The past few months were overwhelming for both students and instructors as they transitioned to fully online teaching and learning environments. This is especially true for OISE students who have the dual role of learners and educators. In this interview, PhD student and school-teacher Michelle McKay shares her experience with facilitating an online professional development (PD) session
I am a proponent of online learning and I chose to do online courses over in-class courses for several reasons, flexibility of time and place being prime. As an online student, I enjoyed some online courses more than others and I thought to myself, what did I expect from a good online course?
During a ‘normal’ school year I manage to mostly hide my challenges: I have regular therapy, pace my work better, and have more intensive treatment when needed. At this COVID-19 time–none of those supports are in place.
These are unprecedented times and it is all-the-more important to perform regular self-check-ins. Remember to take a break, stop what you are doing and see how you are doing.
Before COVID-19 hit our worlds and disrupted our realities, I had an entire village to help me manage my life and raise my kids…Now I don’t get to spend hours on reading and writing for my school..
As a mother of two little ones who keep me on my toes, I am a proponent of online learning. For me, Time and Flexibility were the two main reasons why I chose online courses.
So I just handed in a project to my last class for my Ph.D. The class was a challenge to me, research methods. Also, I was lucky enough to have started the project early–before the world was turned upside down. And, by handing it in: huge sigh of relief. Yes, I think I could have gotten an extension. But I doubt, tbh if I would have worked more on it. And the relief of checking a box was–not going to lie–amazing.
Before joining an online learning class, I would suggest that you prepare for it a bit similar to how you would prepare for a face-to-face class…A strategy that has proved useful is to ensure that your door is not visible to other participants when placing your device.
As so much of daily life is now tech-based, I am actively making an effort to “unplug” during my daily walks…Using this time to wander gives my mind space and time to decompress.
As I remember when I was a student, …I was very shy and needed processing time to share my answers and responses. Knowing that I have time to share my thinking and understanding in a safe online space has created less anxiety and stress in the way I learn.
