In this section, Prof. Ariel White reflects on the experience of teaching 17.271 during the Covid-19 pandemic.
"Using a mix of synchronous and asynchronous approaches allowed students to participate in ways that worked for them."
I taught the class remotely, and I was very lucky to have a group of students that was willing to participate in potentially awkward Zoom discussions and turn up to synchronous meetings even when the semester got busy. Using a mix of synchronous and asynchronous approaches (like a class discussion board with posts that would stay open for several days) allowed students to participate in ways that worked for them.
I am really looking forward to getting back into the classroom with students the next time I teach this class. That said, teaching online made me up my class-activity game, and I might keep some of those innovations when we come back to in-person learning. When splitting the class up for small group discussions or activities, I started asking each group to take notes in a shared Google Doc that was visible to the whole class: this let me see how the groups were doing, kind of like when I used to walk around the classroom and listen in on group discussions. But it also had the unexpected benefit of letting students leave friendly comments on other groups’ work, as well as letting me look back on the activity to think about how I might improve it for the next time I teach the class. And asking the students to make memes that illustrated key topics from the readings was definitely an activity inspired by the very online moment we were in, but it went so well that I’ll certainly use this activity again. The students got really creative! Similarly, switching from live final presentations with students standing in front of the classroom to an online format meant that I could give students a lot more flexibility in how to structure those presentations. Some recorded videos to share with the class, while others opted for a “podcast” format, complete with intro/outro music and audio clips. It was great, and I’ll definitely carry that change in the assignment into the next time I teach the class.
