Who are my learners

One thing that is decidedly harder when it comes to online teaching is knowing the students. Often I find myself talking to disembodied heads or worse yet black boxes. I run into people at the grocery store who know me and I have no idea who they are because I have never seen their faces.

One thing that I am going to institute going forward is one on one get to know you interviews at the beginning of my courses so that I can have a better answer to this question.

What I do know about my learners:

• Historically an international college, many of Selkirk’s students are now all across the globe due to flight restrictions in Covid

• Many of my students are hoping to become Canadians

• Many of my students are older than the average undergraduate, ranging from 17 to 70, but primarily in their mid 20s

• Technological proficiency is all over the map

• Students have a wide variety of experiences.

One thing that I have found particularly difficult in the online environment is that when a student is struggling, I may not know. In the classroom I find it easy to see a student and know they need extra help, but I’m still looking for strategies to prevent this in my classroom.