GAME ON: Lessons from a traditional professor who is now online
It all changed on March 11, 2020. As a primarily face-to-face instructor with years of experience, I learned that I had one week to shift everything to 100% online. That required me to change my ways.
Or, did it?
Yes, the platform for teaching and the tools that I use changed. However, my core competencies that have made me a good university professor did not. The new opportunity was for me to replicate “myself” in a different mode of teaching.
Game ON.
Here are a few initial discoveries that may be helpful as you embrace being an online instructor. They represent my starting-line for creating online courses that have been embraced by students and demonstrated as effective in achieving learning outcomes.
1. Take a personal inventory: What makes you an excellent teacher? For me, it is that I a) communicate effectively with students, b) create interactive learning experiences and c) am creative in the presentation of course content.
My personal inventory revived a reality for me. I genuinely care for my students and their learning. The challenge was to find new ways to bring “care” to life, even though I am not in the same room with my students.
2. Dissect the Course Learning Objectives: My next step was to visit the desired outcomes for each course. A discovery is that I, over time, had lost some awareness of what I am supposed to be teaching. Moving online required that I be in tune with the Course Learning Objectives. The result was that I became intentional to define what I am teaching in each course. This process helped me determine what was essential, according to the Course Learning Objectives, and to focus on the key themes.
3. Get creative to match personal capabilities with the Course Learning Objectives: The primary message that I want my students to receive, online or in the classroom, is that I care about them, their learning and their ability to function as a contributing member of society. Knowledge of and application of the course content is the minimum outcome. To fulfill my mission in teaching, I accept the challenge to transition my three capabilities (a. effective communication, b. interactive learning and c. creative content presentation) to the online setting.
In future blogs, I will share what the process looks like for me. I am still inventing, experimenting and testing ideas. Clearly, I do not have it figured out. That is fun. After decades of teaching, the online teaching environment is creating a new sense of adventure and challenge in my career.
The most significant discovery, so far, is my contention that a good professor is a good professor, whether she/he is in the traditional classroom or online.
The most significant discovery, so far, is my contention that a good professor is a good professor, whether she/he is in the traditional classroom or online. The same qualities that make me effective in a room do translate into quality on the screen.
Having collaborates who provide the platforms and tools to bridge the gap between my efforts and the technology are important. I have learned a lot about the technology that helps me transition “what I do” to effectively teach in the online setting.
I am now, “Game ON” to online education.
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Michael D. Wiese is a Professor of Marketing at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, CA. His teaching includes instruction at the undergraduate, masters and doctorate levels. Institutional and national teaching awards recognize his teaching quality. Known as an educational entrepreneur, Mike’s work includes starting numerous educational enterprises. Dr. Wiese’s formal education includes schooling in higher education, business and research with a Ph.D. from Loyola University of Chicago and a graduate certificate in eMarketing from the University of Virginia.
