Be a memorable teacher: include empathy in your teaching strategy

In my capacity as Academic Trainer and Consultant at eCollege, I facilitate a professional development course that covers the subject of developing online courses, generally with reference to best practices and specifically with reference to the eCollege LMS. To get a flavor for the student experience, course participants practice using the tools as a student would. For the Dropbox assignment, I ask that participants recall their favorite teacher and that they tell me briefly what it is that made that person so special amongst all of the teachers they have encountered.

Very often the issue of subject matter expertise is brought up, but not alone of itself, but rather in tandem with other qualities that one can classify as more human rather than encyclopedic. A quality attached to expertise is usually passion. Passion is a quality that makes its possessor believable and, if the student is taking the class for a good reason, interesting.

Another quality that is often brought up is that of the teacher’s interest in the students. I particularly look for mention of this characteristic when I use this exercise in workshops on communication techniques in online classes. This helps me to highlight the fact that the special teacher whom we remember is the one who let us know that we are interesting and worthy of interactions that extend beyond the subject matter of the course.

The goal of this exercise is to make the point that, if an instructor possesses the qualities above, these qualities will also naturally occur in the online classroom just as they do in the face to face class. Students will want to learn from you if they perceive that you are present and passionate about what you teach, and if you show an interest in them as individuals. Humor helps, too.

Lately I’m looking into what’s “out there” regarding working with the adult learner—if you’ve read my previous blogs you’ll know I am very interested in making sure that any course or assignment is relevant to why the adult learner is there. In short, most students are there to move forward in the workplace. Many are doing this (giving the educational system a second chance) with a fair amount of trepidation. I teach at the Community College level, and if you hear some of my students’ stories about how the educational system treated some of these students the first time around, it is a miracle that they came back at all….

So how can we help ensure that this second chance is all it can be for the student? How can we be that teacher that they remember in the future? I encourage you to read the article They’re not just big kids: motivating adult learners by Dr. Karen Jarrett Thoms of St. Cloud State University (http://frank.mtsu.edu/~itconf/proceed01/22.html). This is a good primer on the difference between pedagogy (teaching children) and androgogy (teaching adults) and a good discussion of what motivates adults in the learning environment.

As instructors, particularly coming out of the traditional university or college where students’ primary societal role is that of student, we need to shift our understanding of where our adult students come from and who they are—the adult student is a parent, an employee, a spouse. As I have noted before, many adult students “have tangible things to lose so are very cautious in the educational environment” (Thoms) and “have preoccupations outside of the learning environment" (Thoms). I’ve noticed my teaching persona has shifted radically in the years since I went from teaching traditional undergrads to teaching students returning to learning after a space of time. Applying the same class and policy structure to nontraditional students doesn’t work very well. Thoms goes to Wlodkowski for the “four cornerstones,” or instructor characteristics, for working with the adult learner. These are “expertise, empathy, enthusiasm, and clarity.” Expertise and enthusiasm I think we all understand. Empathy and clarity must sometimes be learned.

Clarity we get better at the longer we teach online because being clear saves us time. Empathy, however, is maybe not so intuitive for some. This is a long quote from Thoms, but salient to this point:

Empathy involves the human factor associated with learning; it is separate from the computers, the software programs, the attendance requirements, the late fees for assignments, etc. Empathy does include flexibility, an understanding that babies do come early and miss the spring break by four days (thus the student misses a week of class), families experience the death of a friend or loved one, knowledge that a blizzard keeps a 70-mile commuter at home rather than face slipping into a ditch, or having compassion for a student who has just suffered a miscarriage. Some teachers will argue that these situations should not impact a student’s educational path, but reality convinces us that they actually do. Naturally, our adult learners often have more complex situations with which to deal than do our more traditional learners.

Online learners are largely an adult population. When talking to instructors who are picking up online courses to teach, this fact can not be left out of consideration. We talk about how to transition content, build community, etc. but rarely about how to transition our inner selves to motivate a learner with different emotional needs than those we encounter in traditional students.

--Vicki Galloway Harsh, MA
Academic Trainer and Consultant, Pearson eCollege

Blended Learning Environments – The Best of Both Worlds

A main goal of higher education is to create a community that thrives on inquiry and the development of a passion for learning fostered by a challenging faculty and a student body that doesn’t easily accept the status quo.  I definitely experienced this in my undergraduate experience at a small, residential, liberal arts college.  In contrast, I completed my graduate degree in a fully online environment.  I must admit, I was highly skeptical of online education when I started.  By the time I finished my degree, however, I was convinced that online programs provided an invaluable asset to the global education community primarily by improving access to education for working adults.

As I consider doctoral programs, I now find myself looking for a blended (or low residency) program that incorporates some face-to-face time with peers and mentors along with online content for a majority of the courses so I can continue to work and to spend time with my family.  As one who has experienced a quality education in both delivery mediums, here is my quick summary of some key benefits of each option:

Face-to-Face

• Immediacy – more rapid peer socialization and trust at the beginning of a course especially for adult learners who may not be as comfortable with computer mediated communication
• Faculty are more easily able to quickly establish their personality and a rapport with students
• Live interaction that fosters synchronous discussion along with hands-on, collaborative classroom activities
• Sense of community on a residential campus and the informal opportunities for learning
• Most prestigious programs tend to be research focused – faculty are respected as thought leaders

Online

• Time and space independence improves access and flexibility for working adults and geographically dispersed student populations
• Levels the playing field between introverts / extroverts and urban / rural students
• Usually more cost effective
• Increased ability to track student performance against learning outcomes
• Largely responsible for advancing the cause of accountability for student learning
• Most valued faculty are those most effective in facilitating the teaching/learning process
• Allowing students to contribute to course content with web 2.0 technology

A well designed blended learning course brings the advantages of both learning environments together.  In a nutshell, the goal of blended learning is to replace the lecture with more intentional, collaborative activities in the face-to-face classroom.  Seat time in class should focus on taking advantage of the learning that has already occurred online with meaningful extensions and applications that capitalize on synchronous human interaction.

References

Garrison, D.R., & Vaughan, N (2008). Blended Learning in Higher  Education, Framework, Principles, and Guidelines (4th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Brian McKay Epp, M.Ed.
Academic Trainer and Consultant

Goodbye 2008…

What an interesting year this proved to be!  An historic election, a financial crisis, and yet technology just kept speeding down the track!  If you look at the “big ticket” items of 2008 from a consumer, technology standpoint, you have to look at items like the Wii, iPhone, and YouTube. 

How interesting that we have finally bridged virtual reality and common space.  Nintendo and Apple proved that you don’t have to wear the funny headset or strap on the body touch points to immerse yourself in a new reality.  And as for common publishing…YouTube did to 2008 what blogging did to 2004.  Everyone can be a star if they want to be. 

So what does all this mean for education?  What will technology do in 2009 that will help us be better teachers?  Well, it’s first important to realize that most schools and teachers are still pre-2000 in their technological evolution, so for many it will (hopefully) bring more computers to the classroom!  But, for those who try to keep up with the times, just as our students and culture are, 2009 could bring about some interesting crosses of technology and education. 

Obviously Web 2.0 should finally start to get some nice, practical, assessable examples and use cases.  I’m hopeful that conferences will now include application as much as theory when it comes to Web 2.0 resources and tools that should go well beyond blogs & wikis.

Accountability should increase as administrations start to realize the power of data as it applies to technology driven education.  The ability to tie course outcomes to pieces of content and then report as to the proficiency of a student, class, teacher, etc., are possible.  I believe that 2009 will see Accrediting agencies start to realize this potentially powerful aspect of online education and begin to think about how to make use of it.

Students will become more empowered to use more tools and resources as they become more readily available.  There are websites that tell you what the moon looked like on December 9, 1945 from Earth, there are applications on phones that convert feet to meters, and there are programs that help you learn Spanish in ½ the traditional timeframe.  As we better understand learning and as technology intersects with assessment, tasks, and anything else that matters, 2009 could see more effective students.

It’s also worthy to note that during times of financial duress, almost every industrialized nation in the world looks to education for hope and answers.  I believe this year will prove to be an opportunity for education to meet the needs of a financially burdened culture to provide optimism and qualification to workers in new fields.  The challenge before us is great, but out of every challenge come those who pioneer answers and solutions to meet need.  Education can once again show how important and helpful we can be.  Technology only gives education more potential, when used properly and effectively.

With fondness and excitement, let’s bid farewell to 2008 and look forward to the potential of 2009!  Cheers!

Jeff D Borden, M.A.
Senior Director of Teaching and Learning
eCollege - a Pearson Company