Keys to Success While Working Digitally
May 15, 2020
Dear Faculty Members, We have received emails from many of you who are feeling overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of preparation required for Fall. That on top of the overlap of winter semester with the start of spring semester, and trying to teach remotely while prepping for fall is exhausting.
We have reached out to VP Academic Anna Burke and Kate Snyder, Advisor of Teaching and Learning for clarification of requirements for fall. Their response was fast, literally within a couple of hours, and they were understanding of our concerns. They have redefined a few terms regarding “COVID Online” or “COVID Hybrid” courses. You can find those definitions here: https://nscc.sharepoint.com/sites/TeachingCommons/SitePages/Course-Definitions.aspx?CT=1589560245695&OR=OWA-NT&CID=f1fcd6f7-2e4e-d48c-9c06-ffd1a7b379d4 In school meetings, what was pushed was that flexibility is key. If you traditionally teach in an online format and are comfortable with it, stick with that. If you normally teach face to face, then prepare for a COVID Hybrid or alternative type environment where you give your classes using Teams, or prepare video lectures, and then schedule meeting times on Teams with your classes. There are options that don’t require having every single piece of your course ready to go before Fall.
Keys to Success:
Use the Teaching Commons. The Teaching Commons has been ramping up training for anything you might need. There is training for everything related to Brightspace and Teams (including assessments, testing, demos, discussion), and they offer help and ideas around flexible teaching. As busy as you are, taking the time to go through some of the training provided will save you a lot of time in prep.
One item of interest is preparing for 1 week at a time. You know the outcomes you must cover for your courses, but you can wait until you meet your students and assess their comfort in a flexible environment before creating all of your assessment tools for the course.
Get copies of course Brightspace shells: Reach out to your AC and other faculty in your program to see if you can get copies of existing Brightspace shells for online courses that you have not taught before or have only taught face to face. This will give you a head start in planning as much of the content will already be in the shell. You can change it to suit your style or situation, but the beauty is you will not be starting from scratch. Most courses across every school already exist...ask for access.
Ask for help. If you are getting overwhelmed, then talk to your colleagues or your AC about what your needs are. Perhaps other duties can be removed for a period of time, or other methods of accomplishing work may be suggested that would ease our struggles. Remember that we are all facing the same challenges. Reach out and you may find strategies that work better for you.
Please remember that we are all in this together. Each of us is facing challenges that are making this spring more difficult than any other semester we have faced before. You are not alone. You are allowed to feel tired and stressed, but please remember to ask for help before things become completely overwhelming.
Sincerely,
The NSCCAU Executive