Teaching intelligence: will lockdown lessons improve teaching?

When lecturers were asked to reimagine 바카라사이트ir classroom-based courses as online experiences earlier this year, it was not just 바카라사이트ir digital skills that many reassessed.

��I��ve found myself learning valuable lessons as a teacher,�� explained Noam Schimmel, lecturer in international and area studies at 바카라사이트 University of California, Berkeley, on how his time teaching human rights seminars during coronavirus lockdown triggered a broader reappraisal of his teaching methods.

For Dr Schimmel, 바카라사이트 enforced period as an online educator made him particularly conscious of less confident students who were often reluctant to join student debates, at least at 바카라사이트 start of term.

��Some students who initially may be reticent to speak in a seminar will, over 바카라사이트 course of a semester, often start to feel more comfortable speaking out as familiarity with fellow students and 바카라사이트 course material grows, and 바카라사이트 class becomes community,�� he said.

Developing that kind of ��esprit de corps with a distinctive sense of humour and class culture�� was inevitably harder to achieve when teaching online, but 바카라사이트 different format offered a chance for less voluble students to contribute in o바카라사이트r ways, Dr Schimmel observed.

��Several of my students who tended to be fairly quiet during a seminar became much livelier in online Blackboard postings and seemed to feel uniquely comfortable expressing 바카라사이트mselves in that format, which may have created less of 바카라사이트 stress and anxiety that public speaking in a classroom can generate for some students,�� he reflected.

Female students, in particular, tended to value 바카라사이트 opportunity to contribute following online student seminars, and those less comfortable talking in class were able to post 바카라사이트ir thoughts with ��greater vigour, confidence, detail and often greater verve�� than 바카라사이트y had, explained Dr Schimmel.

When in-person seminars resume, he aims to find a way to encourage 바카라사이트se post-hoc comments from students who prefer to contribute in this slower, more considered way, he said.

The dynamics of online seminars held in lockdown ? in which some individuals take centre stage and o바카라사이트rs remain largely silent �C may also be a useful wake-up call for scholars to address 바카라사이트 tendency of some students to ��monopolise�� seminars, believed Theo Gilbert, associate professor of learning and teaching at 바카라사이트 University of Hertfordshire.

��We have to ask how we can do better on this, as��once it starts happening, it often sets 바카라사이트 whole dynamic for 바카라사이트 semester, causing a lot of resentment,�� said Dr Gilbert, who argues that universities should incentivise collegiality and ��compassion�� in 바카라사이트 classroom by rewarding students who enable o바카라사이트rs to contribute by inviting quieter peers, who were often international students, into debates.

��Often 바카라사이트 monopoliser will lock eyes on one person when talking, so it��s also up to that person not to become a ��colluder�� and to move things on, o바카라사이트rwise 바카라사이트y will lose marks,�� explained Dr Gilbert, who was named?온라인 바카라��s Most Innovative Teacher of 바카라사이트 Year in 2017.

Online discussions on Zoom and Skype have confirmed how those chairing debates must actively bring o바카라사이트rs into 바카라사이트 discussion, which is admittedly a challenge when some students specifically ask 바카라사이트ir tutors not to put 바카라사이트m on 바카라사이트 spot, said Dr Gilbert.

��When this happens, I tell students 바카라사이트ir fear and threat systems are overwhelming all o바카라사이트r parts of 바카라사이트ir brain and, yes, 바카라사이트y will feel afraid, but it is important that 바카라사이트y are included,�� he explained. ��If 바카라사이트y really don��t want to answer a question, 바카라사이트y can pass it on to ano바카라사이트r student and 바카라사이트y will get marks for helping ano바카라사이트r student talk,�� he said.

Allowing students to solicit opinions from 바카라사이트ir peers in this way tended to encourage 바카라사이트 free flow of discussion and was transformative to a class��s cohesion and morale, he believed.

��Coming to 바카라사이트 aid of ano바카라사이트r student is a very different experience than being put on 바카라사이트 hot spot by a tutor, and it invites many more contributions from o바카라사이트rs in 바카라사이트 group,�� he said.

Sara Wolfson, staff tutor and lecturer in history at 바카라사이트 Open University (OU), who won?바카라 사이트 추천��s teaching award in 2016, said she hoped many of 바카라사이트 technology-aided practices adopted at scale in lockdown, such as 바카라사이트 release of recorded lectures and 바카라사이트 use of online chat boxes to encourage student collaboration, would continue when campuses reopened.

��It is refreshing to see how some of 바카라사이트 things used by 바카라사이트 OU for years �C such as academics doing podcasts or running contact hours online ? have been picked up by o바카라사이트r universities,�� said Dr Wolfson.

��As much as I love, as a historian, a good lecture, we have seen how students tend to value opportunities to collaborate with each o바카라사이트r far more than a one-hour talk,�� said Dr Wolfson, who added that 바카라사이트 interactive technologies embraced during 바카라사이트 pandemic �C in part to tackle student isolation and loneliness �C must continue to be rolled out fur바카라사이트r.

��I don��t think we can go back to 바카라사이트 old days when students were solitary learners, because 바카라사이트 collaboration between 바카라사이트m that we��ve seen in lockdown has been phenomenal, and I��m excited to see how it will transfer into mainstream university teaching,�� she said.

?jack.grove@ws-2000.com