Educator’s Digital World Boot Camp or What Eight Weeks of Remote Teaching Has Taught Me

​So, I’m writing you from the Delphic Heights of my eight weeks of on-line teaching experience in the hope of preventing some poor unwitting fellow educator from making the same mistakes that I have made.  Actually, that’s not all completely true.  I have been teaching a high school course on-line, once a semester for the past three years.  But there are important differences. That course is a History of Western Architecture and Aesthetic Philosophy, and although there are hands on design projects, it has been largely a text and dialogue-based course.  Frankly, one semester a year in a full schedule of secondary school visual arts studios that are brick and mortar based is a kind of anomaly when compared to full days, week in and week out of teaching the visual arts on-line.  Enter COVID-19.  The little bug that rocked education all over the world.

5 Studio Classes 8 Weeks of Demos

​I learned a long time ago the value of documenting my process in my artwork.  Perhaps that is what I am doing now: creating a kind of documentation of my learning curve in moving my visual arts classes into the digital world.  Whatever it is I hope this helps other educators, whether in they are in an art discipline or not. We are all learning to tread water in what has become a sink or swim scenario in the virtual classroom/studio.
I hope there is at least one life preserver in the following list for you.

1. Keep it simple (media, techniques, your set up, etc.) and don’t try to do too much in a class.
2. Watching a person sit there and talk for an hour is simply dreadful. Try to flip your classroom.  Save class time for activities, discussions, student presentations in other words: Doing.
3. And speaking of doing: Demo, demo, demo, especially as a preview of upcoming activities.  Keep them short, concise and to the point (see #1). Believe it or not watching you draw or paint or do anything is interesting. Everyone likes to watch Bob Ross and PBS Create, right? Also, there is a sense of fairness too that comes across in doing this in that you as the teacher are not asking the students to do anything you haven’t or wouldn’t do yourself.
4. Do use cool on line tools, but Never more than one at a time.  Remember there is a learning curve with each.  Also, it's frustrating for the students to have to learn a new tool every class or assignment.  Variety is the spice of life, but sometimes you just need comfort food!
5. Remember on-line learning takes far more organization and executive functioning skills than traditional learning: Repeat, Repeat again differently and oh yeah, Repeat it again!  Also walk students through instructions and assignments then ask them to walk you through their understanding of it and let them ask Lots of questions. Give them time to digest (see #6) Remember no matter how clear you thought you were in speech or in writing if they didn't get it they didn't get it and that's on you.
6. Ask them questions in class and don't be afraid of the silence...they need time to think and the pacing on-line is different, generally much slower. Wait for it....
7. If they look distracted Ask Them if they are.
8. Provide CLEAR rubrics for projects, discussions, critiques and writing.
9. Be consistent: schedule, tools, expectations, rubrics, etc. Surprises are Not fun when you are constantly worried about your grade and navigating the digital learning world.
10. Get them talking and do show your students you that know them and notice them (remember details about them, ask them about themselves, etc.)  Be sure you show that you did read their responses as you discuss assignments in class.  Digital submission can feel impersonal and like it's floating in the ether somewhere. Use specific student examples as examples of good work, ect.  But, be sure to be fair and give everyone the limelight over time then they'll know you care enough to read what they write and submit in discussions.
11. Critiques build trust and community because everyone needs to participate and share their work.  I like the “ladder of feedback” model: Value, Question, Concern, Suggest.
12. Design assignments that get them out away from the screen to see the relevance of what they are learning in their world and beyond the virtual world.
13. Welcome input from students.
14. Do get back to them asap on email if they ask for help. Always offer an on-line meeting, often its faster, easier than lengthy emails, and more reassuring to the student.
15. Notice your students' learning environment, ask them about it so you know if it's working for them.
16. Provide opportunities for student choice in your assignments and evaluations.
17. Give time and space for just working.  Not every class has to be a “lesson.”
18. Meet one on one at least once a semester, meet as a class at least once a week. I like to “bookend” meeting at the beginning of the week and the end as a regular pattern.
19. Teach and model as a creator yourself how to document their process so they can find joy in their progress and develop the habit of self-reflection.
20. Call in outside resources: museums, galleries, guest speakers, but not too much. Many cultural institutions and community art groups welcome opportunities for educational outreach, especially if they are currently physically closed.  Remember: variety is the spice of life, but everyone gets indigestion eventually from too much spice.  Always  prepare your students ahead of time for on-line adventures and allow for technical glitches and reasonable learning curves.
21. Once in a while do something unexpected for your class, but not in such a way that the burden is on the student. This need not be a complicated production.  It can be as simple as changing the location where you are teaching for a day or a new work you discovered and are excited about.
22. Make your teaching environment interesting.  Be professional but, be a person too, warmth and kindness transfer digitally.  Sharing your space and a professionally appropriate amount of yourself and your life can help build trust and community within your classroom. 
23. Record yourself and watch it! I know, ICK! But you will learn a lot by seeing and listening to what you Actually did and said.
24. Face time, timeliness, your calm, your organization matters, even if the class or meeting is brief your being present matters, your asking about your students matters and your smile and reassurance matter!
25. Lastly, don't sweat it:  digital tools will not work, connections will get broken, audio will be terrible, etc. etc. go slow, ask for help, laugh it off, be flexible, and do your best...the kids need to know that going with the flow and not freaking out is a prerequisite for on-line learning.

Overall, and despite the obvious limitations and challenges of remote learning, I have enjoyed getting to know my students better by interacting with them through my curriculum in a different way.  I have unexpectedly been forced to rethink the way I teach and I think I'm a better teacher for it.  I know I'm a better person for being reminded of the challenges, frustrations, and fears of what it is to be a student everyday.

​I hope that helps!  Like Dory in Finding Nemo: Just keep swimming!