You're On Your Own, Kid

2019 was the year students learned how tech competent their professors were. The results were mixed. There were some professors who could barely use Blackboard and classes fell a part that first semester that we were sent home. They attempted, unsuccessfully, to use discussion boards and post links but it was as if they were told, "you're on your own, kid." And so, as students, it also felt as through we were on our own in those classes. 

However, there were excellent professors who were able to deliver content in more effective ways than a traditional lecture would. This professor was able to do voice over lectures that alternated between them facing us and lecturing us and the slides. Some of these slides had embedded activities in them for extra credits so that way we were encouraged to go through them all. 

This professor was someone who I clung onto during those remote asynchronous semesters and is largely the reason why began to thrive in classes such as this one. She structured the course so that each week we had a lecture to watch, reading on that lecture, and a reading journal each week. There were 3 open book tests in this class and that was it. It was simple enough and became my routine Monday/Tuesday to do the work for that class. I ended that semester with a 98%, the highest grade I'd received in a class outside of my major. I was ecstatic. 

The following semester, I took the next level of that class with the same professor but this time the class was online synchronous. Still, she did not disappoint with her ability to navigate technology in the classroom. While other professors still struggled with break out rooms, she was posting questions in the chat of TEAMS that would then in turn serve as our attendance as well. She seamlessly transitioned to online learning, and out of it. 

I loved her teaching and her tech competency skills so much that I was a TA for her the following year. However, unlike most professors who did everything they could to stay away from TEAMS and other pandemic technology, she invited it into the classroom. She continued to craft activities for us to do both in person and on TEAMS. 

While I loved her online asynchronous class, seeing her teach in person and intergrade the technology that a lot of other professors were struggling with was incredible. She never disappointed with her teaching, if anything, she became the model of a professor for the pandemic era of learning.