[ Radio Static ] >> You've tuned into Hub Talk. The podcast about teaching, learning, and technology. [ Music ] >> Colin Stapp: Welcome back to this episode of Hub Talk. I'm Colin Stapp. >> Bill Hamlin: And I'm Bill Hamlin. >> Colin Stapp: And the topic for this episode is about remote teaching and learning. So, for the past several weeks and beyond we have been in the COVID pandemic. And like all institutions around the country, Chemeketa has had to move into remote teaching and remote learning for our students. There's been a lot of discussion on the internet and on [inaudible] and on education in general about the differences between online instruction and remote teaching. We're not really in this episode, we're not really getting into the differences too much. We will - I'll be referring to an article on Educause that we will post on our website that you can take a look at, that provides an in-depth definition of the two. And talks about compares and contrasts online teaching and remote teaching. So, when we're thinking about remote teaching though, referencing that Educause article they define an emergency remote teaching as a temporary shift of an instructional delivery to an alternative delivery mode due to crisis circumstance. It involves the use of fully remote teaching solutions for instruction or education that would otherwise be delivered face to face or as blended or hybrid course. And that will return to that format once the crisis or emergency has abated. So, that's the abridged description and definition of that. But I think it provides a good overview as we talk about remote teaching and learning. And provide some tips to help you all in your remote teaching. And then we'll also include an interview with some faculty at Chemeketa who have been in the trenches of remote teaching to get some of their feedback and their perspectives. >> Bill Hamlin: So, when we think about remote learning specifically to the situation, we're in at the moment like you said Colin, this COVID-19 pandemic and the uncertainty that's it's bringing. When we shift to remote learning you know that's new for a lot of our faculty. It's new for a lot of our students. So, we wanted to share like, like you said some tips for remote learning. And then some kind of practical examples from our own faculty. So, one of the biggest tips that I hear from students and faculty. And with my own students here at home. My kids taking classes online. It's to remember the human element of this experience for both our faculty and our students. That Educause article gave some really good student perspectives as far as what they want people to remember kind of. They want faculty to remember that you know they didn't really necessarily sign up for online remote education. They signed up for face to face classes. And so, they might have limits on their technology. And limits on the time they can spend online or in a remote learning environment. They may have additional family constraints. They might have their own kids at home because their kids aren't going to school. And so, they're taking care of their kids fulltime at home. They might have different work hours. A lot of different stuff going on at home. So, just being aware of that. And taking all of that into consideration I think is a really important factor. >> Colin Stapp: Yeah, you make some great points, Bill. And I think also just that Educause article also mentioned students appreciate faculty like when we remain positive and calm. And I think that's a huge piece of it is it's a huge shift. So, as instructors, if we can be very positive and very calm and have that understanding of the student's needs and where they're at, I think that is a huge piece. One of the other questions that we've heard from faculty about remote [inaudible] is do I need to meet synchronously? And some programs are trying to conduct courses synchronously. And I think there is a time and place for that. And I think that that is a good question in general for you to ask yourself about your own remote teaching. Will a synchronous meeting really help your instruction? If it's necessary and it's going to be beneficial, then I think that's a great way to go. But as Bill mentioned in that human element just thinking about the limits on technology and family constraints and student use of technology. Being accommodating about the synchronous meetings and understanding that, that may be a hardship on students. And that a lot of instruction could be prerecorded using screencast tools or Kaltura Media Server and then delivering things so that students could watch in their own time. >> Bill Hamlin: Yeah, and on one hand it can be rather challenging for faculty to try to mirror a face to face class schedule in an online environment. As far as having those you know multiple meetings a week where you're trying to deliver live lectures synchronously. That can be challenging for a full term. Actually, if you have multiple classes that meet multiple times a week. So, it might be easier on the students and the instructor to kind of shift to some maybe more what we might call traditional online strategies. As far as like you said Colin, recording lecture material or other types of course content. And letting students interact with that asynchronously at their own, at their own time. >> Colin Stapp: Yeah, exactly. Some other things to think about for your remote teaching and learning for students is building in activities for class. So, if you are meeting synchronously maybe including break out rooms so that you can have students go and have some real-time discussion which could mimic the face to face experience if you were in the classroom and breaking students into small groups for activities or discussion. If you're doing it asynchronously may be thinking about using groups, small groups even still in the elearn so that you could have them communicating via discussion boards, hosting some topics for them to discuss. And they could still work in small groups. And I think the thing to remember we have done some podcasts about group work is having a purpose for the group work. So, not just using it as busywork. But for example, if it's a foreign language class and it's meeting synchronously, being able to converse and practice the language back and forth would be a great example of how you might do - use breakout rooms in a synchronous Zoom session with your students. >> Bill Hamlin: Yeah. >> Colin Stapp: Another activity that you might include is creating or incorporating some virtual field trips. So, this term spring term at Chemeketa I worked with a group of biology instructors who typically when they meet face to face, are taking their students on a day-long field trip to about six different sites within the Willamette Valley and up into the Cascades. They can't do it obviously this year. So, one of the instructors created a lot of videos. Went to these sites on their own. And through creating a basic Google site we were able to replicate that field trip with a virtual field trip and tried to provide as close as we could, that same experience. Now granted it's not exactly the same as going out there. But still trying to relate that information and what they would get. So, the students are not losing out on that you know - gaining that knowledge and that perspective on understanding different ecosystems and things like that. >> Bill Hamlin: Yeah. And I've seen some really amazing examples online of teachers of all levels K-12 and higher ed utilizing actual virtual like virtual reality field trips which are really amazing. And you know I don't know too much about it. But from what I saw they were able to find you know VR tours of all different types of locations from around the world and museums and you know really amazing things. So, you know obviously, that's going to depend on what subject you're teaching and things like that. But there are some really great virtual field trips and those types of experiences that have already been created out there. So. >> Colin Stapp: Yeah, for sure. >> Bill Hamlin: Once you're kind of comfortable with your content as an instructor in delivering you know the content that you've created and designed for your course, you might find some pretty neat supplemental stuff out there as well. >> Colin Stapp: Yeah, and I think the thing to remember about for virtual field trips is even though that we're in the middle of a crisis situation with the pandemic. And you might think oh I'll be able to do the real field trips later. We never know about what budgets are going to be like. Are students always going to be able to go on these field trips? Is there going to be another emergency or crisis? So, in the case of a biology class, if there's a forest fire and you can't go back to a location. Or there's some other you know natural disaster. If it's going to a physical location, that these virtual field trips could still be used down the road. They could be used in a fully online class if you know aren't meeting and can't take your students physically somewhere. And I think you make a great point Bill about the ones from all around the world is that it's also opening up our students to a lot of different cultures and perspectives. And when we can include not only the technology but the learning from different perspectives around the globe, that can also enhance that learning as well. >> Bill Hamlin: I think it's a good idea to go out and look for things like virtual field trips to enhance your course work and bring in things that are not currently allowed or available. Like you were saying, Colin. And ultimately, I think it boils down to you know being flexible with your course. And what you're teaching. And how you're teaching it. The students that responded and gave their perspective to that Educause article mentioned the importance of faculty being flexible, being empathetic, having reasonable expectations in these different circumstances we're finding ourselves in. Whether it's you know how they're presenting material, the types of assignments instructors are assigning their students. Perhaps giving multiple options in case a student doesn't have the tools necessary to complete it you know in the original assigned manner. Different ways of participating. Like we talked about the synchronous meetings. Perhaps you'll have some students who aren't able to do that. So, maybe make it optional and you provide the recording for those who can't meet synchronously. So, just overall being flexible. Being open to different ways of teaching and different ways of assessing your students I think is important for them and also important for faculty to engage with our students. And make sure they feel safe and encouraged in their learning environment. >> Colin Stapp: Yeah, you bring up a great point. Just about that flexibility. And I think the unmentioned message that that flexibility from instructors provide students is that faculty really care about students. And understand the situation that we're in. And have that care and concern overall for students. >> Bill Hamlin: Yeah. >> Colin Stapp: It kind of goes back to that human element as well. And just remembering those student perspectives and timelines and deadlines and things like that. >> Bill Hamlin: Uh-huh. >> Colin Stapp: Through all this, it's great to find out what others are doing I think as well. And looking at external sources. So, in a few minutes, we're going to be interviewing three of our own faculty. But I think also looking at what your colleagues around the state are doing in the discipline that you teach is a great way to kind of expand your own support. The thing to remember I think that's important is that not only is this remote teaching and learning hard on our students, it can be difficult for all of us too. Because it is a rapid different type of change that we were thrown into several months ago. And had to overcome this pretty quickly to get classes up and running remotely without any really understanding or knowledge of how long this might be. And in some cases, we're still not sure how long remote teaching and learning might be. So, looking at those external sources and different organizations around the country that may relate to your discipline or to just teaching and learning in general, we have quite a few sources on our faculty hub website. So, faculty hub.chemeketa.edu. We listed a lot of resources around remote teaching and learning. And have even provided some information for student remote learning as well. One of the last items that we have for tips on remote learning is thinking about your long-term plans. As we've mentioned we're unsure how much longer remote teaching and learning might occur. And if it's going to be a while until you're back into your face to face classroom I think it's always good to stop and evaluate what you're doing right now, having been thrown into a situation where you had to get a class up and students learning remotely. But thinking forward what's working, what's not working, what can you do differently? How could you integrate some technology, if you're not? Or if something has been challenging maybe not using that as much and trying something different. And I know that that could be a lot of extra work for all of us as instructors. But really trying to think of that student perspective. And thinking of backward design, how are you getting your students to meet those outcomes and objectives? And what could you be doing to help that process? And sometimes technology is a great way to alleviate extra work and streamline things. But sometimes technology can cause a little influx of change. And it might be easier to try something different. So, just thinking about your long-term plans and going forward of how you're going to reevaluate your course. >> Bill Hamlin: So, all of these have been just some general tips and perspectives that you know we have been hearing about, reading about. And Colin, in your case actually using in your own teaching this term. But let's shift gears a little bit now and go to our interview that we conducted. We had three of our Chemeketa faculty join us where we talked about some of these challenges and questions that come with remote teaching. Let's hear how these faculty have actually applied different strategies and you know what challenges and benefits have come from their experiences. [ Music ] >> Colin Stapp: In our conversation about remote learning we wanted to get some feedback from Chemeketa faculty about their experiences. So, with us today is history instructor Traci Hodgson, from manufacturing Sheldon Schnider, and art instructor Laura Mack. Thank you all for joining us today. >> Sheldon Schnider: Thank you. >> Bill Hamlin: Okay let's start off with what might be kind of an obvious question for this time we're going through. But I'd like to hear from each of you what has been the most challenging aspect of making this transition to remote teaching? >> Laura Mack: For me it's making an online course at the same time that I'm grading. So, prepping the next week's shell at the same time I'm trying to grade the prior week's shell. That has been really challenging for me. I guess that's a challenge for all online teaching if you're developing the class. >> Bill Hamlin: Sure. >> Laura Mack: But for a lab class where so much of it is hands-on, the development requires more than just the tools that Blackboard has available. So, I think. >> Bill Hamlin: Uh-huh. >> Laura Mack: The challenge of grading in this kind of environment means I'm grading things in Blackboard and outside of Blackboard. And it ends up being confusing to keep track of what's where with my. >> Bill Hamlin: Sure. >> Laura Mack: Grading as well as like what's the best way to explain this information? And in some cases that means doing something outside of Blackboard, which again I then have to go and find when I'm doing the actual grading part. >> Bill Hamlin: That - I mean that sounds like a lot even if we didn't have something totally turn our teaching upside-down at the last minute. So, you're facing the timing issue there too. >> Traci Hodgson: For me, it was trying to figure out remote learning means. I have online classes for some of my classes already. But I had to really think through what my remote learning class would look like. Because these are students that wanted to be in the classroom. That was their choice when they enrolled. So, I assume that they wanted something else. And it was a real difficult experience. It was also pretty creative to think about okay I usually do a lot of small groups in class. How can I do that online? How can I create that connection for them? And I guess one challenge was I didn't know what the technical capabilities of our students were. I really suspected we had a wide range of students some of which wouldn't have access to a computer or wi-fi. And so, I had to guess that. As I've gotten into the class, really most of my students had access. So, that was a surprise. And if I'd known that from the beginning, I think I could have saved myself a lot of effort and created different kind of assignments that did more Zoom or virtual reality. But I'm figuring out what I needed to do. And how to make this separate then online. And how to make it interactive. And to replicate what we would be doing in the classroom more closely than I do for my online classes. That was one of the difficulties. >> Laura Mack: The idea of moving a remote environment and really the students didn't sign up for this. And I think the fact shows in my numbers and in the numbers in other art classes. Because I asked my colleagues to give me an estimate of how many people are actually still showing up. And lab classes are down about a third. And the students might still be in the class, but they're not doing much at all. They're really not able to keep up and have the discipline that's required for an online class perhaps. It's a lot more emails then I normally have to send out. I send out emails that just say, "Are you okay?" That's the subject line. Are you okay? >> Colin Stapp: Sheldon, how about you? >> Sheldon Schnider: Laura brought it forward earlier. Early on I kind of looked at our situation in CTE. And the lions share about classes or two-hour lectures followed-up by six-hour labs. But if you really just want to break it down into simple math, I hate to say it, but the folks in our programs are true hands-on learners. Probably much like Laura would have. >> Laura Mack: Uh-huh. >> Sheldon Schnider: these are people that want to touch things. We've lost six hours of that a week. So, what could I do to help supplement that? And I found too - I guess the fortunate thing was I discovered in elearn tools I did not know existed. Such as Zoom. I was fretting how I was going to get Zoom set up and get everybody's email and get everybody situated. And then I discovered it was already in place. And it was pretty seamless to set that up. So, initially I just up lecture times just like I normally would. And the first few weeks we went through that. I find myself using things around my home office that I don't normally use as things to demo. Because I don't have the machines in front of me. I have a few things here that are parts that I talk about and we go over and cover. And we're able to see. And I've noticed my lectures are no longer two-hour lectures. Now, there're ten minutes of me talking and explaining things. And then what I've done is I've kind of morphed it into - I'll put people on the spot and I'll directly point them out. And say, "What do you think?" So, then it turns into a group discussion. >> Bill Hamlin: Uh-huh. >> Sheldon Schnider: And I've been really fortunate that both of my groups have been very active in that approach. So, not only am I helping to answer questions but the folks that aren't quite getting there're other class peers they're assisting. And it just turns int a whole group dynamic then. And we work through these problems I present in lecture. The other advantage is we already had some industry-based online educational tools in place. I was able to expend those immediately. I discovered other parts. And I was able to move forward and purchase those things. And put them in place. I'm finding that between what we're doing in class on the lecture day and those online tools we're doing very well. I did open up beginning this week, especially in my first-year class. So, we have our normal class on Tuesdays. Now, I've opened a Q and A section in Zoom on Thursdays. And it's optional. They can show up if they want. I can present the material a little more in-depth or if they have specific questions based off of what they've learned from the previous few days. It gives them a chance to bounce off of me. Something they normally would have if we were in lab and in class. It's been a challenge. But we've been able to work around it. >> Colin Stapp: That's a great suggestion about just having the open lab time and question and answer. Tracy, you brought up a good point a little bit ago that you said, "Students didn't necessarily sign up for this. Remote learning is new for them as well. And they signed up to be in the classroom." Have you found hearing some of the challenges that Sheldon and Laura have had with not having the physical lab, have you noticed any differences in how you present your material online then you would in the classroom? >> Traci Hodgson: Yeah. I figured they wanted more interaction both with each other and with me. So, I've been doing more coasting. I've just little informal videos. I've meaning to do that for a long time. But making sure I do that every week. I've been taking lectures and recording me. And me speaking over a PowerPoint. And some of those lectures I actually have in an online format that are all written. But I kind of decided not to do that. Just to do more interaction. And I made the commitment to talk to all of remote learning students twice in the first two weeks one on one. And that took a lot, a lot of time. But I felt like it was worth it. because I wanted to connect them. And I wanted to hear honestly on a one on one situation if they had any challenges that I could work with them. And also, just to make them feel like they belonged. Because a lot of them are anxious. They didn't really want online classes. They had chosen this class. So, I guess what I'm doing differently is I'm putting more of my face before them. And that's on Zoom and recording lectures so they see. And interactive class discussions that I would do otherwise. And I think they're enjoying it. I just polled them you know - I gave them like four different ways that I could present what I wanted to say to them. And they really liked those lectures particularly if they could see a little bit of my face as I was doing it. >> Colin Stapp: So, that's a great segue. How have your students responded to this transition to remote learning? >> Traci Hodgson: I think I would second what Laura said which is some are doing fine. But there's more than you would see in an online class that are just not showing up. And I wonder if they weren't quite sure. But they gave it a go. I'm hearing it's hard to organize their work. I mean that's thing about online. You really have to keep yourself organized and focused. And. Colin Stapp: Yeah, for sure. >> Laura Mack: Yeah. I have found that I'm really happy with what I have done with my class. It's really working. It's really successful. It's organized. It's clear. I mean I'm talking about a lab class. A figure drawing. I'm talking about a figure drawing class. But a third of those students aren't coming. So, no matter how great I might be doing the transition to remote learning for my students. If they can't organize themselves it doesn't matter how much I'm enjoying. And how well it might be working for me. I can't reach them. I just can't reach them. I think Traci's point is true. I've been doing this regularly too. Like they need to have a feeling of a connection with someone. So, I use Screencast-O-Matic where I can have my face and the lecture. And they can see me at the same time that I'm talking about the stuff. Like that idea of feeling like you're really in the room with somebody. That's a tactile quality. And I'm trying to not just grab all of my - I mean the first week I tried to do all my lectures myself. It's crazy to reinvent the wheel when there are good things out there already like Sheldon was saying. There are some great tools for what he's teaching. So, I stopped trying to do demos of everything. And borrow from what's already out there. But I have to do at least one demo a week so that there is that connection. Like hi, guys. You know this is me talking to you. To you in this class, this term right now. I think that might help. But again, if no one's watching, if no one's logging in it ain't working. >> Colin Stapp: Yeah. Sheldon, how about for your students? How are they responding? >> Sheldon Schnider: You know overall between you know our upcoming graduates and our continuing first year, we had good response. Everyone's been realistic. They've been adults about this. They realize that not only themselves, but we've been put in a position. And we're working through this together. Like Laura, I have one student that's hit and miss. He's a good student. I've had him for nearly six years - or excuse me two years now complete. And - but he's had a history of this. And so, a couple of times I've sent him a few emails like I did back when we were on campus. And I just said, "Hey buddy, noticing. You need to pick the ball up. You need to run a little further with it today." And you know I'll get him to come around for a couple of weeks. And then he'll drop off a little bit. So, you know I know online like this the way we - we're having to do it, it's not for everyone. But I appreciate the fact that our group has kind of come around, circled the wagons. They realized this is what we're going to have to do for the time being. >> Collin Stapp: It can be a hard transition for students when they're not used to this modality at all. For sure. >> Bill Hamlin: You've all made some great points as far as you know what's been challenging. What's worked well and for you and your students. [inaudible] you mentioned earlier some Blackboard tools and Laura you mentioned Screencast-O-Matic as something you've had luck with. But I'd like to ask all of you, you know what have you taken away from this experience? What have you learned? What has been something really positive that you've taken from this? It could be something really specific like you know a new tool that you can't believe you lived without until now. Or it could be you know something more philosophical or you know something to do with your own teaching. >> Traci Hodgson: I think our students are ready to do more. Like Zoom meetings. I think they're more comfortable with the technology then I would have guessed. >> Bill Hamlin: Uh-huh. >> Traci Hodgson: And I think that we'll do more of the you know videos and activities. I think that probably will stay with us. And I think that's probably a positive thing, particularly for online classes. You know right now some of. >> Bill Hamlin: Right. >> Traci Hodgson: Our students will gladly go to the classroom and so will we. But maybe for online classes, we'll get a little bit more interactive experience because of what we've had to do this term. >> Bill Hamlin: Yeah. >> Laura Mack: I think for me, one of the classes that I'm teaching this term, I have three different courses. And one of them is the creative class, which I coteach with Deanne Beausoleil. And the transition to online has been amazing. Because we've had so much online - we've had a real active online shell to accompany that class for a while. It's actually helped us to organize the class better in an online format. I think it's something we want to continue to teach online as a result. >> Colin Stapp: Huh. >> Laura Mack: And that's one. I have three things. The other one is that the idea of teaching art online has never been approved by the art faculty. There's been resistance to lab classes online by me as well as everybody else. And now we see the potential for that. We're not really going remote classes. And the art faculty all decided as a whole that we were going to be asynchronous because everyone's life was changed by what happened. And so, we decided these are students who may have to care for sick relatives or for siblings. Or their schedule is no longer the same. So, we couldn't plan to have Zoom meetings the way Sheldon's students were able to. So, but I guess that gets to my third point. Collaboration is something that has been a real positive. Our area has always been very collaborative. But right in the beginning all got together with our adjuncts and had meetings immediately. Emails going back and forth. Here are all the tools we have available at our disposal. And we hooked up with national educators who were faced with the same dilemma. I mean people in the semester system had to go through this in a week's time, going from face to face to online learning. And we learned from some of their mistakes right away. And brought ideas together. So, I think it's made us - we were already really strong as a program. But I feel like it's really brought to the fore again how important collaboration and sharing is to being successful in this changing environment. >> Sheldon Schnider: What I've taken away from this is like I kind of briefly talked about earlier, about different tools. Not just fall back on Zoom for a minute. Now, I've had Zoom meetings before prior to all this. But it was always at the professional level. I never would have thought about implementing Zoom into a classroom setting. And I've discovered that it's been a really effective tool. The other thing that I try to do with a little bit of our time is we just socialize as a group for five or ten minutes. And just hey how is each - everybody doing? How are you doing? What's new? What's exciting? What's happened? And it's kind of kept that camaraderie amongst the students and the group. Because we're pretty fortunate. Our group we're together two years. So, by the third term, everybody kind of knows everybody. And so, we're able to just kind of touch base. See how we're all each doing. They've been a big part of that. Not only the Zoom. I have to say our dean has been very supportive. When I briefly talked earlier about some of the online opportunities, we were able to take advantage of. And I was able to acquire some simulation software. And the vendor gave us a reduced rate. And we were able to institute it on their home computers. So, they will have access to it. So, they can run the assignments against that simulation software. So, while it's not having me in a lab setting its kind of the next best thing at this point. >> Colin Stapp: that's cool. >> Sheldon Schnider: Yeah. It's given us some options. And we're looking forward to carrying on that same stuff when we return back to campus. >> Bill Hamlin: Nice. >> Colin Stapp: yeah, this is great. So, just thinking about we've all been in this, for now, several weeks. But do you have any advice for your colleagues that might need some additional support or might still be struggling or might be thinking about what they're going to do next term? What advice would you give? >> Laura Mack: I would give them the advice to share with each other. In the art area, we made each other co-teachers on our classes. So, that we could easily take and borrow each other's ideas. That really helped because we're learning from each other as much as from you guys, the Tech Hub. Using the Tech Hub, that should be one of the first things to recommend. Use those Zoom meeting. Whenever you have a question you guys have been amazing. So, helpful whenever something came up. I mean I was - the first week I think I might have called three times. Some people call every day I'm sure. >> Traci Hodgson: I would say research what's out there in terms of tools. One of my challenges has been that I know I needed to do something different, but I don't have the tools I need. And I'm pretty sure that the people that can help me are overwhelmed. Particularly with spring break I felt I felt that. Like I had to do this all on my own. So, take some time and know it really well. I had the opposite experience from Sheldon where a dean freaked out about money. Said nothing. You can't buy anything new. And so, maybe getting a clear sense of what you want so you can make the strongest argument possible that this is actually what I need. And look at other examples. And if you don't have them in your colleagues it's maybe out there in the world. Maybe there're others that are sharing. And I think a lot of people are talking. And there're a lot of blogging. And. >> Bill Hamlin: Uh-huh. >> Traci Hodgson: Social media about it. Look at that and see what other people have found successful. >> Laura Mack: I would say sleep. Sleep on it too. And I mean that like in between making something, thinking that it's going to work really well. And then going to sleep. And the next day coming back to whatever it was that you just made. And you'll see whether it's worth keeping or ways to adjust it. That incubation time, that mind wandering in between really helps you find the errors in your thinking. Or just to make anything you created even better. >> Colin Stapp: That's good advice for all of us. >> Bill Hamlin: Yeah. >> Traci Hodgson: I've definitely created some overly complicated assignments. And [inaudible]. I'm getting simpler as I go along. >> Laura Mack: You know what I discovered that was really useful? Because I've been doing the blogs and the discussion boards. And I tried out a wiki for the first time. And I realized that that is - it's just not that complicated. It's one long essay. Instead of multiple clicks. Because my life is all about reducing the amount of clicks. How can I reduce the amount of clicks? And Blackboard loves clicking, doesn't it? It just loves clicking. So, I think that is a good tool to investigate. Because you can see what everybody wrote at any point in time later. And you can grade it. It's gradable. Easily gradable. The other thing I would suggest is be honest about what you're going through too with your students. Because they're probably going through some of the same stuff. I mean make mistakes and say eh, we're trying here folks. We're going to fail. I'm going to fail. And I think just being real is a great approach with your students. >> Colin Stapp: Yeah, for sure. >> Traci Hodgson: Yeah, I think they kind of like it when you're open and you're vulnerable. And like I'm putting this together. Help me if it doesn't make sense. You know they like that because it kind of equalizes everyone. >> Laura Mack: Yeah. >> Traci Hodgson: In the environment. >> Laura Mack: I wish I had the cohort that Sheldon has. I mean it sounds wonderful. >> Traci Hodgson: Yeah, now that. >> Laura Mack: You guys can reach out. >> Traci Hodgson: Now, it's so hard. >> Sheldon Schnider: I've been very fortunate. >> Traci Hodgson: Yeah. >> Laura Mack: Yeah. >> Traci Hodgson: I have a lot of high school students this term. And I'm not sure if they came to me because high school got truncated. But man, I feel like I have a lot of needy students. And they're not really comfortable telling me what they need. And I'm not sure this is the best way to experience college, to be honest. >> Bill Hamlin: Huh. Yeah, that's a difficult transition for sure for them. >> Sheldon Schnider: You know I would have to support Traci and Laura on what they pointed out earlier. When this first began, to be honest, I came home sat here in my home office, and I was kind of at a loss. I spent a day or to just kind of worrying. How was I going to pull this off? At what point were students going to start contacting the dean? And you know this thing had just get out of hand. So, I just kind of kicked back for a couple days. And I gave it some thought. And I thought well, we'll just do what we can. Well, and I believe, I believe Laura pointed it out. And I know Traci did. The Tech Hub side. >> Traci Hodgson: Yeah. >> Sheldon Schnider: I started horsing around. We started getting our emails from the college advising us that the stuff was being built on the remote learning side and all that. And so, I just started clicking buttons. And investigating what was out there. And to be honest, that's kind of where I stumbled on the whole Zoom thing. And how to apply it. And you know I discovered within about five minutes I started playing on the computer on one screen. And setting up one of my elearn classes and going through the instructions on the other screen. And I basically had half the class set up for lectures within five minutes. >> Bill Hamlin: Nice. >> Sheldon Schnider: There, there was a sense of relief there at that point. So, it's kind of like you took a deep breath and exhaled. And you kind of figured out maybe this won't be as bad as I'm making it. And so, with that kind of new outlook on the whole thing, I just kind of moved forward with it. And it's been difficult. It's been tough. It's something new. None of us like change. I know where my favorite pen is inside the computer lab at the college. I just kind of had to reorganize myself here. And get more familiar with my surroundings here on a more permanent basis. So, I think reaching out, contacting people in the Tech Hum, that kind of thing. Reaching out to your dean if you need certain technology. It's available. You just got to ask. >> Colin Stapp: yeah, that's great. Thank you. And you make a great point. That change is hard for all of us. And this has - in some ways has been a really difficult change. Not just for us but for your students as well. >> Bill Hamlin: Definitely. And speaking of change there, Colin. Sheldon, you've mentioned you know looking forward and thinking about what you're going, you're going do going forward. I'm curious now that we have been in this environment for a number of weeks and we have time to look forward and think about what we're going to be doing. Are there any big changes you're hoping to make going forward? >> Traci Hodgson: I'm going to try synchronous Zoom. Like Sheldon said. I was too afraid to do that. But I know I have a colleague that is teaching a class very similar to mine. And they just have a class period. And they're there. And they haven't had trouble having students have access. So, I'm going to try that. >> Bill Hamlin: Good, yeah. >> Colin Stapp: Laura, how about you? Are you teaching this summer? >> Laura Mack: I was not scheduled to teach this summer. And I have proposed - because we lost some - we lost our - ceramics is not happening. Ceramics is a lab class that is really equipment heavy with kilns and wheels. And I think our adjunct, we only have adjunct teaching that class. I think they the person who was scheduled decided it wasn't possible. So, we have a hole. And I proposed that we offer the creativity class in the summer because it seems to have transitioned to an online environment so well. And the reason why I say I would teach this summer is because apparently high school students are being encouraged to kind of pick up college as soon as possible. And that would be a good introductory class for college. Plus, learning more about creativity is such a skill that serves people well in life and work and school. So, it seems like a good initial college course to take if we have an influx of high school students over the summer. I would also suggest that having an iPad for a visual art instructor, has become really crucial for me. So, that I can draw on top of students' drawings. I mean, as soon as I knew we were going to online I ordered one. Because my son has one and I used his to do grading at the end of last term because I couldn't - we couldn't have finals. And I ordered it right away. And now I see why all of our adjuncts should have access to that too. It's super helpful to grade. And the other thing I may continue using after this is using Vocaroo which is an online - it's just a recording - it records your voice. And it's so simple to use. And I don't type super-fast. I like to be able to look at a work of art and then discuss what's working well. What's not working well. And make all those suggestions. But when I have to write it out, I just won't spend as much time giving them enough suggestions. So, by using that audio recording and then you just send the student the link. And they click on the link and they can listen to what I said, while they look at the work themselves. And I think that I may continue doing that in my office in the future when I'm going through portfolios. Instead of writing up all this written feedback, which I normally do, with their work next to me. I'll probably keep using the audio tools. >> Bill Hamlin: Great. >> Colin Stapp: That's a great, yeah that's a great idea. Sheldon, are teaching this summer? >> Sheldon Schnider: It appears that we are. Ourselves as well as welding have been advised that we can labs on campus. However, we will not be able to teach any sort of lectures on campus. If there is a scheduled lecture for a class in the summer, it'll be online. And then we'll have the social distancing practices involved in the labs. We've been told that we need to keep our lab numbers down to a specific number which would be eight. So, we'll move forward with that at this point. And you know more uncharted territory. We get to see how that works now. It'll be a plus as opposed to right now. But short baby steps. I'm assuming this is going to be exactly what we're going to be in fall. And so, what I'm kind of doing is wrapping myself around my scheduled fall term classes. And what do I need to put in effect right now? And ask for help now. And get it in place. S, that I'm prepared for fall term if we do need to repeat this. >> Bill Hamlin: That's good advice. >> Sheldon Schnider: I think it's just good. I've - one of the comments I made to our dean a week ago, I want to be proactive, not reactive. >> Colin Stapp: That's a great idea. >> Sheldon Schnider: So, I'd rather have everything in place and it not have to be enforced. And we can just go back to the way things were. As afar as some of the things, I've discovered. One of the things I have noticed, I spend a lot more time on classwork and contact hours than I normally would if we were still on campus. But that's fine. I've taken the initiative with my students and just let them know typically on weekends I typically don't respond to emails until Mondays. And so, now I've modified that. I made it clear to the students I'm - if you send me an email on Saturday at 3:00 pm I'll probably respond to you by 7:00 or 8:00 that might. So, I find myself checking my email more often since it's a home office. And I can just go outside and do a few things. Come inside check things. Kind of keep on top of things. I've [inaudible] that's been helpful. You know you always get three or four students that struggle with things. So, that way I'm able to stay in touch with them throughout the week. So, I'll probably modify my weekend rule. And make myself available for emails if need be. Other than that, we'll see what happens. >> Traci Hodgson: One thing specific to our situation that is really been a factor for me is I know that we're moving away from elearn soon. And so, that really made me think how many tools do I want to research? And how much energy do I want to put into something that might not be transferable? And I understand that's you know no one could control that. But that's definitely made it harder for me this term. Because I didn't know if I wanted to put the energy in. because I didn't know if anybody can use it in the fall. >> Colin Stapp: That's actually a great point, Traci. And it's smart to think that way. Because you just - we had to kind of stop our whole Canvas migration and our training and everything else. So, it's been hard to get out a lot of the information about what faculty are going to be able to do. The good news is Zoom is going to integrate into Canvas. Our Kaltura media server is going to integrate into Canvas. And for you Laura, you can keep using Vocaroo. But there are built-in tools in Canvas that allow you right from the grading center to record feedback for your students. So, you don't have to use a third-party application. It's great that you're using it. And I'd say continue using it. But it is going to built-in right there in Canvas. And the nice thing is when you provide that audio feedback to an assignment, then the student - you could ask some questions. And then the student could respond back to your feedback. And you could actually almost have a dialog going about that assignment in the grades area. So, that's kind of cool as well. But I think that's a great point of just thinking about everything that you all have had to do this term in lieu of a looming transition to a new LMS very soon. >> Traci Hodgson: I think I'm working a third more than I have been. I don't think I've had a day off. So, I hope the powers that be know how hard we're working to try to make this work for our students. >> Colin Stapp: Well, we'll make sure the powers to be, listen to this podcast [inaudible]. >> Bill Hamlin: Definitely apparent in that you are all devoted to your students. And are doing everything in your power to give them a good experience. So, we definitely appreciate your hard work. >> Colin Stapp: Well, thank you all for joining us. We really appreciate taking your time this afternoon. Because we know you all have a lot going on with your classes and are working long hours. So, we appreciate it. Hub Talk is produced by the Center for Academic Innovation at Chemeketa Community College. Visit our website facultyhub.chemeketa.edu to find helpful resources about teaching, learning, and technology integration along with video tutorials and more podcast episodes, just like this one. [ Music ]