Microsoft Whiteboard. We were able to work in pairs across empty seats and finish the pair work activity. Focusing today on vocabulary and expressions we used Unit 2 of the textbook to discuss routines.

This routine discussion will be helpful when we do our test. The class was a success.

On the stage it was easy to feel like I was a dj. I was moving between apps and programs while the students worked in the audience. Pausing now and then to look up to see what I was doing. It was a great feeling to finally have such a smooth class after such a rocky online semester.

Not a bad day at all!

Day 4

The issue with intensive courses is the speed at which you need to cover material. One way to progress with the students concerns and the objectives of the course intact is to simply reach out to the students. With the help of the students in class, I was able to bridge the divided attention and focus the course. Simply outlining the objectives and grading of the upcoming test, I was able to ask the students where we should focus the class material.

Democratic Involvement

After learning briefly about the Mid-Term test, which is only 7 days into our 15 day course, students responded and took control of their studies. The discourse that continued after seemed more focused and practical. I think this helped students find their voice. The class became more motivated, it seemed, to participate. Communication in the cavernous auditorium where we were practicing social distancing, became normalized. Students were more outspoken and seemingly returned to the offline form I had been seeking since March when we went online.

Students spoke out and chose the next 3 topics we were to cover. They looked into the textbook and found the areas they needed the most practice and we re-focused the course accordingly. This flexibility is something I practice in some form or other every semester. This semester and this intensive course, shrouded in such confusion with new procedures for seemingly everything, required some form of ownership. Handing the students the power to create objective goals for the course indebted them to the class time efficacy. This was a moving moment. Something that seemed impossible on Zoom, was finally happening. The students were participating actively and information flowed from teacher to student with clarity and pointed objectivity.

Democratizing the class seemingly unified the practical benefits of the class time. Students were more outspoken. Questions were lobbed from the void to the stage of our auditorium. The class momentum seemingly picked up and we moved quickly through material meant to prepare them for their upcoming presentation. This is something to keep in mind for future courses where students seem unappreciative of their participation in class and classes meander through content with reluctance and opacity of purpose.

Day 5

Momentum can halt quickly in a paperless, socially distanced class.

On the 5th day I seemingly ran into every tech issue you could. It began with my morning prep. Microsoft Whiteboard asked me to input my Microsoft password. After receiving codes and continuing to fail at replacing it and signing in, I got locked out. My password manager Last Pass, which is fantastic to use, failed to prompt me correctly with the URL that I was on. Unlike Google, Microsoft works from desktop Programs. Those desktop programs don't prompt the same way as a website. That makes it quite easy for you to save the wrong set and continuously repeat the wrong password until you are locked out. You only get 3 codes per day for those of you who get locked out of Microsoft accounts.

So while I am figuring this out, my class is watching me disgusted. I am continuously shutting down the sign-in prompt to write a bit. So I shut the Whiteboard down and went back to basics. Opened up a Google Document and forgot for a moment that these students were not indoctrinated in the Google apps like I have been for some time now. Blazing through the requirements, I seemingly lost the students.

So the students finally made it to the file and added their input, which was essential because those first 5 minutes of frantically trying to sign in to my comfort zone forced them to lose their voice they had just found the day before. It seemed easy for the class to fall out of love with the productivity that had been just unearthed. The moment was gone.

Word to the wise. Practice your jump off prior to class starting and make sure you are smooth and engaging to get the class going in the right direction from the get.

Day 6

The worst part of intensives class is the shear speed at which you need to cover material. With the class stalled and the timing of the class procedure disrupted, it seemed odd when the show went on as scheduled. The need to cover material may have somewhat surpassed the students interest in participating.

In order to get the students back I brought us back to the communicative volley that had occurred the day before. Quickly moving on from my attempt to reproduce that magic I was able to pass along the terms of the upcoming test. Using Google Classroom, I was able to outline the rubric needed to grade the test.

Google Classroom's rubric invention, which is new as of last semester, helps detail the requirements of the test. I was able to detail the test parameters. The student snow had an item to look at to help them through the test. With the assignment and rubric, I was able to set a Google Slide template with the needed information. The template and rubric served as a useful benchmark.

I think it is meaningful to show the students how the information is input. There is a tendency for the uninitiated to believe some of the things they find online are automatic. Students may inaccurately believe that the files online were somehow defaulted with answers and would automate the answers. The upkeep is important, but it surely takes time. Showing the students the process may help avoid the uncomfortable situation that could arise if the students suddenly see their work fail to be graded promptly (or immediately).

Day 7

The students seemed to have taken to the information after all! The presentations today were stellar. The students seemingly left in the dark, found their way. The presentations were short and to the point. Sticking to the breakneck speed of the course, they were easily able to step up to the stage and follow through on telling us their plans.

A win!

Day 8

Backups, Backups, Backups.

Today the lamp of the projector went out. The electricity in the building had been taxed and the electricity almost went out. While I was teaching the class, the projector started to flicker. Technicians quickly appeared and started to work on them.

In the meantime, the show had to go on. I was on stage and we had limited time. There was quite a bit of material to cover today and the ability to work together was in question. I had a backup though. Quickly pulling up a Google Document, the students were able to continue working with me. The textbooks that I could see the students had, were able to play their own role. One thing we focus on is using new vocabulary in a sentence. The students were able to generate sentences using the vocabulary.

Being the middle of the semester in this intensive course, we had time to take a mid-term survey. Some of the results are here.

fall-2020-intensive-survey-resultsDownload

The students seem to feel comfortable working with no paper. Most students agree that social distancing is not a problem.

Almost all the students feel that this is preferable to the online classes we had been doing prior. I did not expect such a strong response to this question. The students were really not interested in the online classes. Areas that we fall short in are things we took for granted with our online classes. Seeing the instructor clearly. Not needing to guess as to whether or not they are on the correct path. Simple visual cues when speaking that are less obvious online all come to mind.

It is important to get the most out of this class while we can. I hope we will be able to bridge the gap between offline and online classes.

Day 9

Day 9 was smooth. Using the materials available has become easy. Students seem to be relaxed. Using Classroom to navigate to Docs and Slides while using my Microsoft Whiteboard has become simple. Things are moving smoothly.

I should note, the computer we have connected to our projector is a desktop. It does have a touch screen, but it is not something I can write on. The monitor is touch sensitive, which is useful at times, but something you need to keep in mind before you lean on the computer area.

In order to utilize Microsoft Whiteboard completely I am using my laptop and connecting wirelessly with Chrome Remote Desktop. This really allows me to connect my computer's ability to the projector and still remain mobile on our large stage. It does take quite a bit of battery to run the Remote Desktop, and maybe there is another way, but I haven't found it yet.

Day 10

This was the last bit of rest we will get before the mad dash to the finish. Today was mostly for book-keeping and working on things we already covered. We have been focusing on the need for visual information when communicating. To that effect, we were focusing on cloze activities, followed by audio of the same text, then finally video. Luckily all of these are provided within YouTube links in the textbook we are using. If the class had been held inside the classroom under normal circumstances, the students would have completed this in groups and utilized their own devices to access the audio and video files.

Overall, I believe it wise to avoid usurping the students' devices for too much work. Taking something they use to escape their own reality and turning it into the only tool they can use to advance in the class sounds off. The students seem to be able to handle the small bits of utility I remind them their device is capable of, though closer inspection might find each instance less valuable than once thought...

Day 11

The home stretch now.

We are preparing our final assignments and finishing everything we need to to be ready for the last days. The cooperation of the class wains at times. The palpable air surrounding open ended questions, long thought to be the bane of every teacher's classes, hangs like a weight in the room. Unlike in Zoom based classes, the audience meets the teacher's disdain for idle time. The silence grips the cavernous auditorium void of the distractions of all the media available to students when working from home.

Something about the excess that the students surround themselves in, and the overwhelming, glaring inadequacies of the Spring 2020 semester online prevented them from motivating when all seemed lost. The room, gripped with the "I'm not angry, just disappointed" feeling when a challenge goes unanswered redirects faster than in any other situation I have been in. There is something to this. The students quickly returned to form and offered their efforts to right the ship as one.

When classes resume, I think it may be wise to find this obstacle and expose its virtuous end. I have seen it once before. Held back by the constraints of getting to work together in a productive tangible task by foreign technology, I witnessed students jump to action in a fully productive Google Doc. One of our great triumphs of the semester was in our early days. Hindered by an uninitiated jolt into the online classroom, students were at one time held back from adequately participating. The longer this went on, the more apt they were all to jump in on the action when a possibility presented itself.

Moving the students into shared Docs, we watched as the students, finally able to work unencumbered, found their voices. Through the chat in Docs, voice in Breakout rooms, and simply writing on the document itself, students once chained by the overwhelming voices coming through at the same time sprung to action to produce and finish one of their first group assignments.

When posed with the feeling of inadequacy, students are not guaranteed to participate fully. But it may be, that some hindering plays a part in the veracity at which they finally resume productivity in a new environment. This may be the next step in our evolution online.

Day 12

I must admit a selfish act. Today I took it upon myself to enjoy the sort of lecturous proselytizing that you can only effectively enjoy with a captive audience. With the online classes, this feeling of self-importance is rarely satiated by the dull faceless oblivion of live-streamed classes. Holding the attention with cadence, meter, gesture, and physical presence, dominated the class today.

It helped that I was speaking about the simplest, most salient part of our course. Students should immediately be able to apply the task and indoctrinate themselves in the shortlisting of skills needed to find employment, something students soon to graduate are likely to find useful. The audience therefore was more captivated than passive and I selfishly embraced the opportunity to feel meaningful on the odd stage we have.

I believe it may be worthwhile to embolden classes with meaningful back and forth dialogue, sparse monologue, guest speaker-esque first hand accounts, and the like, as opportunities to re-gather and charge forward.

This is the last class we will have to do so before our final push to testing, grading, and finalizing our course.

Day 13

A last gasp before we finalize our course. Tomorrow will be our final test. I have kept a day for any extra work to be completed and any questions to be answered.

We returned to logistic preparation. Our last task of the semester will be to create a video file. For this we will use flipgrid. Flipgrid is a great program for sharing videos. It houses all the large files and simplifies what could become a ridiculously monotonous failure. The amount of file types and editing programs the students would use to create a 1 minute video creates calamity. The failures of the past have shown that without this simplification the sheer mass of failures to upload, open properly, or simply get started, is just too much to overcome. The simple green + sign is inviting and starts almost instantly.

It is advisable to change the default settings in Flipgrid as to not show the other students the files as they come in. Once you save your settings to "monitored", the video is hidden to others. This makes the file viewable only to you and you can prepare some of the signage and other fun options available can be turned on or off without difficulty.

Logistical Requirements

We prepared the final documents necessary to parallel without giving away the task. A combination of Google Docs, Flipgrid, and saved youtube clips housed in Drive and shared through Classroom will finish off the endeavor. These are the essentials needed for an online course:

Drive- to keep your folders and create templates needed to get students starting easily

Classroom- to navigate, assign assignments, and track scores;

Docs- keeps track of students work and organizes your files while allowing you to share your work and collaborate, suggest, and edit accordingly;

Flipgrid- to share videos, hold them in storage, and get students to use one compatible file type;

Microsoft Whiteboard- for those with a stylus, this creates the necessary interface to use a whiteboard in the traditional sense with all the perks of a smartboard;

Youtube- to share any videos necessary with ease.

These are the bare necessities required for your class. Providing ample time to gain some faint trace of familiarity is needed for ethical and procedural concerns.

Two weeks in and the class is coming to a close. If only the semester could flow so smoothly...

Day 14

Tests!

Making sure to give another day in case of any mishaps seems to be something everyone should be doing while online. The sheer volume of possible failure is so momentous, that having no plan b would seem to be foolish. That said, we did not require our extra day. Though I would still recommend we keep it.

The videos, shared on the projected screen, the digital files sent to the students as Docs, and the final assignment utilizing Flip Grid, made for a smooth final test. The students had already developed a proficiency in each software so the final test was completed smoothly.

Day 15

We had kept this final day for any spill over. We had no such need, though some students did use this time to send in final assignments and clarify old grades and concerns. We finished with a summary and a big thank you for being patient.

I asked the class to share their thoughts on the class and we wrapped up with some pleasantries.

A loud cough from the back hastened my exit from the class. I realize how lucky we were to have gotten through this 15 day intensive course held over the past 3 weeks without incident, and without second thought, let the students off early one last time.

Success!