Pandemic teaching: storm clouds and silver linings

It was 16 March 2020 when my fever and respiratory symptoms started to take hold. Like millions from around the globe, I would later find out that I’d contracted the coronavirus. This was not exactly what I needed given that I was teaching three sections at the time.

Like all of us in higher education, I quickly pivoted, developing new ways to deliver material, connect with students and assess their knowledge. 

It is now summer of 2021, and at least in our little corner of the globe in upstate New York, where a large majority of adults are vaccinated, the end of the pandemic is in sight. My university is planning to go back in autumn with a fully in-person experience on campus. Back to “normal”, as it were.

Storm clouds of pandemic teaching

The pandemic teaching experience has been fraught with difficulties. A primary challenge had to do with teaching remotely via tele-commuting software. As an example of how starkly different the experience was in my world, consider a summer course on evolution and the human condition that I offer each summer at Chongqing University of Education. In summer 2019, I had a great time teaching two sections of 45 students about the basics of evolution in person. I made great connections with so many of the students and remain in touch with many of them to this day, providing continued support, such as writing letters of recommendation for graduate schools in many cases.

This summer, I offered the same class to the same number of students at the same university. However, I offered it remotely via WebEx. I wish I could say that I connected strongly with several of the specific students – but that would be an all-out lie. In fact, 99 per cent of students had their microphones and cameras off during our entire class periods – in spite of regular requests to please keep their cameras on. I can barely name any of the individual students from this past summer. And, in spite of my career-long effort to stay genuinely connected with students, I sadly have to admit to having no specific plans to stay connected with any of the students individually other than: “I hope to see you next summer when I visit China!” 

On a basic level, remote learning generally pales in comparison to in-person classes when it comes to making meaningful connections with students. 

Silver linings

This said, the teleconference approach to teaching does have some silver linings that we in higher education would do well to capitalise on in the future. 

Lessons in video

Like many of us, I developed high-quality videos of my lectures, which I put on YouTube. This was especially important for my statistics class, which includes much in the way of abstract and technical information. I made a point to create unabridged videos for each class period that I had planned to hold before the pandemic struck. The feedback that I received from students was consistently positive. Many students, in fact, reported appreciating that in the video format, they could rewind to rewatch any points that they missed along the way. I certainly plan to continue providing videos to students into the future as yet another tool in my teaching arsenal.

Building digital connections

As the pandemic dragged on, I started being more proactive in connecting with students, hosting regular online meetings, in both individual and group contexts. This helped me with assessment but also created an opportunity to check in with students and their families, to make sure that I could provide support and help in any ways needed. Students clearly appreciated this. Through this more proactive approach, I was able to foster important connections along the way, while making students feel supported and cared about. I plan to continue to regularly checking in with students in this way, aided by teleconference software, into the future. 

Bottom line

No one is happy about the pandemic. Higher education, like all industries, was hit hard. Teaching in your pyjamas to a bunch of lifeless boxes on a screen is hardly what we signed up for when we got into this profession. But there have been silver linings that will likely have positive influences on our work moving forward.

The production of high-calibre videos to complement the delivery of materials has been a true benefit of pandemic teaching – one that will have positive effects into the future. Further, the ability to meet with students wherever they may be located geographically allows us to stay connected with students in ways that were barely imaginable two years ago.

I say we keep these tools in our pockets as a pandemic silver lining that will help us better support our students into the future, whatever that future holds. 

Glenn Geher is professor of psychology and founding director of evolutionary studies at State University of New York at New Paltz.