In a New Kind of Classroom

Teaching feels a little bit like alchemy, says eminent psychologist Jane Halonen. There’s a magical process that instructors continually undertake, striving to produce something that feels almost like gold.

The University of West Florida professor, a firm believer in face-to-face instruction throughout her long career, did not expect to find it easy to keep spinning gold when the COVID-19 pandemic forced her classes online. Halonen’s classes – much like those at St. Norbert – were offered remotely while students were Safer-at-Home as the pandemic bit. Many college classes since have followed a hybrid model so that students in quarantine or off-campus can join those studying in person.

Like her counterparts at SNC, Halonen remains deeply committed to in-person learning. But her pandemic experience showed her that there is magic to be found in teaching virtually. She shared these takeaways during a virtual visit to St. Norbert as part of the college’s faculty development program.

No need to keep it live
Online, classes can be delivered synchronously (in real time) or asynchronously (pre-recorded). Halonen prefers the asynchronous mode because there is less risk associated with delivery. She can easily re-record lectures until she’s perfected them.

Nice to know you
Halonen asked her students to use the Panopto mobile-ready video platform to complete a recording of 10 things they’d want everyone to know about them. “It not only gave me a better feel for the students who were in my class,” Halonen says, “but it also instructed students how to use the technology early and alerted me to the students who were going to have problems interacting with technology that they needed for the class.”

Read the directions!
Halonen already took pride in writing good rubrics. Students rely on written instructions and these transfer easily to the online environment.

Twenty minutes is a long time
Halonen knows good attention can’t be sustained indefinitely. Teaching online, she found it was even more important to switch activities regularly – at least every 20 minutes – to “dishabituate” learners who were getting locked into staring at their screens. Classes felt more manageable for the students, and it became easier for them to keep paying attention.

Office hours might look a bit different
“At one of my drop-in sessions, a student was clearly operating from her car and she reported that her son was navigating the computer for her so she could attend class while running errands,” says Halonen. It was a vivid reminder of how complicated students’ lives were and how students were working under very different circumstances from what they were used to.

Sunday nights are alright for reminding
Halonen sends out Sunday-night reminders, giving students a glimpse into the week’s material: “I want to give them a last-minute encouragement and be present in their life space, to be able to show a sign of support for what they’re going through, because these times are really challenging for everyone.”

Painting on a whole new Canvas
Canvas is a cloud-based learning management system. Halonen found the platform helped her analyze student data and make decisions about what could be improved in future courses.

It’s who you know
Halonen attempts to forge a sense of community in her courses, to make even her virtual classroom a home base that makes them feel more connected to their professor and their classmates: “I really am sharing more of who I am, where I am and how I am as a person than I do in the more formal classroom.”

Joining the conversation
When it comes to discussion boards, Halonen gives students two options for engagement. Because any topic may feel invasive to any student, she offers a “hot” thread and a “cool” thread. The hot thread provides riskier topics for the bolder, more extroverted students. The cool thread is slower and more private.

Opting out is an option
Sensitive to early-pandemic conditions, Halonen gave her students the option to opt out of their final assignment: “ ‘Look, I don’t know what your circumstances are, but you may be compromised. There may be health issues in your family, your internet connection at home may be bad … . If you are genuinely compromised, then you can declare that. If that’s the case I’m going to let you out of this last assignment.’ ” The vast majority of students completed the assignment regardless of the easy “out,” impressing Halonen with their integrity.

July 9, 2021