The rapid shift to online courses has meant that students must access academic support services in an online format as well. In this session, a team of educators shares their experiences shifting an academic resource center to an online synchronous format, including the challenges, lessons learned, and advice.
In the current era where education meets COVID-19, educators, staff, and students are tasked with the various challenges and triumphs that are present in an online education. This comes with the tension of balancing academic needs with that of recognizing the struggles that many students are facing. Additionally, this is magnified by the reality that some students are left without the technological, economic, and physical resources needed to make the transition online (Bader, 2020).
This presentation will highlight the learning experiences of shifting an on-campus academic resource center to an online format. What became clear from the outset was the need to do this with care, compassion, and grounded in love. Many educational philosophers have theorized the importance of care (hooks, 2001), compassion (Peterson, 2017), and love (Darder, 1998; 2017; Freire, 1996; hooks, 2001) in ways that are instructive for our continued capacity to build a connection with students. This is particularly necessary given the feeling of disconnection (Lehman et al., 2001) that many students experience when thrust into an online format.
The educators involved will examine the journey in shifting from on-campus to online. This will include an overview of the process with particular attention paid to offering strategies and guiding principles to support the successful delivery of academic resources to students in online formats. Participants will be able to examine their own practices in relation to online formats and engage in dialogue about ways to support students.
References:
Bader, E. J. (2020). Online schooling is highlighting the inequality in our classrooms. Truthout.
Darder, A. (1998). Teaching as an Act of Love: In Memory of Paulo Freire.
Darder, A. (2017). Reinventing Paulo Freire: A pedagogy of love. Routledge.
Freire, P. (1996). Pedagogy of the oppressed (revised). New York: Continuum.
hooks, B. (2001). All about love: New visions. Harper Perennial.
Lehman, S., Kauffman, D. F., White, M. J., Horn, C. A., & Bruning, R. H. (2001). Teacher Interaction: Motivating At-Risk Students In Web-Based High School Courses. Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 33(5).