By Gabrielle Schittecatte, Youth in Landscapes capacity development co-leader
Leaning on the podium in front of the class a little excessively with slick palms, wondering if students, like wild animals, can somehow sense uncertainty and fear. That’s what I remember from the start of the first lecture I gave to a university level class. I also remember the thrilling feeling of sharing a passion, environmental values in policy, with a group of people who were arguably as interested in learning about the topic. Now on those dreaded days filled with Skype meetings I like to think back on the smile plastered on my face after running a particularly engaging workshop or interacting with engaged youth on subjects I find enthralling.
These experiences, as well as others over the past two years, taught me my love for teaching and let me explore the passion I have for interacting with students. So, when planning the webinar series for the Youth in Landscape Initiative (YIL), part of the Global Landscape Forum (GLF), I was quite giddy. However, my first foray into webinar teaching was not as simple as switching from an overhead projector to PowerPoint. Regardless of my involvement in analyzing digital teaching methods, running an e-classroom was an all together different experience. This experience, although trying at points, was fraught with lessons to share, and highlighted the benefits this type of teaching offers in an ever more connected, post-2015 world.
I’ve worked with youth and children for over five years, but it’s only been two years since I’ve gotten involved in pedagogy at the university and young professional level. During this time, I’ve also had the chance to work on a project developing digital learning tools, analyzing their effectiveness, and understanding problem-based learning approaches in teaching. Since I was a student, and even since I started working with youth, the conceptualization of teaching has drastically evolved. Classrooms and events no longer have to be held with all members in the same physical space. Teaching no longer entails talking at students for two hours. We now have students talking information provide to them and using it to solve real world problems in order to solidify their knowledge.
Working on the Flexible Learning Initiative at The University of British Columbia (UBC) with Dr. Hoberg, my supervisor at the time, provided me with a fantastic perspective on how students react to, and what they think of digital versus traditional learning tools. I was able to bring this to my work with the YIL, both in the design and facilitation of the the webinar, as well as for the weeklong workshop to be held in Paris from December 1st – 5th. Yet, actually running my first webinar series (with a wonderful colleague, Hannah Smith) taught me that understanding the qualities of digital education, being a proficient educator, and being able to give a great lecture is not all it takes to run a captivating webinar.
One of the best parts of teaching for an extrovert like me is the interaction and feedback I get from my students. Something you realize immediately when giving your first open webinar with an audience of 50 is that not only can you not even see their faces, but interacting with them at a personal level is virtually impossible. Very disconcerting. For me, part of the being an excellent educator is gauging what your audience is feeling and adjusting to that. Besides direct questions answered via chat most webinar systems for large groups don’t allow for this. Before embarking on this experience with the YIL webinar series this absence of interaction and feed back would have really thrown me…actually it did.
In a class in a lecture hall your projector might have a glitch, your microphone may not function, or you could have an issue loading a complementary YouTube video. All of these, in my experience, are easily to navigate because you still have that connection with your audience. When your panelist can’t sign on and you’re staring at a screen of yourself watching the list of participants diminish it’s quite unnerving. Also, after an hour of flicking through slides without a peep or a clear visual of your audience there is always a lurking feeling that Facebook, or Twitter have again succeeded in being more interesting than a lecturing on applying policy analysis as a critical thinking tool.
However, all these barriers can be overcome by some helpful tips that I’ve picked up through this process. These are the lessons I would like to share with you. First and foremost, don’t hesitate in being creative with interacting with your audience. Just because most platforms don’t allow for the same interactions as classroom setting doesn’t mean there are alternatives. In our webinars we incorporated polls and surveys from different websites to get our students engaged. We also found a gem of a free website called Padlet, which lets you design a real-time webpage online and share the link with others so they can add to the page. We used this to simulate break-out groups that you might have in a class to discuss the topic at hand.
Second, and I wish I could underline this to my self of three months ago, test, test, test your platform. We hosted our webinars through WebinarsOnAir, which is a pretty great program run via Google Hangouts, but it did have its issues. One of the most stressful for me was having issues getting panelist sign on to present. This glitch actually has a by-pass but I didn’t take time to review the program’s tutorial videos so I didn’t have the solution in my back pocket when the issue came up. This brings me to my next tip. Take time to learn your platform inside out. Don’t assume it will be the same as a Skype teleconference, or as straight forward. I understand that this may add some hours to the prep time you’ve set aside, but it is invaluable. However, boring those YouTube tutorials on webinar platforms seem they contain all the little hacks you’ll wish you had when those inevitable, only-come-up-at-the-worst-time, technical glitches arise. Finally, on the technical tips, be upfront when you’re having issues. I know that I sometimes it’s difficult to stand in front of an audience (or this case a computer) and admit that you as the instructor are infallible, but I believe saying out right that you’re having issues with the system is much more human, and much more understandable than not doing so. Additionally, it brings that touch of human connection and ‘realness’ that is often lacking in online learning environments.
Third, be creative! Through the entire webinar and prep for the workshop for YIL I have been encouraging, or even drilling, the need to be more creative into participants. Don’t just post text laden slides and don’t read of the slides you’ve post. Include picture, charts, videos, and ask questions. Another great way to increase the interest is to share a bit about your life outside the classroom. A beautiful aspect of online learning is that you can have participants from all over the world. Take advantage of this and share your views and experiences with people who are living different ones. It adds to a great atmosphere. Set yourself the goal of developing an online classroom setting that engages participants and doesn’t leave their eye wandering.
To close I want to reflect briefly on what global goals I believe digital teaching can contribute to in the coming years. For me it comes down to increasing transparency, access to information, communication, and education for and between citizens of the world. For me, my ventures into digital teaching are inextricably linked with Sustainable Development Goal 4 on inclusive education and lifelong opportunities for all. However, for this future vision to become fully realized several cogs need to be put into place. We need to invest in understanding and practicing digital teaching and e-learning techniques. We need the funds to design and test different platforms that can host such programs. We need to understand and study what people are looking for when it comes to digital learning. We need to put an emphasis on creativity, energy, and modernization in education.
I want to be a part of a movement of educators that create programs and platforms that allow fellow teachers, facilitators, and professors to do more than talk to a screen and invisible audience while showing slides. I want digital classrooms to be as engaging as an excellent face-to-face workshop, so that those that can’t afford to fly around the world to learn from different scholars, practitioners, and experts can do so from their own communities, and in turn bring these lessons back to the community level. I want to help facilitate the shift to an education environment that allows for the sharing of knowledge across our globalized world. The GLF is a forum for innovation. At this GLF and into the post 2015 agenda, I hope to see more innovation, investment, and ideas on educational practices that leverage technological developments, globalization, and shared learning. This is the challenge I set before you.
