Helping Students Thrive in the Current Climate

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken the world by storm and we are all still adjusting to a new sense of normalcy in academia. The swiftly changing times require us as educators to constantly reassess the needs of our students to help them be as successful as possible. At the beginning of the pandemic, the biggest priority was compassion. In today's blog post, I'll discuss what I believe our current priorities should be.

As educators, our goal is to help our students be successful. However, this can take many different forms. To make things even more complicated, strategies to help students be successful varies from student to student. At the height of the pandemic, however, the priorities were pretty clear. Provide compassionate and humanized teaching first and foremost. Another priority amongst the height of the pandemic was heightened communication. However, now that it is a year later, it's time to reassess and determine what our priorities are for helping students be successful in our courses. Here are my thoughts:

Connection

That's right! I think a priority right now in academia is helping students make connections. These connections include:

1. Faculty
   • How can we get students to connect with the instructor? This is a priority, especially in online courses, whether it's synchronous or asynchronous. A few simple things you can do to enhance instructor presence include:
     • Using videos- these can be overview video, lecture videos or other types of videos that you create. When students can see you and hear your voice, it naturally creates a deeper sense of connection.
     • Communicate regularly- this can be done through weekly announcements and reminders and regular feedback on course assignments.
2. Content
   • Helping students make connections to the course content can be achieved though strategies such as use of
     • The PEAR Approach or
     • Small Group Activities such as Jigsaw Discussions.
3. Each Other
   • Some strategies to help student make deeper connections to each other include:
     • Developing small group projects or
     • Using tools of the Learning Management System to promote a sense of community.

Organization

Organization is key in any course, but particularly in online courses. I believe that organization is definitely a priority at this point in time. Some ways you can enhance organization in your online course include:

1. Organizing your course using a modular structure.
2. Helping students organize their course work by developing an agenda and overview as well as a schedule of activities.

What do you think are priorities in academia today? Share your thoughts, experiences and ideas in The Online Educator Facebook Group by clicking the link HERE. Also, as a treat don’t forget to GRAB YOUR FREE GUIDE to the 3 Secrets to Teaching Online Successfully.