2 minute read
Collaborating across Delaware for virtual interaction
OLLI instructor Sima Sariaslani adapted her ikebana class into an online offering with videotaped demonstrations and personal online feedback to participants.
By Nora Zelluk
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When the University of Delaware’s on-site OLLI programs were put on hold this spring due to the coronavirus pandemic, some classes were immediately able to continue their discussions virtually for the rest of the semester. Virtual social groups enabled OLLI interactions to continue, and OLLI’s extracurricular needlecraft groups sewed masks for donation.
Staff and volunteers set their sights on developing and launching a fully-online OLLI program that enrolled more than 700 participants in over 40 courses and activities for a one-month summer offering in July. The model was carried over into the fall semester, which ultimately boasted over 1,900 enrollments and more than 200 course offerings.
The online, videoconferencing-based format was new to some OLLI participants, but instructors and students adapted quickly, crediting OLLI staff and volunteers for providing the needed technical support and virtual handholding. OLLI staff and member-volunteers held Zoom training sessions customized for instructors and members, and persevered through many first-time challenges.
“We’re navigating new territory together and learning in the comfort of our own homes.” In addition to taking OLLI classes, Felty hosted a biweekly “Whatever Makes You Happy Hour” with fellow OLLI member Susan Watkins.
The UD OLLI programs normally operate as largely independent locations in Wilmington, Bridgeville, Dover, Lewes and Ocean View, Delaware but have joined forces to share strengths among staff, volunteers, instructors, committees and members.
Along with a wide variety of discussionor presentation-based classes covering topics like history, LGBT film, rock music, financial literacy, health and wellness, book clubs and more, there were also activity-based classes creatively adapted from a normal classroom format to work for the virtual classroom. Examples of activity-based classes included guitar singalongs and guitar instruction, card-making, folk dancing, salsa dance instruction, basket-weaving, craft and needlework circles, painting and drawing, and chess.
One example of a site-based course successfully adapted as a virtual offering is Sima Sariaslani’s ikebana class. Sariaslani, a member and volunteer instructor in the OLLI Wilmington program,
OLLI program coordinators Sally Cole and Andrea Majewski, as well as the combined UD OLLI staff, are quick to credit the success of “virtual OLLI” to the dedication of OLLI’s instructors and volunteers.
They said they have been amazed at the ingenuity and hard work of OLLI instructors and volunteers as well as the adaptability and enthusiasm of OLLI members. They believe the passion and commitment of members remains at the core of OLLI’s continued success.
