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.
I entered the Humanized Online Teaching Academy as an instructor that has classes both face-to-face and online. I have a strong connection with students face-to face but didn't like the feeling I had lacking a connection with my online students. I knew what a good online course looked like but lacked the skills and tools to know how to connect to my students. My online course has the staples of the academic curriculum in it but the humanized aspect just wasn't there.
As I finish this Humanzied Online Teaching Academy, I feel like I have grown tremendously as an instructor. I have been shown tools and skills that I didn't previously have or know about. Not only do I feel like I have new tools, skills and web resources, I now have the confidence to use them and build into my curriculum. The instructors for this Humanized Academy have modeled the very Humanized approach they are facilitating to us.
I look forward to putting the time into recreating my online courses to model what I have learned. Much of this academy scratched the surface of what to do, but it gave us the skils and foundation to build on, which I fully intend to do. The first two weeks of my semester are already done, which is a crucial time with our students. I'm looking forward to this new approach and feel energized to do so! I intend to share the my showcase to my colleagues in my department on how online instruction can not only be valuable but how to put the personalized connections to it to still build connectedness like an in person class but online.
My Liquid Syllabus is an early introduction prior to the start of the semester, for students to get a glimpse into the course, its expectations and flow of the course. It also allows students to meet me and and my style to see if the course is a good fit for them. The Liquid Syllabus also gives students valuable campus resources that they may need prior to the first day of the semester starting. This will hopefully build trust with the student and help ease any anxiety they may have entering the course with a humanized approach.
I chose a diverse collage of pitctures as my course card to see that exercising can be done without barriers or limitations. The faces are smiling and engaged. I want students to be able to see the course card and get excited to open it to see what the next work out is and feel good about the class. Having a personalized course card in general allows the class to stand out in comparison to many other courses with the plain color coded course cards that come with standard Canvas course cards, which I think is a bonus to our students, our teaching and the communication between us.
My homepage serves as a kindness cue of social inclusion for students because it welcomes them through the door to our course. It is the Humanized greeting. It gives students a clear and organzed list of the equipment they will need, how to be successfull in the first weeks of the semester and contact information for the instructor. In my "Find Your Way Around" video on the page I try and relieve any stress that students may have about not having or having access to workout equipment. We can be creative and adaptable to be able to get the the workouts in and the curriculum accomplished. The Homepage has a orientation or "start Here" area that clearly outlines the things needed to do in the first week of school. Lastly all of the information needed to get in contact with the instructor with instructors face on it. It allows them to have a picture to the face that is friendly and inviting.
The Getting To Know You Survey is a kind and discreet method for me to get to know my students. It allows me to see who may need more attention than others to build the confidence needed not only for a Kinesiology course but also an online course. the survey allows me to get a glimpse into the familiarity of college, online learning, student's learning styles, the best and most updated contact information and so much more. I can see this as one of the more valuable welcome pieces in my course. Students get to see questions that show that as an instructor I care about them and their needs for this course as a person and not just a name or ID number. I expect good feedback on this survey.
My Ice Breaker assignment gently pushes students outside their comfort zone in the first weeks to most likely learn, communicate and interact in a new platform. I chose a topic that all can elaborate on of their choice, about a memory of Physical Fitness. Students can connect with each other on their experiences through a choice of video or audio options. Connecting in this ice braker opens the doors to communicate and connect with others in the class, to put a face and voice to the names of their peers. I start with the first video in the Ice Breaker activity to model what I expect and also to show that I am human too.
My Bumper Video is introducing a topic without diving into the lecture material completely. This bumper video is a quick teaser of a larger lecture and assignment that students will have to identify muscles and exercises that go together and build their own program design targeting each body part. The Bumper Video I created is on Bench Dips as a triceps exercise which is a part of Upper Body Muscles and Exercise module. This video is inviting because it shows the exercise but also many modifications to increase or decrease difficulty levels to suit the students comfort level.
This microlecture is a short clear and direct lesson on how to identify and calculate heart rates. This mircolecture gives a humanized approach on how to do the upcoming assignment better that just reading it. The video gives me face time with my students, but also gives them a model and formulas needed. Of course the written instruction is in the module. However students will get three contacts to the information from written text material, and then again with the youTube video that caters to audio and visual learners. Calculating this information helps provide measurable data to be able to identify and describe the student's personal fitness levels and to promote lifelong fitness.
