Online teaching vs trauma-informed online teaching
Covid turned us vidvans overnight - online learning vidvans.
Turned is too gentle a word to capture the shock of it all. Online teaching was thrust upon us - most of us got a night at best to turn experts.
Almost every education agency and educational consultant organised (and are still organising) teacher training workshops for helping us teach online. The workshops I attended discussed in detail great ideas like collaboration, rubrics for online assessment, lifelong learning, student engagement, etc. They also told us about technology tools one can use for facilitating each of these.
Yet through the workshops and at the end of them, basic questions remained - how do I teach my lessons online?
Where are my students?
Photo by Pim Chu on Unsplash
Right after a lockdown was announced in India, I received a barrage of questions from ESL teachers who had attended my workshops. And I was frankly flummoxed.
Take a look:
My next lesson is indirect speaking? How can I teach indirect speech using computer?
What is the best website to teach reading online?
How do I teach online when my students do not have an online textbook?
How do I assess writing?
What tool do I use to teach speaking?
Can I test speaking using a computer?
What do I do with students who are not free to attend my zoom classes?
How do I make sure my students are listening to me?
I have a hearing impaired student, how do I help him follow my classes?
What do I use to teach when my students have only their father's mobile phone?
How do I give them worksheets?
How do I send PowerPoints of my lectures for the blind students in my class?
How do I teach students who have no internet connection?
Can I have a group discussion online?
When students do not have a library how do I expect them to write a paper?
Can assessment also be considered my teaching?
How do I correct assignments and give feedback?
The list is endless.
And it gave me topics for this blog. So, a big thank you to all of you. We're in this together.
You'd have noticed the range of queries. Accessibility is a wider issue now - it's not just access to the internet, it is also access to internet-connected devices. We can't expect all our learners to have dedicated mobile phones or laptops for learning purposes. Remember they didn't sign up for online learning.
Online teaching in times like these need to be trauma-informed.
We need to develop trauma-informed online learning practices
Photo by Obi Onyeador on Unsplash
Our students face many problems:
1. lack of internet connection
2. no access to internet connected devices for exclusive learning purposes (they might have a parent's phone/ computer/laptop)
3. unable to dedicate specific time for learning (remember they've to help with household chores too)
4. unable to find a quiet corner in the house for class lectures
5. no laptops or computers (have only a phone)
6. not skilled in typing on computers
These are just technology-related accessibility issues. There's another aspect to accessibility.
In a face-to-face classroom, remember, accessibility is about making our classes accessible to students with disabilities. So we have scribes, we use large print, we read out what's written on the blackboard, we use speech-to-text converters for students, we have remedial classes, etc.
Ever wondered how students with visual disabilities read your PowerPoint? Credits
However, accessibility goes beyond this.
I'd like us to remember that all students who are disadvantaged by barriers of any sort - physical disabilities, learning disabilities, language levels, socio-cultural background, personal interests - should be given equal opportunities to quality education, to learn and to succeed. Without compromising on the quality of learning. This is important.
Our classes must be adapted to allow participation of all students. Our lectures, materials, tasks and activities should be accessible to all students. The classroom should be a level playing field for all.
Our classrooms should not be reduced to this.
It's very difficult for a non-disabled teacher to design or create inclusive teaching practices.
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) helps us understand how to make learning accessible to and possible for every learner.
I'll quickly summarise the principles of UDL:
UDL points out that as teachers we have to (1) present our teaching materials in multiple ways, (2) give multiple paths for our students to engage and interact with our instruction materials, and (3) provide multiple options for students to demonstrate their learning.
For those of you who are familiar with the present - practice - produce model, UDL says give multiple options for teaching, practicing and producing.
So, think:
(1) What are the different ways in which I can deliver my teaching objective? As lecture, as reading text, using images, writing on the blackboard, using a video or audio, etc.
(2) What are different ways my students can practice the objective using my instructional materials? Using a worksheet, through discussions, by creating a mind map, searching for resources on their own, clicking photographs, interviewing another person or viewing videos, etc.
and
(3) What are the different ways in which my students can show how much they have learnt?
Creating a scrap book, making a video, writing a paper, summarising many papers, drawing a timeline, etc.
Think back to your class now. I'm sure you can name some students who will learn best by writing a research paper, some who will learn well if allowed to create a picture book, a few who would like to create a video of an interview, and yet others who achieve optimal learning by being a part of a group presentation project. Providing students multiple opportunities like these is what UDL is all about.
Universal Design for Learning - letting everyone grow
Photo by Daan Wijngaard from Pexels
We do not need technology to implement the principles of UDL. But it helps. Use of technology tools helps us design inclusive learning practices and makes our teaching accessible.
Creating accessible learning environments should be the goal of all online teaching - learning environments that provide a level playing field for all, environments that overcome barriers related to internet connectivity, availability of devices, physical disabilities, learning disorders and personal factors.
This is why trauma-informed online learning practices are different from online practices under normal conditions. Always remember we are now teaching students who had opted for face-to-face teaching.
Technology allows us wonderful opportunities to realise the principles of UDL and make our instruction accessible to every learner. Digital tools help us build variety into our teaching and bring flexibility to our materials so that all students gain and achieve.
And then we become vidvans, truly.
Covid turned us vidvans overnight - online learning vidvans.
Turned is too gentle a word to capture the shock of it all. Online teaching was thrust upon us - most of us got a night at best to turn experts.
Almost every education agency and educational consultant organised (and are still organising) teacher training workshops for helping us teach online. The workshops I attended discussed in detail great ideas like collaboration, rubrics for online assessment, lifelong learning, student engagement, etc. They also told us about technology tools one can use for facilitating each of these.
Yet through the workshops and at the end of them, basic questions remained - how do I teach my lessons online?
Photo by Pim Chu on Unsplash
Right after a lockdown was announced in India, I received a barrage of questions from ESL teachers who had attended my workshops. And I was frankly flummoxed.
Take a look:
My next lesson is indirect speaking? How can I teach indirect speech using computer?
What is the best website to teach reading online?
How do I teach online when my students do not have an online textbook?
How do I assess writing?
What tool do I use to teach speaking?
Can I test speaking using a computer?
What do I do with students who are not free to attend my zoom classes?
How do I make sure my students are listening to me?
I have a hearing impaired student, how do I help him follow my classes?
What do I use to teach when my students have only their father's mobile phone?
How do I give them worksheets?
How do I send PowerPoints of my lectures for the blind students in my class?
How do I teach students who have no internet connection?
Can I have a group discussion online?
When students do not have a library how do I expect them to write a paper?
Can assessment also be considered my teaching?
How do I correct assignments and give feedback?
The list is endless.
And it gave me topics for this blog. So, a big thank you to all of you. We're in this together.
You'd have noticed the range of queries. Accessibility is a wider issue now - it's not just access to the internet, it is also access to internet-connected devices. We can't expect all our learners to have dedicated mobile phones or laptops for learning purposes. Remember they didn't sign up for online learning.
Online teaching in times like these need to be trauma-informed.
We need to develop trauma-informed online learning practices
Photo by Obi Onyeador on Unsplash
Our students face many problems:
1. lack of internet connection
2. no access to internet connected devices for exclusive learning purposes (they might have a parent's phone/ computer/laptop)
3. unable to dedicate specific time for learning (remember they've to help with household chores too)
4. unable to find a quiet corner in the house for class lectures
5. no laptops or computers (have only a phone)
6. not skilled in typing on computers
These are just technology-related accessibility issues. There's another aspect to accessibility.
In a face-to-face classroom, remember, accessibility is about making our classes accessible to students with disabilities. So we have scribes, we use large print, we read out what's written on the blackboard, we use speech-to-text converters for students, we have remedial classes, etc.
However, accessibility goes beyond this.
I'd like us to remember that all students who are disadvantaged by barriers of any sort - physical disabilities, learning disabilities, language levels, socio-cultural background, personal interests - should be given equal opportunities to quality education, to learn and to succeed. Without compromising on the quality of learning. This is important.
Our classes must be adapted to allow participation of all students. Our lectures, materials, tasks and activities should be accessible to all students. The classroom should be a level playing field for all.
It's very difficult for a non-disabled teacher to design or create inclusive teaching practices.
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) helps us understand how to make learning accessible to and possible for every learner.
I'll quickly summarise the principles of UDL:
UDL points out that as teachers we have to (1) present our teaching materials in multiple ways, (2) give multiple paths for our students to engage and interact with our instruction materials, and (3) provide multiple options for students to demonstrate their learning.
For those of you who are familiar with the present - practice - produce model, UDL says give multiple options for teaching, practicing and producing.
So, think:
(1) What are the different ways in which I can deliver my teaching objective? As lecture, as reading text, using images, writing on the blackboard, using a video or audio, etc.
(2) What are different ways my students can practice the objective using my instructional materials? Using a worksheet, through discussions, by creating a mind map, searching for resources on their own, clicking photographs, interviewing another person or viewing videos, etc.
and
(3) What are the different ways in which my students can show how much they have learnt?
Creating a scrap book, making a video, writing a paper, summarising many papers, drawing a timeline, etc.
Think back to your class now. I'm sure you can name some students who will learn best by writing a research paper, some who will learn well if allowed to create a picture book, a few who would like to create a video of an interview, and yet others who achieve optimal learning by being a part of a group presentation project. Providing students multiple opportunities like these is what UDL is all about.
Photo by Daan Wijngaard from Pexels
We do not need technology to implement the principles of UDL. But it helps. Use of technology tools helps us design inclusive learning practices and makes our teaching accessible.
Creating accessible learning environments should be the goal of all online teaching - learning environments that provide a level playing field for all, environments that overcome barriers related to internet connectivity, availability of devices, physical disabilities, learning disorders and personal factors.
This is why trauma-informed online learning practices are different from online practices under normal conditions. Always remember we are now teaching students who had opted for face-to-face teaching.
Technology allows us wonderful opportunities to realise the principles of UDL and make our instruction accessible to every learner. Digital tools help us build variety into our teaching and bring flexibility to our materials so that all students gain and achieve.
And then we become vidvans, truly.
1 comment:
Trauma-informed coach for women I think this is an informative post and it is very useful and knowledgeable. therefore, I would like to thank you for the efforts you have made in writing this article.
Post a Comment