| Project Title | Pandemic Pedagogy: Expanding the classroom community through online scholarly networks |
| Principal Investigator | Colleen A Laird |
| Faculty | Arts |
| Funding Year | 2021 |
| Project Summary | In the mass transition to online classes as a result of the the novel coronavirus pandemic, an unprecedented number of educators are experimenting with best practices for distance learning. As we test the waters of synchronous, asynchronous, and hybrid course designs, we find ourselves frustrated by the many limitations of online education. However, there have also been unexpected pedagogical possibilities, not the least of which is a rapid increase in faculty familiarity with digital interfaces and online platforms. Whereas the early days of the pandemic cast a spotlight on seemingly stratified expertise with classroom technology amongst educators, and more specifically virtual classroom technology, we can now assume a shared, basic understanding of how to use and participate in video conferencing—a large-scale shift in proficiency and acclimation that is rather remarkable. We now see universities and colleges, as well as adjacent institutions including museums, libraries, and cultural institutes with educational outreach programming, activating the possibilities of video conferencing in event planning, from official ceremonies to public lectures and collaborative workshops. As online live experiences not subject to place-based restrictions, they are attended by a vast diversity of participants worldwide. Such events have been largely organized as one- time affairs, albeit often recorded, aimed at public audiences. In this project, I would like to bring the format of the online post-lecture Q&A between scholars and their audiences to the virtual classroom. For my course on Japanese Horror Cinema (Term 2, 2021), I have designed a series of four encounters with specialists from in Japanese Horror films and have integrated them into the course syllabus. Different from guest lectures, these sessions are designed as interactive experiences and are conversational in nature to model engaged and intellectual, but somewhat casual dialogue. The format is intended to bridge a gap many students find frustrating about online education: a lack of interactivity and community content. To prepare for the conversation, students will read a selection of the guest’s scholarship and will watch the relevant films. Sessions begin as a Q&A between me and the guest as a form of organic back-and-forth exchange and then open to include questions, comments, and responses from students as participations in a now larger conversation. Although the entire event will be recorded and uploaded to the course site, I will edit the session down to the first segment—a conversation between two scholars—and produce the clip as open-access presentations to be hosted on my department’s home website (Asian Studies). Likewise, the guests will also receive a copy of the recording directly to use in their home departments and courses. The recordings will also be archived online on my faculty website. Funds from the OER Rapid Innovation Grant will be used for honorariums for the guest scholars to honor their labor in content creation. |
| Grant type | Rapid Innovation |
| Funded Amount | $2,000.00 |
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