Teaching during the COVID-19 global pandemic has changed in higher education. While the focus of supporting students while deepening their content knowledge and understanding remains the same, the delivery mode has changed. As educators and students learned to navigate the changing physical learning environments since the spring of 2020, engagement and active participation by students as a key focus during the learning process has not changed. According to Stephens (2020) engagement may be defined “as the time and effort students devote to activities that are empirically linked to desired outcomes of college and what institutions do to induce students to participate in these activities” (para. 3). Engagement is a necessary component of all classroom settings regardless of the physical location. Three educators in the School of Education from a small liberal arts college in the mid-west United States have adapted their teaching to embrace technology and make their courses accessible to students regardless of their physical location. Within the School of Education, two presenters are literacy instructors, and one is a math instructor. Two professors are located on the main campus with traditional face-to-face learning while one presenter teaches solely in the online-hybrid program. The presenters will share how each utilized Zoom and other forms of technology in various ways during the last academic year due to the changing physical locations of students during lockdowns and times of quarantine. In addition, the three presenters will discuss how the use of Master Courses allow students an equitable learning experience regardless of their physical location. Student engagement and active learning will be embedded throughout the presentation. Participants will gain an understanding over how to develop and utilize Master Courses, support other instructors, and create an engaging learning environment with students in a variety of physical locations.
Dr. Jill Tussey’s career in literacy education has provided a variety of experiences in curriculum and instruction across K-12, undergraduate, and graduate courses. Her areas of interest include student engagement and motivation with targeted focus on digital literacy, poverty impacts, and social-emotional learning. Service leadership is important to Dr. Tussey and can be clearly seen in her current work as the Divisions Chair for Literacy, TESL, and Early Childhood at Buena Vista University. She has authored and edited books, chapters, journal articles, and blogs. Additionally, she has presented at local, state, national, and international settings over a variety of literacy topics.
Dr. Haas’ experience in literacy education includes teaching at the K-12, undergraduate, and graduate levels. Additional experiences include instructional coaching, professional development, curriculum design, and department administration. Opportunities in highly diverse settings have acted as both a catalyst and foundation for her focus on integrating and connecting literacy across disciplines through culturally and linguistically responsive instructional practices. She is particularly interested in technology-based literacy opportunities for underrepresented populations through engagement with popular culture, specifically online gaming and fanfiction.
Dr. Michelle Metzger’s experiences include working as a classroom teacher, adjunct professor, professional development facilitator, research coordinator, and department chair. Her research interests include spatial thinking, problem solving, critical thinking, and STEM learning. As a National Ongoing Assessment Project Facilitator, Dr. Metzger believes in teaching math for understanding through modeling, which takes her to various places across the United States engaging teachers in deep mathematical thinking within a professional development setting. She believes students must hold math in their hands before they can hold it in their heads, hence the need for visualization and conceptual understanding.