Summer professional development is looking a bit different for educators this year. Many institutions are solidifying plans for a possible return to online instruction for part or all of the fall term and possibly the year, depending on what happens with the coronavirus. In the spring, many were unprepared for a shift to an all-virtual environment, so schools are using the break to be proactive, building up an infrastructure to better support online learning.
Administrators are still faced with unknowns as they prepare faculty and staff for the 2020-21 academic year. But it’s important to journey forward in a pattern that provides as much certainty as possible through good communication, solid professional development and building a culture that values ongoing improvement and skill development.
As an institution of higher education serving students on local campuses nationally and online globally, University of Phoenix already had the infrastructure to support 100% online learning. But we still needed to make that shift for our on-the-ground faculty and staff, and we joined our brick-and-mortar colleagues in that process. As we approach another term, we are moving forward again with the following aspects in mind:
The importance of transparency
When decision makers keep employees from the top down apprised of facts, it offers a level of comfort and stability, even when things are uncertain. Administrators don’t have to have everything all figured out in order to brief faculty and staff. Focusing on explaining what is happening, why it is happening and how it is impacting them will help faculty and see that administrators value transparency and aren’t hiding behind a curtain making secret decisions.
Many institutions are looking to communicate their decision regarding fall to their internal and external stakeholders. In mid-March, our leadership followed the what-why-how approach when communicating with our physical campus instructors as states began announcing social distancing restrictions:
- The what: We closed physical campuses on a specific date and time, moving all classes online synchronously via the University’s learning management system;
- The why: We followed guidance from appropriate entities and chose this for the health and safety of our faculty, students, their families and their communities;
- The how: To continue providing an education to our students, we supported faculty with internal guides, including an overview and resources geared toward an entry-level online instructor, step-by step instructions on basic tasks, such as recording attendance, and basic functions of our real-time engagement platform built into the learning management system.
Communication and resources should be ongoing, offered in bite-size chunks starting with the basics, then introducing layers of information as they are determined. But letting people know what is happening up front lets them know you are working on a blueprint.
Meet faculty where they are
When faculty are used to teaching face-to-face, a sudden shift to virtual learning can seem daunting. It may even be that they’ve chosen an in-person course to teach in order to avoid an online environment. Even with the prior semester under their belt at this point, they still need to know that they are supported.
Make use of instructional and support videos, infographics, how-to readings, FAQs, best practices and testimonials. Keep the resources on an easy-to-access faculty page, refreshed and up-to-date, and provide lines of communication to answer questions or direct faculty to other resources.
Live webinars are a great, interactive way to share information and encourage questions. In the spring, we held weekly webinars tailored specifically to our local campus faculty-turned online instructors, knowing that the types of information they may need was different than our seasoned online instructors.
One session per week was dedicated to technical questions, like how to connect to the LMS, preferred browsers, bandwidth, sharing a presentation, sharing a video and allowing students to present. We also had a session dedicated to incorporating the various integrated tools — like polling, whiteboard and breakout groups — into a synchronous course session to encourage student-to-student, and student-to-faculty engagement.
Maintain the support
Ongoing levels of support should increase in complexity as faculty become more comfortable with the technical aspects of the system and facilitating their sessions. Introduce and emphasize additional resources with a pedagogical slant. In addition to weekly webinars, continue to provide resources as you did at the beginning, so faculty know who their points of contact are and where to find information either internally or externally. Encourage campus leaders to share their knowledge and participate in these processes. We have a best practices and testimonial readings section on a Resource Center page that is sourced and curated by faculty.
This is an excellent time for educators to learn from one another. The key is to offer communication about the impact COVID-19 continues to have on our institutions and offering the resources and support for our educators in order to benefit our students. As we say at University of Phoenix, together we rise.