A Personal View: Taking note of unexpected benefits
My first reaction to teaching on a screen filled with rows of faces inside blocks of squares, I thought would simply be a disaster to endure. The university had to close down in-class learning in March 2020, as a result of the pandemic and about two years later, I can’t stop thinking about some of the areas of the virtual classroom that I’d miss. Am I still the same person? Has this isolation eliminated my comfort zone in having face-to-face interaction? As I was teaching my final class on Zoom a couple of weeks ago, I was trying to pay close attention and fully understand what I was truly enjoying.
On a plus side, I have been able to easily learn about the names of students. The name provided under each square has made it easy to learn and remember these names, as well as their preferred pronouns. Another silver lining is the raised hand symbol, alongside the method at which they are orderly lined up on the screen. I can decide to signal at any student based on their name, instead of just pointing or nodding at them. This has enabled me to moderate discussions in a fair and flexible manner without worrying about the next student. The students who always love to jump in would have to wait for their turn as they would see the next speaker on their screen. Ironically, the importance of the virtual space of speaking at intervals, has created an avenue for a wider discussion for everybody.
We need to highlight the importance of class recordings as well. Several students have informed me that they wanted a replay of the previous session, probably due to a series of distractions or loss of concentration on the current subject as a result of anxieties. Foreign students can also replay aspects of the session they find difficult to grasp. A foreign student once indicated that she had to keep a dictionary on standby and have to pause the video each time to find unknown words, which has increased the confidence she has in the learning process.
Personally, I believe the recordings are an avenue to see the faces and reactions of students on the screen as they spoke. I also make sure Gallery View is activated to monitor the class when leading a discussion to identify the level of engagement or ascertain if I need to introduce additional provocation. Subsequently, when the meeting reaches the Speaker View in Zoom, I can concentrate on every student from their personal story or make sense of their view and perspective about life. Simultaneously, students using the Speaker View can also view the reactions and gestures made by other classmates, increasing the knowledge they have of one another.
Furthermore, I can see my face vividly on the screen. Even though initially, I had to fight the huge focus on my face probably due to a bad hairdo. However, this has helped me visualize how I have passionately handled a subject or offered complex ideas to students in a way that will motivate them. I can also revisit mistakes that I have properly handled even though it is not as bad as I had thought. My only hope and desire is that my students can majorly focus on the moments of concise speech and learning.
The transformation among timid students on chat has been highly positive. The thoughts of these timid students have become really audible and can be likened to placing a microphone in the depth of the ocean. I try to find the perfect time to read out whatever they wrote into the box by the side of the screen whenever they provided their remarks. I would thank them for their comments and read out these observations. This has enabled me to engage and introduce them directly into the conversation and exchange new ideas. I am always happy whenever other students make a reference to these conversations which could sometimes contain comments written by the side and read out loud.
This platform has helped my student connect with each other despite being isolated. They rhetorically praised and appreciated each other’s comments, thoughts, and words. A certain shy student once informed me that her sense of self-worth that had been dormant for a very long time was reawakened as she started hearing the ideas she added in the Chat being voiced out during a session. According to her, she was elated when her classmates began to skim through what she had said which became the main focus of the entire class. It was surprising to her that she made a very valuable comment and it was a huge relief to her.
Currently, my on-screen methods of teaching require close review. I never expected that there would be a silver lining to the recent occurrence, especially as a teacher and more options for students to be heard and seen would become expanded. Surprisingly, there are situations where a session would feel like we are physically together. I hope that after this era of a virtual classroom and eventually seeing face to face, I can gain more insights and never forget this exhilarating experience.
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