Teach Talk: Cultural Lens Approach To Online Teaching and Learning

Do you feel disconnected in online spaces? Do you feel like it is difficult to connect with your students online and create community? This week we learned from Courtney Plotts, Ph.D. who shared small changes you can make to your online course that can make a big difference for you and your students. 

The presentation featured discussion around the standards from the Council for At -Risk Student Education and Professional Standards (CASEPS). Dr. Plotts shared three strategies to increase a sense of community in the online space:

1. Identify what your students are missing most and support them
2. Define and share the online community culture and values
3. Create a common experience

Missing Community

We began by defining the online space, and understanding the community, especially how both faculty and students can feel isolated. One example of how you can connect, is by asking your students what they miss most or if they are feeling disconnected in the online space. This can be made more engaging by creating an image with Adobe Spark that represents the different feelings they may be having. Not only does this help you understand your students better, it shows them that you're aware they all may have different feelings in the online space, such as feeling isolated and missing connection with others. 

What picture best describes what you miss most about your community?

From Transactional to Relational

Historically, researchers have focused on individualist culture of online learning. Dr. Plotts discussed how instructors should change from being transactional to relational in the online learning space. She shared how defining the online community space with students is necessary to create connection. Ask students, "What is your sense of community?" For example, an instructor can share a picture (once again easily created with Adobe Spark!) with words that represent the what makes up the online space. It is also important to take time to explain the goal of wanting connection in the online space.

Dr. Plotts continued with exploring the comparison of independent vs interdependent learners. The online culture is focused on a mission to develop independent students with self-efficacy, self-motivation, being autonomous, and intrinsically motivated. Instead she recommends to try a mission to develop interdependent students focused on collaboration, community, resourcefulness, and value-driven.

Three Strategies to Build Community

1. Engage with announcements that are frequent, immediate, and consistent.
2. Identify and explain your commitment to the learning community.
3. Identify why a sense of community is important to the learning process.

Collaborative Practices: Cultural Lens Approach

Common collaboration practices find instructors putting students into groups randomly, by proficiency, alphabetically, or self-selected, which further causes them to have transactional interactions. In her research, Dr. Plotts has found that having a cultural lens approach by pulling cultural values and then grouping students by their values, creates a more relational experience. Here's how: poll your students (use Canvas survey tool) and ask: "When you work in teams, which of the following do you value most?"

1. Harmony
2. Negotiation
3. Problem-Solving
4. Understanding and Validation

Based on the results of the poll, you can group the students by their shared values, to create a relational learning experience as they work together. 

Call to Action

In what ways do you involve your students in creating community in an online space? Will you try these strategies in your course? Let us know at tic@asu.edu! We have one more webinar this month, focused on resilient teaching. We invite you to join us on October 28th at noon: Evolving Exams: Adapt Your Assessments for the Time of COVID.

Resources

• Video recording
• Presentation slides
• Connect with Courtney Plotts, Ph.D
• Council for At-Risk Student Education and Professional Standards
  

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Post author

Sarah Prosory is an Instructional Designer within the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University. She has worked in higher education for 10 years, supporting faculty in law, engineering, and biological sciences. Her experience includes assisting faculty with in-person, blended, and hybrid courses, as well as making the leap to fully online courses. She provides training to faculty and teaching assistants on how to use educational technologies, and shares best practices in course design to improve the student experience.