Going Online in the Emergency Situation
Rob S. Pusch, Ph.D. IDD&E ’03 (United States), is an adjunct professor at the IDD&E Department. Here we focused on the recent experience of everyone transitioning to online classes. Dr. Pusch has been teaching online courses for 15 years and involved in the design and development of distance learning for nearly 30 years. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
— How can we describe our learning experience since the Spring break?
— Many different things are happening at the same time remotely in terms of learning at SU, and part of that is the online component. Frankly, for courses that had to be moved from face-to-face to online this time was an emergency moment. Many of them weren’t designed and developed to be delivered online in the first place. When professors reflect back to this semester’s experience and some things didn’t go well, it’s important to remember that it was probably due to this emergency and lacking design. As instructional designers, we know it takes a long time to develop a good online course. In IDD&E we were at an advantage, since all our master’s level courses were already transformed into an online format. The biggest advantage, however, is that learning continues to happen despite us physically being all over the place. Learning has not stopped, and for the most part we have that stable Internet connection that was not available 20 years ago.
— What do you think it was like for students to transition to online learning?
— Different for everybody. Some were perfectly comfortable, but some struggled with schedule and track of time. Which makes sense, if you think about it, since on campus many things are structured for the students already. The level of uncertainty was palpable and overall anxiety because everything else was going on with the pandemic. I was learning to understand how the pandemic disrupted our lives and impacted students’ experiences, too. I adjusted activities we typically do in class, moved project deadlines.
— Has this disruption affected student motivation in online courses? If so, can we remediate motivation through instruction?
— Disruption definitely impacts motivation. In terms of the Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan), it’s the autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Students may feel less confident in online learning. Feel a loss of control. Some anxiety over the current ambiguity impacts the ability to focus and participate in the learning process. We can help increase some motivation in online courses: Conducting synchronous online sessions to help students feel connected. Think of the influence on mental health, which is also detrimental to motivation. It is important to do check-ins on students. Keep in mind you can refer them to the counseling center resources to emphasize they are not alone in this. Yet oversharing how we feel in the classroom may increase other students’ anxiety, so I would consider carefully as to the amount of in-class time devoted to such discussions. It is important to build a community of learners. Keep students connected to, and supportive of, each other through collaboration, small group discussion, peer feedback.
— What are we learning about ourselves as we are going through this “emergency remote teaching,” as some instructional designers call it?
— Learners may learn a bit more about their own learning styles and the power of making their own schedule. Faculty may learn how much pre-planning goes into designing a successful online course. Face-to-face interactions differ from online: Students can’t be focused as long in synchronous sessions as in face-to-face classes, the conversations can be less engaging and it’s easier to cross-talk because we don’t catch the visual cues as easily online in a small square, and threaded discussions take a lot more time to assess. SU may learn how important it is to engage with students at a distance—be it by sending congratulatory gifts to graduating students or arranging virtual trivia nights or exercise sessions. It’s on the school to think of how to replicate some of these on-campus experiences and help students participate in them online.
— What do we do with students who are not satisfied with the quality of online courses after the transition?
— Online learning is not for everybody, and that’s okay. In this emergency situation, we acknowledge that students did not have the same experience as they would have if they were on campus. However, the question should be: Was it an equitable educational experience and are students still achieving the learning outcomes? Students still have access to the library resources as well as health and wellness resources, they are not cut-off from these things. Student satisfaction, as important as it is, may say more about whether or not students liked the mode of learning or about the way a particular faculty member presents the course. But it doesn’t mean they didn’t learn, which is what counts the most at the end of the day.
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