TEACHING IN THE TIME OF COVID

Distance education champions served as the first line of support for faculty new to online instruction.

By Venita Jenkins

When the impacts of COVID-19 required universities across the nation to shift to remote teaching, several Seahawks stepped up in a big way.

On March 23, 2020, UNCW classes shifted from in-person instruction to online/alternate instruction to help stem the potential spread of COVID-19. About 2,000 face-to-face undergraduate courses and 11,500 undergraduate students moved to remote instruction for the remainder of the spring semester. Teaching and learning took place on multiple platforms, including Zoom.

Thirty-two individuals known for being leaders in online teaching were recruited by the Office of Distance Education and eLearning to serve as Distance Education Champions, helping to ensure the colleges had the support they needed during the transition to remote teaching. The “DE Champions” program was part of a four-layer support model during the transition, said Amy Ostrom, director of the Office of Distance Education and eLearning, which manages and funds the program in collaboration with the Center for Teaching Excellence.

“We were concerned about the number of people who were going to have to transition in such a hurry,” said Ostrom. “We were building a community, and wanted to make sure people had access to the support that they needed in the moments that they needed it.”

Diana Ashe, English professor and CTE director, first pitched the idea of DE Champions as a means to address academic continuity. Not only do the champions advise faculty, they also provide insights on how to best engage students online.

Connecting During Coronavirus

When public schools were ordered to close and transition to remote instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Professional Development System Office in the Watson College of Education worked quickly to conduct a regional needs assessment and design professional learning opportunities and resources for educators.

The college hosted three virtual conferences and a series called “Coffee Connections” to provide teachers an opportunity to engage with faculty and Professional Development System Master Teachers, pose questions and share remote learning strategies. More than 350 teachers, instructional coaches and school leaders participated in the conferences. Teachers explored various learning platforms and online tools. They also participated in discussions about online pedagogy, inequities in online learning, and remote learning issues like family engagement and student-centered learning. “The success of these events is a testament to the power of our partnership and the strength and resilience of teachers in our PDS,” said Somer Lewis, professional development system director in the Watson College of Education.

“It was a really big shift for the students and they weren’t expecting it. It was a tough transition,” Ashe said of the seismic adjustment to online instruction. “The DE Champions played a big part because they knew what worked for our majors and how to reach out to students within each of those specific majors.”

The program offers a unique approach to supporting faculty members due to the flexibility in the trainings and the one-on-one support provided, said Meredith Jones, an assistant professor of Leadership, Policy, and Advocacy for Early Childhood program and DE Champion team member. This was her third year of teaching online in the program and at UNCW.

“Several of the faculty members I worked directly with had limited or no experience teaching online,” said Jones. “I don’t think individualized support could’ve been given to the degree we were able to do as DE Champions if it was done through larger group settings.” Faculty knew that DE Champions were available for one-on-one support via phone call, Zoom or email. The champions met weekly through the end of the semester to discuss online teaching strategies, including crafting a learner-centered online syllabus and sharing information about how to build virtual community. They also discussed issues that arose during their conversations with faculty. Team members provided answers to the questions and the information was disseminated to faculty.

“This was much more of a holistic group than originally intended,” said Ostrom. “We were able to expand conversations and the knowledge base not just to those who were new to online learning, but for people who have been doing it for a while and are taking their courses to the next level. It’s great to see this evolution of teaching.”