Teaching Outside of the (Classroom Box: Lessons Learned While Teaching Remotely During the COVID-19 Pandemic — Professor Kia H. Vernon

Teaching Outside of the (Classroom) Box: Lessons Learned While Teaching Remotely During the COVID-19 Pandemic

BY KIA HARDY VERNON Assistant Dean of Academic Success & Associate Professor of Law

“We are the sum total of our experiences. Those experiences—be they positive or negative—make us the person we are, at any given point in our lives. And, like a flowing river, those same experiences, and those yet to come, continue to influence and reshape the person we are, and the person we become. None of us are the same as we were yesterday, nor will be tomorrow.” - B.J. Neblett In March 2020, law schools around the country quickly transitioned to remote teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Law school professors were suddenly faced with an unprecedented challenge: teaching classes remotely in the middle of a global pandemic. As the virus spread, devastating communities around the world, professors sought to strike a delicate balance between assisting students with the transition to living and learning during one of the worst catastrophic events in one hundred years and ensuring that the students received instruction critical to their success in law school, on the bar exam, and in the legal profession.

While teaching remotely has been—and still is—a tremendous challenge, it has also been transformative. I learned about resilience and adapting and my role in not only helping my students to understand the rules and how to apply them, but to assist them to understand their roles and responsibilities as lawyers. The experience had a

profound impact and afforded me the opportunity to grow in ways I never imagined. Although I was the teacher, I also became a student, gaining valuable insight and learning lessons that transcend the virtual classroom. It is because of this experience that I became a better teacher and person.

One of the lessons I learned immediately while teaching remotely was: It isn’t the same. Taking the same information and just moving it to an online platform does not produce the same result. It does not matter how great the in-person experience was; it is not the same experience once it is moved online. This led me to be more creative about how I introduce content. I began making short, animated videos and other micro-lectures to introduce content outside of class and discovered new methods to assist students to remain engaged while in class. Some were extremely successful, others were less successful, but the students were exceedingly appreciative of the efforts and provided tremendous feedback.

This helped me to learn another valuable lesson: Don’t be afraid to try new things. I became less worried about, “What if it doesn’t work?” and instead became excited by the possibility that it could. Surprisingly, the things that required the least effort elicited the greatest responses. Adding something as simple as a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” using the reaction option in the online platform helped the students to be engaged and helped me to gauge whether they understood the material. Additionally, I encouraged students to be partners in the process by helping to improve the experience. It wasn’t my class; it was our class, and we all worked to make each class a good one.

One of the most profound experiences teaching during the pandemic, and in my teaching career, was a day I decided not to teach at all. Although I knew my students were trying their hardest to remain engaged, they were also grappling with the consequences of the pandemic. While switching to remote learning was necessary, doing so without acknowledging how difficult it was for the students only contributed to the problem. I decided to do the unthinkable. I didn’t follow the syllabus. Instead, I took a class period to assess how my students were doing. As an essential part of lawyering was listening to clients to understand their issues, this, I reasoned, was a valuable lesson on empathy. The experience truly changed me.

The students were first placed in breakout rooms to answer questions about their experiences over the past months. After they shared with their group members, each group selected a representative to share with the rest of the class. They shared myriad adversities of juggling law school while trying to homeschool small children, struggling with isolation caused by the quarantine, and coping with other issues, including the severe illness or tragic deaths of friends and family members who contracted the virus. The students also shared what was working for them during the transition. This allowed others to discover resources and strategies they could use as well. I learned what worked in class—and what didn’t—and received thoughtful responses regarding what I could do to help them. It also allowed me to find and share additional resources to further support them.

Finally, this experience once again reminded me of why I work at North Carolina Central University School of Law. It truly is a special place with very special people. During one of the most difficult times in our lives, faculty, staff, and administrators worked tirelessly to ensure that although the virus was upending everything else, it would not deter us from teaching, serving, and supporting our students. As the subsequent racial events demonstrated, our mission is more important now than ever before. As I indicated to the students, without the class, it’s just a room. The classroom doesn’t make it a law school, it’s the students.

Post-pandemic, I look forward to returning to the classroom and bringing the lessons I learned with me. Until then, I will continue Zooming through law school and teaching outside of the (classroom) box.