“Yes, starting now there will be no classes until further notice.”
Help! With statements like this, the comfortable status quo that made it possible to leisurely use digital pedagogy at our pleasure for the last twenty years morphed immediately into fear of the enormous task of learning how to implement fully online learning, now. Even for those who already had an appetite for providing online learning the stress of a mid-course pivot to fully online with no time to prepare students, or yourself is disconcerting at the least. Add to this the need for much more robust technical infrastructure and other support to enable such a shift and the result is a lot of uneasiness for facilitators, learners, and institutions.
So, how do we move through these unknowns to a place where the level of ease promotes learning?
It might be best to suggest we take care of the most basic things first. Drawing from Maslow’s classic theory of human motivation https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html, let’s remember that the top sections of the pyramid are where learning unrelated to physiological and safety needs best takes place. Acknowledgment of the varying levels of fear is basic to moving toward solutions that support learning available in the upper levels of Maslow’s Taxonomy.
To address this fear I evoke the wisdom of Dr. Bonnie Henry, the Provincial Health Officer for British Columbia Canada. I pay tribute to her famous mantra be kind, be calm, be safe in the first two items from my modified mantra to encourage our necessary pivot to digital pedagogy through collaboration and positivity. https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcafee&p=dr+bonnie+henry%27s+mantra+youtube#id=1&vid=dab4ae542b8c72e466e56d522b5dddc8&action=click
1. Be kind.
2. Be calm.
3. Work together while apart.
Be kind to everyone on this communal journey through the uncharted waters of universal digital pedagogy, including yourself. Each of us approaches this trek at a different place with different goals and different gifts to contribute. If your norm involves goals of perfection you might want to re-think your default and choose a different path for this journey. Be kind to yourself along the way.
I leave you with this hopeful mantra that encourages kind, calm collaboration. In subsequent blogs, we will focus on how to make that happen. The strategic goal of facilitating excellent digital pedagogy will be addressed by offering ideas, tools, tips, mentoring, coaching, and collaboration. I hope this mantra will help us all keep our eye on the prize – using the hand we are dealt to create better learning for all.
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