Thread by @WardHydro

Join us in just 45 minutes for our undergrad panel - hear from students how the transition to online education went for them. Our panelists are ready to give honest feedback to help instructors prepare for next semester. #hydrology @CUAHSI
zoom.us/webinar/regist…

Plus - have a question you want answered? Tweet it at me or @skuylerherzog - we'll ask the panel and report back on this thread!

What are we learning so far?
1 - Professors are trying. Even if it hasn't been perfect, the effort is noticed and appreciated.
2 - Synchronous meetings are helpful. 100% asynchronous is lonely and doesn't help students isolate key points from 'noise'

3 - For students who have children, parents to care for, or other personal life commitments / challenges, attendance and focus are real challenges
4 - Zoom burnout.

5 - Accessing on-campus software remotely (e.g., VPN and virtual environments) eats bandwidth and limited participation.
6 - "I feel like I was working harder to learn less"

7 - Access to a quiet place to focus, connectivity to the internet, and technology to consume instruction do limit participation.

8 - A 'field course' was overhauled. Lab activities became take-home boxes of equipment, with experiments and observations completed individually. This wasn't easy, but maintained the hands-on nature of the course.

9 - Flexibility and fairness for assessment. Students preferred open book and flexible timing. Open book = no cheating because everyone knows they can use the resources.

10 - flexibility in timing for quizzes let students pick a time and place where they could focus

11 - Assessment as a conversation or written reflection improved communication skills and seemed more fair

12 - Professors, ORGANIZED & CONSISTENT IS CRITICAL to the students.

13 - Asynchronous requires a lot of self-discipline and self-motivation. The synchronous 'check ins' and discussions helped students stay motivated.

14 - Synchronous and optional periods for 'office hours' or 'Q&A' were helpful. (must record for those who can't make it)

15 - Zoom 'breakout rooms' helped maintain relationships with peers, and allows students time and space to collaborate.

16 - Guest speakers made it easier to engage with the material. They could discuss applications, provide different perspectives, and made the material more real for students. (BUT... not too much or too long, or attention wanes)

17 - Assessment for guest speaker activities? Discussion boards to 'prime the pump' for discussion with speakers, including required participation before the guest lecture.

18 - There is no substitute for personal relationships. How will instructors connect with students? How will students build community with one another? This is really tough online, and will be a challenge for a fully online semester.

19 - Share your materials. Video, audio, notes, readings. Students have diverse learning styles, so make sure your materials are accessible to all of them.

20 - Be prepared. Be organized. Be clear on expectations (yours of students, and theirs of you).

21 - RADICAL EMPATHY. Understand that peoples' lives are complicated. Cannot always turn on camera or attend a synchronous event. Just because you planned it doesn't mean it works, so ask for feedback.

22 - Lack of structure in the day is difficult.

23 - ENGAGE YOUR STUDENTS. Don't provide a one-way delivery of content, but building a relationship.

24 - Everything feels muddled. Students miss the structure, the routine, the socialization. My home, work, and school are all mixed together and lack structure and variation.

25 - The immediacy of this shift and its somewhat chaotic implementation added stress and rapidly changed norms and expectations.

26 - Lack of peer support and collaboration with peers was challenging.

27 - Students are spending substantial effort on learning software and technology. This is cutting into their time and energy that should be going into learning.

28 - Community is important. Social distancing was isolating. Losing connections to peers (in-class, in-school, extra-curricular activities, etc.) was notably missing. How can we replace this for our students?

Again, the theme of actively engaging students with campus life.

(this HAS to be more than a 'zoom hangout'. Those were fun the first time or two, but got boring and ended up making people miss their groups rather than supplementing them)

29 - Do students think we can and should be doing better? Students practicing empathy for their instructors - they know we're trying & balancing. Still, given that we have months of lead time, they expect things to be 'smoother' & many less tech issues to come up

(more on expectations) It depends on the institutions' plans. Students see that some instructors are being asked to do more with less. Expectations scale with the support they see coming from the institution.

30 - What don't your instructors know you are thinking about or experiencing?
- Planning my actions to protect my roommates' parents from exposure
- Students don't all have laptops, or even meals or a stable home. Resources are limited, & it is hard to share that with instructors

(more answers)
- changes in employment to make ends meet challenges when a person can meet, how they can participate
- 'norms' for group work and classes are harder to establish online and w/o those 'hallway chats' after class

(more answers)
- moving home, which isn't always a healthy place to be, is hard
- expectations and norms are changing

Final Question:
Do students prefer 'bells, whistles, tech-heavy' or 'simple'.

100% of panelists prefer 'SIMPLE AND FLEXIBLE'.

Don't over-do the tech - do what works reliably instead.

Thank to our undergraduate student panelists today - their honest feedback was outstanding. This seminar will be archived by @CUAHSI so folks can watch the recording. This thread captured the big ideas from today, & I hope it helps you prepare for Fall 2020.

Missed our panel? Check out the recording here, courtesy of @CUAHSI