This site provides examples of instructional resources created in the Humanizing Online STEM Academy, a professional development program funded by the California Education Learning Lab and administered by the Foothill DeAnza Community College District.
Before I joined this course, I had a little bit of background in Culturally Responsive Pedagogy and I was engaged in proactive efforts to address equity gaps that were evident in my online course. I completed the Peer Online Course Review and I had experience using tools such as Padlet/Flipgrid/Canvas Studio, and creating liquid syllabi. Although I felt like I was on the right track towards improving the student experience (and hopefully) outcomes, I was also well aware that I was just scratching the surface. I knew that I could really benefit from learning more about the benefits of humanizing, concrete strategies to help me humanize my online course, and adding additional tools to my teaching toolkit.
Participating in this course has not only provided me with the opportunity to develop my online course in a way that better serves my students, but it has also encouraged deep reflection in terms of how I approach my teaching practice. Learning about new ways to present material, engage with students, and guide students through navigating the course content has been so empowering.
I have developed the skills to build a website that welcomes students to my class and provides them with warm first impression that includes important information about how our course will work along with resources and tips for being successful. I have learned to leverage video to show students who I am outside of the classroom, introduce challenging new topics, and even deliver short segments of instruction that they can watch on their own time and refer back to as needed.
This course has reinforced the importance of the student perspective. Creating the Online Student Voices video and watching those submitted by my peers, highlighted the need for flexibility and instructor responsiveness. These are both practices that I strive to incorporate but they are now centered in my teaching practice and I have a much deeper understanding as to why they are paramount. Learning about and creating a Wisdom Wall was a reminder that students can also be fantastic resources for each other. Finding ways to create more opportunities to promote this is on my to-do list!
As I get ready to move forward from this class, I am doing so feeling empowered with a full toolkit and an abundance of gratitude for the opportunity to learn and grow.
This course has exposed me to effective strategies and tools to improve my online course in meaningful ways. I plan to make changes to apply a what I have learned about humanizing to better support my future students and enhance their experience in our learning community. Experiencing this online class as a student while working full time and as a mother to three kids, I have a new perspective of the balancing act that so many of my students face on a daily basis. I feel inspired to offer them flexibility and a higher degree of support than ever before using some of the tools that I have practiced using these past six weeks. It is my hope that implementing these humanizing strategies will not only increase student engagement but will also provide evidence to students that they are valued participants in our learning community.
This liquid syllabus represents my initial pre-course contact with my students. Given that students can be unclear about expectations, course meeting times, materials, and support services, the liquid syllabus is intended to offer that clarity before the course even begins. The fact that this is easy to view on a phone is a major selling point, as this is typically how my students are getting their first introduction to our course. The functionality to hide pages is very useful as I can customize the first delivery to include only the most essential information for the first week. A Week #1 Success Kit provides transparency so students know what to expect during the first week as they get settled into our class.
I have included a welcome message that introduces my students to me, the person behind the web pages, and allows them to see who I am outside of just being their instructor. 😊 I have also incorporated my teaching philosophy so that students understand early on how I operate as an instructor and what values inform my practice. I layer in inclusive imagery to both engage student's emotions and represent diverse people in an effort to ensure more students can see themselves as successful participants in our learning community.
A course card is the first thing a student sees when they log into Canvas and open their dashboard. It is likely to inform a student's first impression of our course before they even enter our home page. Because first impressions matter, I wanted to intentionally select a warm image that implies togetherness, teamwork, and a welcoming community. I have selected this image as my course card because I appreciate that the collection of hands shows a variety of skin tones and hand sizes that might allow students to see themselves in the imagery. In addition, the tone that I try to set for the class is that we are on a learning journey together. I have nature images scattered throughout my online course and often refer to this collective adventure we have embarked upon throughout the course content. The hands on the tree trunk beautifully reflect this theme and reinforce the idea that we, as a class, are sharing this time and space.
My humanized homepage is intended to be a warm first impression of our course and provide students with helpful information to navigate our course successfully. The goal is for this page to be a resource that students access any time they click through to from our course card on their Canvas dashboard. For students who have not used Canvas much, I include a video that provides a tour of how to navigate our course and get everywhere they need to go. This also serves the purpose of introducing myself them and providing evidence that I am there to support them. I also include recent announcements (one main way that I communicate with the group) as well as a To-Do list that will point students to upcoming assignments, events, and deadlines to be mindful of.
My welcome banner reflects nature, which is imagery that is present throughout all of the online course content. This theme is intended to align with the journey that our class is traveling together towards a better understanding of economics. I have inserted a "Start Here" button so students are able to see where they are expected to go each time they log in to our course.
I try to keep the content minimized so students can easily locate what they are looking for.
This survey is one humanizing element that validates student's unique identities and circumstances and can offer a kindness cue early on in the quarter. I ask students to complete this survey in Week #1 to show them that I care about who they are outside of our class and that I want them to have the tools they need to be successful in our course.
Just as I introduce myself on the home page and in my liquid syllabus, knowing more about my students helps me to better serve them. Survey responses also give me wonderful insights into which students may need extra support and which students are balancing a lot of other commitments. It allows me to scan the class to identify students that are "high opportunity." I mine these responses in the "Notes" column of the gradebook and refer back to them throughout the quarter.
The purpose of including the Wisdom Wall within my online class is to normalize struggle and provide students with some insider tips for success! It can be challenging to learn new things, and I want students to come into our class prepared to experience challenges with the piece of mind that they are not alone. I want them to be reassured that other students have had similar feelings and have persevered. I want them to benefit from the valuable insights of former students.
I also view the Wisdom Wall as a way to provide evidence that I am committed to lifting up student voices and perspectives. I hope that viewing the advice on the Wisdom Wall also allows students to recognize that they are becoming part of an exended community as participants in our class.
This bumper video is intended to be a short, visually-focused video that introduces my students to what can initially be a very sticky concept, the Aggregate Supply and Aggregate Demand model. I include videos, images and text to tell a story with short clips and an audio voiceover. Adding music softens the delivery a bit and adds more dynamic. Adobe Express was a user friendly tool that I am looking forward to using more! I see this as a fantastic way to add a humanizing element while providing a basic introduction of key course concepts before students are asked to dig deeper within the module content.
This microlecture is a short recorded video presentation that is laser-focused on the shift factors of demand curve. Demonstrating changes in market conditions in one of the main learning outcomes for our course and this video touches on the factors that influence demand and how changes in demand are demonstrated within the market model.
It is intentionally designed to be targeted and student-centered, effectively communicating the "Why am I learning this?" as well as the background information that answers the "What and I expected to learn?" question. Once students understand the purpose of the microlecture and have watched the video, they will be better prepared to demonstrate their understanding in the context of an assignment.
This video is designed to be easily referenced by students when they need a refresher on the topic while they are working through an associated assignment or even preparing for an exam. The nature of the format allows for pausing to digest or take notes, when needed. The brevity encourages engagement.
