The spring semester had a usual start at Olivet Nazarene University. Every student was going to school to pursue their academic goals and achieve their career goals after graduation. But then things came crashing down with the coronavirus pandemic.
In the wake of this event, many universities moved classes to an online format. This may have had negative impacts on students and teachers, but this did not stop them from completing the rest of the Spring 2020 semester.
During the ONU spring break, ONU president John C. Bowling announced through the ONU website that all classes will be transitioned to online for the rest of the semester. This applied to all school departments on campus, including the department of communication department headed by Jay Martinson who has been teaching at ONU since 1993.
One of the professors in the department, Heather McLaughlin, explained how this transition to online teaching was done. She stated that during the spring break period, which was extended to two weeks around the time of the announcement, Martinson met with her and other professors via Zoom to discuss a plan of action on how to help their students achieve their learning objectives online and how to maintain a teacher-student community. This included how to, “translate what we do on-ground into the online format,” she said.
McLaughlin explained how she and the other professors approached ways in which they used online tools that she and most others have been using a means of teaching their students through a school course management system called Canvas. Their focus in this meeting was to adjust the ways they help their students accomplish their learning objectives in classes online instead of in a classroom.
This transition has also been stated to be a learning curve for these professors just as a student learns something new of how to write a story online. McLaughlin provided an example of if a student had an in-class speech presentation, how would that student translate it into an online format? While this was stated to be difficult by McLaughlin, she explained that she and her fellow professors were able to be creative with online chat systems that they set up with their students. These systems include Zoom and Microsoft Teams.
Another academic impact from the mandatory transition was converting in-class lectures and presentations into online formats on Canvas. Professor McLaughlin described this as not too difficult for her as most of her class material was already on Canvas, as her students submit their homework assignments to her through the system. She also said that it was most likely difficult for the other professors who have not used the course-management system as often as her or had not used it to its full capabilities.
When asked what would happen if the coronavirus outbreak continued into the fall semester and the schools remain closed as a result, McLaughlin said, “we’ll definitely cross that bridge when we get there…if we get there.”
In order to help their students achieve their learning objectives, McLaughlin and her fellow professors in the Communication Department have used their time, knowledge, and resources to build an online community with each other and their students.
To see what it is like for professors to teach online instead of face-to-face with students, follow this link to read on the experience they gain from this transition.
For more information on how ONU has changed its means of communications, read the article detailing this transition
To better understand how an Mark Bishop, an ONU professor, has been adapting his classes to online, follow the link to this article
