197 CREATIVE CONNECTIONS creative Faculty interacts with students virtually in spring 2020. When the spring 2020 semester transitioned to online coursework, faculty members made every effort to make their students’ learning experiences as enjoyable and natural as possible. When the University announced students would not return to campus, professor of history and political science Julie Harris was teaching 106 students between three sections of western civilization, one section of western political thought, and advising Tenor of our Times historical journal. Despite the changes, Harris said remote instruction did not require the sacrifice of human connection. “My first concerns were not about content, but more about students and connection,” Harris said. “Because of the vast time difference for many of my students, synchronous meetings were not a viable option for my survey courses. Staying connected was the key. I used surveys to find out how they were. I made sure I had avenues open for communication, and tried not to give more work with the stresses students were facing.” Harris, like many faculty members, learned to be flexible and receptive to the new balance of their own home and school lives. “I am also now trying to work from home and homeschool my child at the same time,” Harris said. “Keeping children engaged over digital is hard, even when their teachers are great, as my son’s was. Still, that meant being a homeschool substitute teacher by day and recording lectures by night, so it was exhausting.” story by Maren Bonham Dr. Julie Harris, professor of history and political science, lectures on post-war Europe. Harris taught students through recorded lectures after transitioning online. | photo courtesy of Julie Harris CONNECTIONS Other faculty members overcame the obstacles of remote learning through creativity and humor. Professor of English Michael Claxton uploaded video lectures, which included songs, skits and costumes to keep his students’ spirits high. “I decided early on to play to my strengths,” Claxton said. “I recorded a series of brief 10 minute video lectures, and I made sure that each one had something silly. I used toys, props, costumes, gags, jokes and anything I could think of to break up the tedium of watching someone speak for 10 minutes.” Senior Sidney Dearin was a student in Claxton’s British Literature II course in spring 2020. Dearin said the efforts Claxton made to enhance the digital learning experience made all the difference. “Dr. Claxton was a highlight in my day-to-day routines,” Dearin said. “Instead of doing Zoom classes like most of my professors, Dr. Claxton created videos of each of the lessons that oftentimes had a character helping teach the lesson.” Like many students, Dearin learned to accept the numerous changes during the unprecedented time. “Personally, I’m not great with learning online and I really think that it’s unfortunate, but understandable, that we had to switch to online,” Dearin said. “I do think that a lot of teachers did the best they could with the amount of time that they were given for the switch.”
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