Post 410: The Evolution of Online Education: Tech Support, where art thou?

 The Evolution of Online Education: Tech Support, where art thou?

 

When I first started teaching online in 2005, faculty job applicants did not need to have prior experience using a LMS.  We just needed to have our college diplomas just like a face to face job.

Tech Support was there to rescue us if we did not understand how to navigate a classroom, or if there were any dead links, or if something went wrong in the online classroom.

I remember in one online school Tech Support and the boss held our hand as we step by step learned the new LMS. We were all so nervous about how to navigate the classroom, grade papers, post to the forums,  or answer student email. 

When I worked at one school, Tech Support was available 24/7. I found it fun to consult computer experts on all aspects of online teaching from computer maintenance to what antivirus software to use. I got to chat with tech experts who knew all the latest tricks on different software.

In the beginning, servers used to crash on a weekly basis because too many students were on the computer turning in their papers at the same time. This usually happened Sundays when all assignments were due so hundreds of students would be turning in their assignments all at once, then suddenly, the classroom would disappear and we would not be able to access our classrooms.

Back then, I had access to huge teacher forums where hundreds of teachers would commiserate on the fallen server and how we were not able to access our classrooms. Panicked teachers and students would flood Tech Support with calls about not being able to access their classroom due to servers that had crashed.

I used to tell students NOT to turn in their assignments last minute, and to avoid the last minute crunch by turning in their assignments earlier like on Friday night when everyone else is out partying. Or for students on the West Coast, I told students to turn in their papers after the East Coast had gone to bed. I would call Tech Support to assist me in finding dead links, or to help me with grade book averages. 

Then in 2018, I was told that Tech support's role was no longer to help faculty navigate the classroom, fix grade books, or to teach faculty the LMS.  I was told by Admin that faculty had to be more self sufficient and that Tech Support had other more urgent matters to attend to.

What a change of attitude from 2005, when bosses encouraged faculty to contact Tech Support if faculty did not know how to navigate their online classroom.

Another shift in attitude is that as the years passed, I went from a 24/7 Tech Support access system to a more 9 to 5 Monday-Friday Tech Support access system. I still had a team of experts to ask computer questions so I did not mind the shift.  During the weekends if students or faculty needed help, you could still email the help desk. Tech Support would work from home, and contact you in a few days. 

Now in 2020, when I apply for online jobs, faculty are expected to be self-sufficient, be able to fix most computer problems themselves, and know several different LMS such as Blackboard, Canvas, Brightspace or Moodle to name a few. Faculty are expected to know how to use video conferencing tools like WebEx, Microsoft Team and Zoom fluently. What a change from 2005 when all faculty was to have was a college degree and Tech Support did the rest!

"Candidates will need to be available to teach online using platforms such as Blackboard Learn, MS Teams, and WebX."

I took this job qualification quote from a typical job application! As online teaching grows due to this pandemic, I think more and more college faculty will be expected to know online computer technology. And new faculty will be dinged if they rely on Tech Support for everything.  Many older faculty who have been forced online because of the pandemic are now having trouble making the adjustment from face to face teaching to online teaching--but that is the topic of another blog post!

These days, servers do not crash as much like in the old days of 2005 because LMS have become more resilient which lessens the need for urgent Tech Support intervention to bring back the server for hundreds of panicked students and faculty. The need for a local Tech Support team for each school has also lessened. Now schools can hire just one techie guy (not a team of experts anymore) and just outsource extremely difficult tech questions to the LMS company like Canvas or Zoom.

In 2005, job applicants for online jobs were mainly Baby Boomers who did not grow up with the internet which explained why they needed Tech Support for help. However, in 2020, job applicants today have grown up with the computer, thus not as much need for Tech Support. and LMS like Canvas now have multiple servers which prevents them from crashing, thus not as much need for Techy Support. Job applicants today are much more tech savvy than job applicants in 2005 (which was the first time I looked for an online job as I transitioned from face to face teaching to online teaching.)

Another reasons for the shift in attitude in Tech Support is that younger faculty take for granted that everyone knows how to handle an online classroom since they grew up not only with the internet, but also they grew up knowing how to use a cell phone and its apps for teaching purposes. Younger faculty know the latest educational apps for the phone. They can integrate phone, ipad, desktop, laptop versions of the online classroom seamlessly and effortlessly.

Meanwhile, I know of older Boomers who do not know how to add apps to their cellphone, and thus are at a distinct disadvantage if they are now looking for an online teaching job. Unlike 2005, it is no longer just good enough to have your college degree in English if you want to teach English online. I believe in the future, you will also need to know how to write interactive lessons on programs like Articulate Storyline or Adobe Captivate. In the future, online teachers may also be required to know how to create instructional games, know computer coding like Python to create such games for their students.

As technology takes over our lives more and more, just having a college degree will no longer be sufficient to find a good online job. As the workforce gets younger and younger, older workers will be forced to keep up or become obsolete. Work experience, in my opinion, is not as important as technological savvy in the future to be hired.  Older Boomers  will really need to take computer classes to keep up with the younger generation if they want to get hired now in the online teaching field.

Post 409: Inspiring Saying Of The Week: Peace Begins With A Smile By Mother Theresa

 

Post 408: How To Tell If An Argument Is Valid: Pathos, Logos and Ethos

 Post 408: How To Tell If An Argument Is Valid: Pathos, Logos and Ethos

 

 

Post 407: Comparison/Contrast Essay (Alternate Method) or (Point by Point Method)

 

Post 406: Comparison Contrast Essay (Block Method) or One Side Method

 

Post 405: How To Behave After A Faculty Performance Review

How To Behave After a Faculty Performance Review

 

 

Always Be Positive

No matter what happens in a faculty review, whether it be a good review or a bad review, always be positive about the results.  You, as the employee, always have to be positive, but the boss has the right not to be positive, if he/she does not want to.  As long as you, the employee is positive and show enthusiasm,  and an eagerness to correct mistakes, then you will do fine in the long run.

Obey The Boss

Do not counter the boss' word. Do not complain to the higher-ups that your boss gave you an 'unfair' evaluation.  Even if you got a low score, you just learn to live with it, and be determined to do better next time.  Just do what your boss wants you to do.

Make The Corrections Quickly

Make quick corrections. Strive to understand what corrections need to be made. If you are unclear about a correction, you can ask the boss for clarification to make sure you and the boss are on the same page, once you are both on the same page, then make the correction.  The faster you make the correction, the sooner your boss can be impressed by your enthusiasm and passion for your job and your willingness to listen to his advice.

Do Not Be Defensive

It does not matter how you like to teach your class or what your personal style or preferences are. If your boss does not like what you are doing, and tells you to make a correction, it is your job to just make the correction and keep your mouth shut. Bosses like positive employees, not whiners or complainers.  I just had my 30 day evaluation a couple of hours ago, and I have already made the minor corrections the boss wanted me to make.

Consider Boss Feedback as Teaching Improvement

Try not to consider your boss' feedback as a personal attack on your teaching style. Instead, think of the faculty performance review as a change to show your boss that you are a team player willing to obey the boss and stick to the school rules.  If the boss sees you made a minor error, you just go and fix it. Or if you are not quite sticking to school policy, you go and fix it so whatever it is sticks to school policy like glue.

Do not expect the boss to also integrate positive comments into a review

Your boss does not owe you anything. He does not have to add positive points if he does not want to. Just because you have to integrate positive comments into your feedback to students (Sandwich Method)--Positive comment--Improvement comments--Positive comment does not mean your boss has to. Your boss can do whatever he wants and it is your job to simply take it like a 'man' and suck it up.

For me, the sooner I fix whatever mistakes the boss points out, the faster I can impress the boss, and the faster I can move on to teach the class and to say to myself, "I will NOT make that mistake again."--I see it as a 'note to self' moment.  I see faculty review as an opportunity of growth of how I can improve my online teaching just like your students correct their grammar/punctuation/essay structure mistakes you point out in their papers for the final draft.

As long as everyone understands that giving feedback for correction is not an attack, but an effort to help people improve whether it be writing, or teaching, then you will do fine in handling any kind of faculty performance review.

Post 404: The Pros and Cons of Using the Canvas LMS System

The Pros and Cons of Using the Canvas LMS System

Pros

+ Easy interface for grading--I don't have to download and upload papers anymore for grading. I don't have to use track changes anymore in Word.  Canvas has an easy interface for direct grading, which really saves me time.

+ Embedded rubric for Forums and assignments--I love the embedded rubric which makes grading easy and intuitive.

 + Easy to find classes on the dashboard

+Rare outages--Rarely does it crash like previous programs I have used where the program would crash on the due date of a major assignment. Canvas has an excellent server system.

+Fast navigation--Because of its superb server system, navigating on the online interface is smooth, easy and quick.

+Easy Speedgrader for all assignments and quizzes, which allows me to grade all students fast.

+Able to upload large video files to forums and announcements

+Easy to embed videos from Youtube with the easy Embed function.

Cons

- No video conferencing tool

-Buggy interface with Zoom

-Can't see which of my students are in the classroom in real time with me

- No Post Your Own Thread in the Forums

- No allow faculty to email their announcements directly to students

-Allows students to turn off announcement email which means students miss announcements and reminders.

- Need Undelete button just in case the teacher accidentally deletes a student post

-Need more Canvas Tech Support during pandemic

Post 403: Five Advantages To Having Zoom Online Live Casual Chat Meetings

Five Advantages To Having Zoom Online Live Casual Chat Meetings

Post 402: How To Be A Terrible Teacher

How To Be A Terrible Teacher

Be a Drone

Recently, I was  a student in a music class, and the teacher was a drone. He just went on and on. There was hardly any student participation. I simply tuned out as he gave the music lessons.

Be Unflexible

He just expected us to do our lessons. He did not get any input from us. He just wants us to follow his orders. We didn't get a feeling of community or belonging as a group. We got the feeling he didn't care about us as people. It was just a job to him.

Unreachable

He is not easy to reach. He takes a long time to respond via email, which gives us the impression that he does not really care about us as students or as a class. He only answers fast to the boss.

Uncaring

He harps on one student who makes mistakes. As for the future after the pandemic, he does not provide us with his long-term plans. He does not get us involved as a group. We just feel left out and out of the loop.

Post 401: What effect will COVID19 have on the future of Higher Education?

Post 401: What effect will COVID19 have on the future of Higher Education?

I think more universities will have a Plan B online education alternative because of COVID19. Many universities were caught off guard when COVID19 struck. Many universities only had a partial online program, not a complete one because people still think online education is inferior to a face to face education.

Less time should be spent on college sports, building large college buildings, and more time should be spent in creating interesting robust online programs so that when there is an emergency, then every student can still get a quality college education online.

Universities will need to charge less for tuition if they offer an online alternative to undergraduate education.  Affordable Online Education at high ranking universities like UCLA will help lower income students get an education, and will help international students who want a quality UCLA education to take UCLA classes without having to come to the US, which is very expensive.

For each face to face class, university professors needs to have a robust online alternative of their face to face class.  All Faculty need to be trained in how to create an online class and to teach online classes as well as they create and teach their face to face classes.

The faculty of the future will be adept at both online, hybrid and face to face teaching. They will also be adept at creating interactive lectures, be good at graphic design, and have high computer digital literacy so that when a pandemic strikes, everyone can easily pivot to the online environment without a problem.

To me, this is the future of higher education after the COVID19 pandemic--more online classes, more online literature faculty, and cheaper tuition costs due to saving overhead money of dorms, food and physical classroom. Who knows, maybe even faculty campuses will be a thing of the past and only digital campuses will exist in the future!

Imagine a digital lecture hall! I think Microsoft Team already has an AI that can do just that! Will digital lecture Zoom halls be the wave of the future?

Post 400: Is It Safe To Send Students and Teachers Back To School During the COVID19 Pandemic--What The Teachers Are Saying

Is it safe for teachers to go back to school during COVID19 Pandemic?

My teacher friends are afraid to go back to school. Even with the social distancing and mask protocols in place, they feel not enough research has been done to see how safe it really is or if the social distancing and masks are enough to keep everybody safe from COVID19 transmission.

If you have ever taught elementary school or middle school, you know as a teacher how easy it is to catch colds from kids.  Among my teacher friends, when we catch colds all the time, it is a unwritten rule that we got it from the kids, but we don't mind the colds, because we love our students and love our jobs and getting colds all the time from students is just a hazard of the job.

But with common colds, people recover. People move on. Not with COVID19. With COVID19, people are either afraid of dying themselves from the virus, or they are afraid of passing the virus onto older people like elderly parents. Some studies show that students can pass COVID19 to adults just like they do common cold.

My teacher friends who teach online are VERY grateful for their jobs. They are grateful they can work from home and not be exposed to COVID19. Some teacher friends refuse to go back to teaching face to face in the classrooms because of COVID19, and will only go back to the classroom only after they have a COVID19 vaccine. And the state will need to require that all students and faculty get the COVID19 vaccine once it becomes available if they want to work in or go to or learn at a school.

My older teacher friends have decided to retire from teaching face to face en masse because of the danger of COVID19 because they feel it is not safe for them to teach face to face in the classroom. Since COVID19 strikes older people more, this is why my older teacher friends decided to retire this year even if they have not yet reached 60.

However, once a vaccine is found, I have one older teacher who is willing to act as a substitute teacher, but she will not step into a classroom until everyone is vaccinated against COVID19.Younger teachers who have to teach face to face want PPE to protect them from COVID19 just like hospital workers have PPE (Personal Protection Equipment).  However, most districts cannot afford PPE for all teachers all the time.

Many of the larger school districts just have too many students to have them spaced out 6 feet apart in a small classroom. It will be a difficult rotating/hybrid class for COVID era teaching and LAUSD is already on a year-round schedule just to accommodate so many students, which is why LAUSD was so reluctant to go back to face to face teaching during the COVID era.

When I worked for LAUSD, I remember teaching in classrooms that squeezed 50 students into a classroom and that is with each desk for close to each other.

When some school districts or colleges reopen for face to face teaching, most faculty feel like they were left out of the loop; they were not consulted in re-opening plans; and they feel like guinea pigs of COVID19 in a political game of hot potatoes.  Teachers would prefer to stay at home and teach from the safety of their computers. However, some teachers have no choice, but return to their classroom. In some districts, teachers are not even given a choice to teach online. 

I am so grateful I can work from home, so I can avoid being exposed to COVID19.  I think anyone who does work in public these days like upcoming teachers in the classroom, essential workers in pharmacies, grocery stores, etc...are heroes to me.

My teacher friends prefer to work from home and to teach their students online to keep themselves, their elderly parents, and their kids safe from COVID19.  For the most part, my teacher friends do not believe it is safe to teach face to face until a COVID19 vaccine is found, and everyone has been vaccinated against COVID19.