Resources for College Practitioners

Humanizing Online Learning with Dr. Michelle Pacansky-Brock

LISTEN TO THE EPISODE:

 

Learn about the power of humanizing online learning for college students. 

In this episode, I interview Dr. Michelle Pacansky-Brock, Faculty at the Foothill-De Anza Community College District

(Scroll down to access the transcript.)

We cover the following key topics:

9:00:00 The story behind humanizing online learning.

15:00:00 Foundational mind shifts to implement humanizing online learning and culturally responsive teaching.

25:20:75: Reframing faculty professional development as equity infrastructure.


30:11:25: Benefits of asynchronous learning.


35:11:50: Unpacking one humanizing online learning strategy: the importance of week zero to one.


41:57:50: Humanizing online learning via the "wisdom wall."


47:48:24: Words of advice for those shepherding online professional development at their campus.

Resources: Humanizing Online Learning | Liquid Syllabus


Select Dr. Michelle Pacansky-Brock episode quotes:
"The faculty coming out of the Academy are having these moments of deep seeded self-realization that they have kind of been masking the professor that they've always wanted to be because there's been this sense that they're supposed to be something different. And that is an example of these cultural notions of teaching and learning that are so deeply seeded in all of higher education."

"What words you're using when you front load your class with messages like, 'This class is going to be really hard. You are going to have to work X number of hours. A certain percentage of you aren't going to make it through this class.' Those are the cues that are going to create even more disconnect for students who have been taught their whole lives that they aren't good enough."
"I give a prompt to faculty to think about. Think of an educator who has influenced you in a positive way. Picture that person in your mind and then think of two words to describe two adjectives, two separate adjectives to describe that person, and then we enter them into an activity and a word cloud emerges. The two biggest words are caring and supportive."
 "We also know that when students are given more flexibility, when they have the option to blend their schedules with in-person and and online classes, they can keep their values more intact. They don't have to disrupt their family's lives. They don't have to disrupt their work schedules as much. And so they can still progress towards their their their academic goals. That flexibility is absolutely vital for our students who are parents."

"A practice that we refer to is the 'wisdom wall.' We encourage faculty to use an asynchronous voice or video tool like Voice Thread or Flip, and at the end of your course, invite your students to think back to the beginning of the course and ask them, 'What do you know now that you wish you had known then,' and share it in a voice or video comment in the form of advice for my next group of incoming students."

"It has to be acknowledged that when we are thinking about professional development for asynchronous online teaching and learning, it can't happen in a synchronous environment. We have to have asynchronous professional development so that faculty are immersed in the type of environment that we want them to bring into their own classes."

About Dr. Michelle Pacansky-Brock
Dr. Pacansky-Brock is a noted leader in higher education with expertise in online teaching, course design, and faculty development. Her work has helped online instructors across the nation and beyond understand how to craft relevant, humanized online learning experiences that support the diverse needs of college students. She is the author of Best Practices for Teaching with Emerging Technologies and has received national recognition for her excellence in teaching and faculty development from the Online Learning Consortium (OLC).

Currently, Michelle is Faculty Mentor, Online Teaching and Learning with the Foothill-DeAnza Community College District. In her role, she coordinates professional development in support of equitable online teaching and learning for @ONE (Online Network of Educators) and has led a California Learning Lab grant project that is scaling humanized online teaching across California and researching its impact on STEM students from minoritized communities.

About Dr. Al Solano
Al is Founder & Coach at the Continuous Learning Institute. A big believer in kindness, he helps institutions of higher education to plan and implement homegrown practices to improve student success and equity by coaching them through a process based on what he calls the "Three Cs": Clarity, Coherence, Consensus. In addition, his bite-sized, practitioner-based articles on student success strategies, institutional planning & implementation, and educational leadership are implemented at institutions across the country. He has worked directly with over 50 colleges and universities and has trained well over 5,000 educators. He has coached colleges for over a decade, worked at two community colleges, and began his education career in K12. He earned a doctorate in education from UCLA, and is a proud community college student who transferred to Cornell University.

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