Today we “commemorate” our fifth week of staying home amidst MCO since 18 March. This unprecedented pandemic has certainly made waves all over the world, impacting our work, family life and daily routine, transforming the way we communicate, teach and reach out to our students – all from a distance, from home.

The day before 18 March 2020, I bid farewell to my fellow colleagues, “Do take care in the coming two weeks, soon we will meet again.” But not as soon as we all wished, or anticipated. It went on for two weeks, another two weeks, another two weeks, and another. Will there be more?

We are lecturers, with many or some students under our charge. Professionally, we pride ourselves with the power of knowledge and our (self-proclaimed) lifelong learning skills. So in no time, we scrambled to self-learn some new skills every now and then, or when in desperation we harassed our tech-savvy colleagues with phone calls and WhatsApp to bail us out from technical difficulties, so that our students can complete this trimester with minimal interruption.

The steep learning curve began. We set up remote classes, pre-record our online lecture, insert voice-overs to our existing lecture materials. We learn how to announce Microsoft Teams meeting ID, link, code and password to students before the online classes. We now multitask on our computer, talking and looking out to check the chat boxes to see whether students are asking questions and whether we should attend to the question now, or later. Video conferencing tool (VCT) is our most timely “teacher” prompting us to learn about technological devices with instant learning outcomes – the once unknown practices and unfamiliar 21st century skillsets suddenly become our new reality since we started using VCT in our WFH routine.

Yes, before the MCO, admittedly we were all caught somewhat unprepared for this online venture. We were not used to doing a monologue without having students physically interacting with us. We were not used to talking to our own device or staring at our own image in the computer when delivering our lecture. Despite mastering some online tricks to conduct virtual classes, we felt we were no longer in control in some or most situations. We have lost the “personal touch” with our students – their attentiveness, their group activities and even their distractions (smartphone, non-stop talking, doing own work) in a traditional classroom. We cannot reach out to students in time with our advice, care or personal charisma; nor can we exert any form of influence or control from afar.

As a matter of fact, in the first place we did not even plan to have online classes either “synchronously” (live, at real time) or “asynchronously” (offline, delayed mode). This online teaching is a “quick, ad hoc, low-fidelity mitigation strategy” (Grajek’s viewpoint, quoted in Craig, 2020) for WFH lecturers as a temporary solution to comply with the government’s requirement for social distancing and of course, for our own safety and wellbeing.

Reflecting on the online learning episodes, the burden falls first on lecturers to create and deliver the online materials, lessons, and activities as planned. Lecturers have never been busier. As preparation before class, lecturers plan and design the appropriate interactive activities, prepare the PowerPoint materials and preferably do a recording or voice-over of lectures to be uploaded in the Web-Based Learning Environment (WBLE).

Prior to the online class, lecturers must first set up a meeting ID for students to join. Attendance is taken “creatively” via chat function and participation in quiz. We might recap what was taught last week, get updates on any pending coursework progress; engage students via quizzes, YouTube video, TedTalk, online chat and sharing of useful links, resources and materials. After class, for students who did not attend the class synchronously, we endeavour to upload the recording of the entire online lecture or to contact the students one-by-one via email to know the students’ whereabouts and wellbeing.

Keeping students connected and stay focused during home-based learning using digital tools is never an easy task for the lecture. Remote classes require more attention and engagement as students may get their “device” to attend classes, and not their mind and body. So another challenge for us is to know how students are responding to our ongoing lecture, especially when they choose to stay silent and do not unmute their microphone to talk to us remotely.

Lecturers are getting used to own monologue without any response from students, be it verbal or non-verbal. Hence, in a remote lecture, we are happy to notice how the usually “quiet” students can be responsive via the chat function, e.g. texting questions, responding to a poll and giving feedback. The texting mode seems attractive to students who prefer not to be vocal in class, hence it allows us to connect with students via messages and responses that can be conducive for their learning. The quality of submitted work is still encouraging despite remote learning, which proves that learning outcomes can be achieved if our students remain engaged and interested in the topics we bring virtually.

As we uphold the principles of student engagement and teacher empowerment, our future instructional design shall focus on conducive constructive alignment consisting of course learning outcome(s), learning activities and assessments. We shall plan to conduct future lessons with stimulated interactive class discussion, guiding them towards completion of group or individual assignment to demonstrate intended course learning outcomes.

We have gone through a steep learning curve that is stressful for everyone – lecturers, students, the supporting staff, the faculty and the University at large. The incidents are preparing us for future virtual classes that are well-designed, durable and self-paced towards a more personalised and flexible education. The good news is, we are one step closer to conducting Massive Open Online Learning (MOOC) targeted at learners from all over the world, all walks of life and instructional design considerations are primarily for the convenience of students, instructors, and institutions, without compromising the learning outcomes.

Some hypothetical questions for us to ponder. If the MCO prolongs, are the current learning outcomes still attainable in a remote setting? Are we more resilient towards the uncertainties and changes by now? Are we truly comfortable with the use of digital devices and platforms? Are we more prepared for intensive e-learning online classroom, willingly or reluctantly? Reflecting on the way we are coping with the technological changes, have we truly empowered ourselves with technologies, or idled by them, i.e. without which we cannot teach?

Virtual classroom and remote learning are now a new reality for educators. Looking forward, e-learning is very timely and beneficial to students to develop their digital credentials, to prepare them for future normalcy, i.e. the remote work life and less structured workplace experience that requires better task management and time management skills. As we are now traveling a path less frequented and venturing into an unknown future world, let’s not forget our leadership role to support others emotionally and spiritually, by showcasing our resilience and patience to our loved ones – physically and remotely.

By: Dr Ngeow Yeok Meng
Deputy Head, the Curriculum Development and Innovation (CCDI)

Source:
Craig, R. (2020). What students are doing is remote learning, not online learning. There is a difference. Retrieved from https://www.edsurge.com/news/2020-04-02-what-students-are-doing-is-remote-learning-not-online-learning-there-s-a-difference