“We know our disciplines well, but now it is time to consider how to translate our practices to the many “spaces” we find ourselves (and our learners) in so that we can foster learning and prepare our students for a competitive, global workforce” (MTMC, Module 1).
Whether you are a well-practiced instructor looking to refine your craft, brand new to teaching and wondering where to begin, or anywhere in between, keep reading and know that you are not alone. We can all appreciate the learning curve (and accompanied discomfort) associated with teaching and learning in these new, perhaps unfamiliar, modern classrooms.
To support CMU instructors on your continued journey, over the next 5 weeks, we will explore what effective teaching and learning looks like in these new and diverse settings as we share practical information and valuable insights from our Multi-Modal Teaching Methods Certification (MTMC) faculty development opportunity.
Why the Modality?
Professor Carol Ann Tomlinson (2016) asks, “What would I teach, and how would I teach if my goal were to best prepare my students for life—the life they live today and the one they will live for all the time that follows school”. Tomlinson’s question, although posed before the Covid-19 pandemic, strongly resonates still as we choose to embrace the continued instructional shifts in the ways we teach and how our students learn.
This call to recalibrate our instructional practices, to “work for quality,” involves “working hard, working wisely, doing and redoing, being mindful of and reflective about what we are doing and why” and compels us to consider the opportunities (and limitations) that accompany modern instructional modalities (Tomlinson, 2016).
Given the varied and diverse spaces where teaching and learning can now take place, we must investigate how the design of our course, and the modality we are teaching in, can be maximized for student learning. This will require honest self-reflection. Take a moment and consider the design and use of your Blackboard shell, learning activities, and assessments, and contemplate the methods you use to promote meaningful connections in your course. Ask yourself, do these still work? How do you know?
Where the different modes we use to disseminate our content and engage with our students comprise the (new) multi-modal learning environment, we must reframe our thinking. Rather than asking, what should students learn in my class (where “class” assumes a traditional face-to-face classroom) we must now ask, what and how can I help students learn in my class, (where now, “class” is more broadly defined encompassing the different places we all may be). We must use the time we have now, to reflect and act: to consider the available tools and emerging techniques for teaching and learning in various “class” environments, to prioritize the needs of our students, and refine our instructional practices to be effective across multiple teaching spaces.
How does one do that? Enroll in the MTMC training shell, check next week’s CIS newsletter, or send us an email for more.
Reference
Tomlinson, C. (2016). One to grow on: Mileposts of a meaningful life. Learning for Life, 73(6), pp. 88-89. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar16/vol73/num06/Mileposts-of-a-Meaningful-Life.aspx