Doing Things Differently
campus closures bring opportunities and challenges for employees By Lisa Jane Laird No matter the situation, Snow College employees do what they always do – spark imagination in students and offer help wherever needed. However, when state and college leaders asked students to stay home to slow the growth of coronavirus, faculty and staff became extra creative in their efforts. Faculty Use Innovative Teaching Techniques The sudden turn of events resulted in creative teaching across many electronic platforms and through different methodologies. Live video classes, recorded classes, home lab kits, YouTube tutorials, and more became the norm after a break to retool coursework before commencing remote learning. Faculty remained resilient and were ready to pivot and
use the tools they had, said Chase Mitchell, director of the Teaching and Technology Center. “In the beginning, everyone came through the office. We saw over 300 unique people in the first month as they came for technology training, to add content onto Canvas [an online course management system], or add conferencing software to their courses.” For those already using Canvas, it was an easy switch, said Mitchell. These tech-savvy “faculty champions” stepped forward to assist their colleagues with the technology and methods. Kevin Sorensen, dean of the Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, said communication was key. “I’ve got good people and they definitely want to do what is best for the students. It was tough on all of us, and they rose to the challenge of remote learning.”
Stacee McIff, Interim Vice President for Technical Education and Workforce Development.
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