Learning to Shine Virtually

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the differences between delivering an online, asynchronous course and delivering an in-person course. In a nutshell, it’s the difference between directing a movie and directing a play. But there are also similarities between delivering online (synchronously and asynchronously) and delivering in-person. Just as Christopher Lloyd will shine regardless of whether he is Doc Brown on the screen or Carl Bolton on Broadway, an educator needs to shine in the classroom, regardless of whether that classroom is live, virtual, or pre-recorded. The question is, how do you learn to shine virtually when you have spent your entire career learning to shine in person?

Many years ago, when I was a young junior officer in the Navy, I was going through Surface Warfare Officer School in San Diego. I was sitting in a lecture hall surrounded by my peers, when Star Horton, Lt. US Navy, walked up to the podium, picked up the largest pointer I’d ever seen, wielded it like a sword, and declared himself Conan the Grammarian – a reference to the Arnold Schwarzenegger classic, Conan the Barbarian. The audience laughed out loud, and for the next hour or so, Lt. Horton’s dynamic personality kept us engaged as he described for us several critical systems found onboard US Navy submarines.

Like Lt. Horton, everyone tasked with imparting knowledge to others needs to engage their audience. I know old-school teachers will argue that our job is to instruct, not entertain, but if your students aren’t listening – which is even easier for them to do on a Zoom call or watching a video of you than it is in a classroom – they aren’t going to learn. You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink, but if you don’t lead it to water in the first place you don’t give it the opportunity to drink. Students need to pay attention to learn, regardless of the subject, or the pedagogical approach.

As educators, we all need to excel at explaining, but we also need to engage students, and how we engage them can vary widely. Some, like Lt. Horton, are naturally dynamic speakers. Others, like my history professor Jane Kamensky, are great storytellers and make the content come alive. Still others have an amazing capacity to make you want to learn more, like my high school Latin teacher, Ms. Hanafin. The list goes on. As a teacher, you need to understand what your hook is, and make sure that you come across regardless of the medium of delivery. My guess is that if you were to ask a number of your students what you are like as a teacher, a general consensus would form and you would think to yourself, “yes, that sounds right.” Students know, and on some level, you know as well what kind of teacher you are and what your strengths are in the classroom.

And while I grant you, part of this idea of engagement is content-specific, a great teacher can make due with any content. Case in point: I love history, so much so that in my late twenties, I quit my job and went back to school full-time to get a masters in American history. I love history. And when I was in high school, I could not wait to get to history class. And five minutes into it, I couldn’t wait to get out. Mr. H just didn’t do it for me. Given a subject I love, he turned me off to the content and the course. Lt. Horton could make a bone-dry topic like the essential support systems found on a submarine interesting. As educators, we need to engage students, regardless of content.

Depending on what your style is, transferring it from stage to screen may not be easy. Audience feedback is a critical part of the communication process, so when that feedback loop is broken, we no longer know how our audience is receiving our message. As someone who relies heavily on humor in the classroom and who specializes in self-deprecating humor, I fully understand every late-night talk show host’s awkwardness trying to deliver a monologue sitting in an empty room. What can we do to ensure our in-person teaching strengths transfer to our new virtual world of online teaching? Here are a few suggestions:

1. Stick with your style. Just because you haven’t figured out how to best transfer your style from in-person to online, don’t give up who you are in the classroom. Changing your style to fit the medium is like starting over, and it forces you to present a false self to students – something that will be apparent to your students. Be yourself.
2. Learn about the different tools available to you that help you transfer your style. Some work better than others but without learning the tools you don’t know what is available to help you. This can be time-consuming and you’ll spend hours investigating tools that don’t do what you need them to do. So be it. Look for your next tool.
3. Be persistent. You were not a master teacher the first day you walked into the classroom so why think you’ll be a master teacher the first time you start teaching in a new modality? Keep trying, learn from your mistakes, and learn to do better.
4. Be adaptable. You can stick with your style and still adjust fit the screen. For example, I’m a big believer in TED Talks. They were a regular part of my in-person classroom because I thought they not only were informative and entertaining, but they could show just how relevant the content we were learning was. Online, I can still assign TED Talks, just not the way I used to. Online I provide the link, then I can either have a discussion if we meet online, or I can post a question on a discussion board.
5. Don’t lose your confidence or your voice. This is new but it is new for everyone. Students want to learn, and they want you to be a successful teacher so that they can learn. Let the students know you are all in this together and they will work with you to succeed. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, just be honest to your class when you do: make it a teachable moment.

As an educator, you can shine as brightly virtually as you can in-person; it just takes effort, time, and the openness to try new ways of teaching. Rome wasn’t built in a day, so be patient, think long-term, and keep trying.