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.
I have never taught an online course. I have taken numerous online courses and have taught hybrid courses but I've not been able to put the knowledge I had into action.
This course helped me put a name to the different humanizing elements of an online course. I was able to develop a Canvas shell and liquid syllabus that will be welcoming to the diverse group of learners we serve at Bakersfield College. I particularly enjoyed the peer feedback I received related to genuinely welcoming diverse students into my online classroom. A classmate suggested I include the reason I value diversity, as a nurse educator. I added it to my philosophy in my liquid syllabus and it carries a message I want to share with my students as they move into healthcare careers.
I plan to continue to develop my humanizing skills, particularly with respect to my ability to create and edit video clips. I intend to utilize some of the online icebreaker techniques I learned about, video feedback, bumper videos, and micro lectures in the my upcoming courses.
I created my first liquid syllabus in this course and sent it out to students before the course was published in Canvas. By providing some personal information about myself and sharing my commitment to diversity in the classroom and in the healthcare professions I hope to work to minimize any cultural mismatches, help the students feel like they belong and develop trust. The Pact on the liquid syllabus sets me up as a warm demander. I am flexible and friendly, but I want the students to learn the material and put in the effort neeeded to be successful in the course.
I chose this course card because it represents multiple people with different ethnicities and genders coming together to learn about the body. Many of my students are going into nursing and men are not well represented in nursing. I want any male students and students with different ehtnicities to feel welcome.
The homepage has minimal text but I do extend a welcome to them, have a clear "start here" button to get them into the content, a syllabus and my contact info. I also have a video welcoming them to the course and introducing them to me and why I think the course is important as they move into healthcare careers.
I used Canva to create the banner and have already used it several times since this to create banners and course cards for the other courses I am teaching. This is a useful tool I will continue to use regularly.
The questions about pronouns and name pronounciation will be helpful when I leave video feedback for students in the future. My goal is to leave individual video feedback, using the warm wise feedback model, at least twice during the semester. Calling them by the name they want to be called by and the correct pronouns will show concern for them and continue to build trust. I also ask about why they are taking the course and what are their aspirations. I haven't taught this course before but I think I will have many future nurses in the course. I'm interested to see what type of professions they are planning to go into. I would like to tailor some of my recorded lectures to those professions.
The About Me Flip assignment gives students the opportunity to tell their stories and connect with me and with one another emotionally. I ask the students to share the reason they are taking this course, what profession they are studying to enter and why they have chosen that profession. I have also shared my story about becoming a nurse and I hope they will see me as sincere and authentic based on the story I shared with them. Again, I am trying to build trust and connection.
In the bumper video I describe the substance of the course, go over the book, and talk about the structure of the course. I give an overview of the assignments for week 1. I hope this establishes trust as I made sure the course exactly follows what I mentioned in the video. I used Adobe Exoress to create the bumper video and I really liked this tool to make professional, simple videos with audio and music.
This is the first time I've taught this course, so I wasn't completely prepared to complete a microlecture on the content. Instead, I created a microlecture that reviewed the syllabus and required elements of the course. This lecture is followed by a syllabus quiz that can earn students their first few points in the course. My hope is that the lecture is clear, is friendly, and provides the students with the information they need to successfully complete the quiz and build confidence. I plan to include weekly lectures in the course and will develop objectives to help guide them and keep me on track.