Pushing Back on a College Myth

A story I have heard a lot is that college is a cold, strict place. For students, they hear “There is no late work accepted.” “You won’t get the benefit of the doubt.” “You better figure things out because you’re on your own.”  “You won’t be able to do x, y, or z in college.” The message? College is a scary place.

As if our first-gen students or anyone else coming to college does not already have a challenging time overcoming imposter syndrome or learning the ropes or having enough gas to get to campus or making sure they get to eat before class! This really is a myth that needs to stop. 

This myth doesn't just affect first-gen students, though they may feel its weight more than others. It affects returning students who left college once and are terrified of repeating the experience--we have many in our online classes. It affects students who grew up hearing adults talk about professors as unreachable figures. When students walk through our doors already bracing for rejection, they're less likely to ask for help, less likely to persist through a hard week, more likely to disappear quietly instead of asking for help. The myth costs us students before we even get a chance to show them who we actually are.

I talked with a student in office hours the other day who reiterated a version of this myth to me. She was truly worried about how she would be perceived for asking questions. I did my best to convince her that educators here at GCC would appreciate her asking questions; that is, after all, how students learn. People at GCC do care. They hold office hours hoping students will show up. They send emails checking in on students who've gone quiet. They build in flexibility for when a student is juggling two jobs and a sick parent at home.

How do we change the story? We can be intentional about telling a different story--starting on day one. The way we introduce ourselves, the tone of our syllabus, whether we smile when a student asks a question that's "already in the syllabus.” All of it sends a message. Counter stories don't spread on their own. We have to repeat them wherever we are able.

The Meeting of Accessibility and Generative Artificial Intelligence

Recently, I realized that I had been ignoring AI in favor of accessibility. I mean, a person only has so much brainspace, right? Then I started hearing a little buzzing about how others were starting to use AI to assist with their accessibility efforts, and I realized the two could be combined to save some time and make more challenging improvements related to accessibility. 

So here are a few ways I've been using my personal, paid Claude account to help me with the accessibility related to my courses:

• HTML remediation for WCAG compliance. That's a mouthful to say that I pasted the HTML code from my Canvas pages into Claude with a prompt that asked it to correct the HTML code so that it was fully accessible. What Claude did was then to remove empty paragraphs, add screen reader text for links, fix heading structure and navigation elements, convert all caps text to proper case, and remove unnecessary inline styles and broken links. If I prompted carefully at the start of the chat, telling it I was going to give it page after page, it gave me HTML code back and wrote "Ready for the next page." It was easy to get into a groove of copy/paste/copy/paste. 
• Transcript cleanup and video accessibility. Getting the video captions right with YouTube has never been so easy. Once the auto captions are complete, it's easy to copy the text of those, paste them into Claude, and ask that they be corrected for upper/lower case letters, punctuation, and spelling. Then it's simple to take the corrected version and paste it back in. There's no worry about VTT or SRT files. 
• PDF to accessible format conversion. I do have a short story in one class. It's older and in the public domain, but I only have a scanned copy for students. I asked Claude to read the pdf and give it back to me in plain text. I then copied that into a Google Doc, used Grackle, and then created a link using "share" and "publish to the web." I then linked to that from my Canvas course. Students now have an accessible version of that story they can read. It also is a whole lot cleaner than that scanned version!
• Writing a Pressbook. I had Claude create the first part of a Pressbook I'm working on. I asked for some styling and a particular font. I then asked it to create pages with that same styling for each section of content I give it. What I'm ending up with are parts of the book that all have the same styling regardless of where the content comes from. The book will look consistent. 

Right now, I'm really looking for ways that I can use AI as a tool to speed up what I have to do and to help me make all my course content fully accessible. AI doesn't always get it right, and I sometimes have to ask for a redo. The iteration is still faster than what I could do on my own, and Claude makes corrections to the HTML code, which I cannot do on my own without a lot of extra work. I am curious how others might be doing similar tasks. Let me know!

An AI Story: What the AI Can't Do

 Since generative AI hit the scene, I've gone through several phases: 

1. It's too overwhelming to think about and what the hell is the point of teaching anything anymore? This phase is known to me as my teaching crisis. Over my 30-some-year career, these have periodically plagued me. I've managed to get out of each of these usually by waiting it out or reprogramming how I think of the thing that got me into it. 

2. Maybe I can use this? This phase is where I am really tentative. My brain takes time to process by doing a lot of reading and studying. I might attend webinars or learn from my colleagues.

3. I think I'm all in. In this final phase, I really start to embrace the thing that started the crisis.

Something happened in my life between phases 2 and 3 when it comes to generative AI. I was eagerly reading about AI news daily, playing with various tools regularly, using it as an assistant, and starting to enter the embracing phase and even planning an upcoming AI-themed composition course.

Then my mom had open heart surgery, and I left to take care of her for a month over the winter break. Where before I had been using Perplexity to learn more about her condition, I was now calling the triage nurses to ask questions about her immediate care, and I called them a lot. I was answering the door to her physical therapist, Lori, or the nurse in charge of her case, Brenda who was there when we had to call 911. For four weeks, I did not think about AI.

 ChatGPT didn't help me at all, and it didn't help any of the people helping me who had to rely on their excellent training to troubleshoot in the moment. It couldn't give me a reassuring look or meet me just outside the door to have a private chat. It couldn't take the car to the garage to get it checked out and ready to make it through winter. It didn't take me out for a beer like my brother did. I didn't expect it to do any of those things. I also didn't miss it for a month. 

 

Remember This

 I have always been a lover of words, and as I've grown older, I find myself relying more and more on them as reminders of things I've forgotten. 

Photo by Kiarash Mansouri

I lean on words.

I let words encourage me.

Words inspire me.

Words can take me back to a place or time worth remembering.

Words remind me of things my mind and body too easily forget. 

And so my office space has become a place where words surround me. 

There are hand-scrawled messages--names of two students I don't want to forget, the CTLE values, names of mentees, and my section of the honors program alphabet for reviewing their work. 

There are short sayings, inspirational messages I've acquired over the last couple of years given to me or collected by me. They are mostly taped near me, so I can see them daily. 

"Setting goals is the first step toward making the invisible visible." Tony Robbins

"...it's never too late to be whoever you want to be." Eric Roth

"If it's both terrifying and amazing then you should definitely pursue it." Erada

There are small cards on the wall and around my desk that contain messages meant for me on a particular day, and I keep these around me:

"I choose to let go of fear."

"I know that focusing my attention on things I cannot control distracts me from my journey." 

"My ability to conquer my challenges is limitless." 

There is a December calendar image and saying--a cat with bells around its neck. The quote reads, "Jingle all the way, nobody likes a half-assed jingler." And this will stay up even though it's no longer December because.

Finally, there is a small poster, and it was the first put up in my office. It says, "Let that shit go," and it is in my direct line of vision. That is my most important reminder of all. 

Honors at GCC and Inclusivity

"Learn communication strategies that influence diverse audiences. Express ideas and concepts precisely and persuasively in multiple formats, and employ writing conventions suitable to research and/or creative processes."

     Above is one of the learning outcomes in the honors program here at GCC. As both an online teacher and an honors instructor, it should come as no surprise that creating content that is accessible (and inclusive) to all learners is at the forefront of my mind. So when I set out to design a project for honors students in my Survey of Gothic Literature (ENH235) class, I wanted their presentations to include all audiences and to get at meeting this learning outcome.

     Creating a video screencast and using YouTube's Classic Studio to edit closed captioning seemed to be the best combination of accessibility goals and Universal Design for Learning principles--the videos would be accessible to students who are deaf or hard of hearing and also create benefits for all other students:

• students absorb more by reading,
• students who have English as a second or third language can listen and see the words, and
• any student can pause the video and record important vocabulary in their notes.

     I met with students in person or via Google Meeting to explain the project. When I explained that they would need to caption the videos, that this meant more than just the auto-captioning from YouTube, and that one of their learning outcomes was to be able to communicate with diverse audiences in multiple formats, I was happy to get lots of head nods of agreement at the value of including all students.

Image from student video presentation used with permission.

     I believe students in this class are meeting this learning outcome by using a video format and writing (or editing) their closed captions. They are creating content that is inclusive of all learners and, I think and hope, learning a variety of other skills as well. 

What's Inspiring Me Now

     The best a teacher can hope for and try to encourage is for her/his students to go off and become successful and, someday, to check back in to report on that success. Is there a better feeling? It turns out, there is. I know because I'm experiencing it right now.

Social Media Plus

     Fortunately, because of social media, it's easier than ever to stay in touch with former students. And while there are many, many I get to see become successful by earning their bachelor's degree, a master's degree, or even a PhD--some have gone on to become college professors, have written textbooks, books, have started families, have become politically active--there are a couple who have been speaking to me via their social media presence in ways I'm less familiar with. They're inspiring me to be more thoughtful in my own life. They're encouraging me to consider their passions like I once did in the classroom, I hope, for them.

    One is Tarrin who was a student of mine in 2003-2004. She is a certified Spiritual Director. Tarrin has been popping into my life in various ways lately. I started following her posts that had spiritual messages. Then we ran into each other at the Santigold concert at the Van Buren. Shortly after that, I spotted her business card in my favorite coffee shop: Esso Coffeehouse and Roastery. And lately, I've tuned in for some of her Monday tarot readings on Facebook. I do believe in synchronicity, and I think our crossing paths is meaningful. I'm trying to listen to what messages might be helpful--and this is a challenge for me because of reasons that would make another blog post or 200. Regardless, I've been seeking balance, and Tarrin has provided some hope to me. 

     Another is Sara. Sara is a talented athlete from a team I coached in 2011. She has just started a business in personal training with a small home gym. Sara's business social media is filled with inspiring photos of women working out, encouraging messages laid over her business logo, and thoughtful words of encouragement in her posts. Folks, I'm not even there working out with her, and I am finding inspiration from her and what she's doing. I have made some changes in my life--also regarding balance--and I am crediting Sara partly for those changes. 

When the Student Becomes the Teacher 

     There is a trust between teacher and student, unspoken. Students become vulnerable and open themselves up to learning and, as part of learning, failing. The teacher is vulnerable when she tries her best but may also sometimes fail and fail in front of a lot of people. Or expose herself as a giant nerd. The list could go on. But I find myself listening better when as a student, I have that trust--trust in the expertise of my teachers and trust that they have my best interests in mind and want to see me succeed. Some of that trust I give to teachers immediately because I don't know them, but I trust the profession. Tarrin and Sara get all of the trust because there is a history and, importantly, a relationship. How powerful is the combination of trust, relationship, and inspiration in changing lives.

     It is truly a pleasure getting to learn from those I once taught. It really is the best feeling.

3 Skills Required for the 21st Century Teacher

     Some of you might remember that Tenisha and I did an episode on this topic in Season One of Two Profs in a Pod. You can find that episode here:



     I'm going to discuss 3 skills I think are necessary for teachers now that we did not discuss in this episode--so you can listen to the episode, too!

Number 3

     An important skill to know and be able to apply is UDL. UDL stands for Universal Design for Learning. UDL's goals are to create "expert learners" who are strategic and goal oriented, resourceful and knowledgeable, and purposeful and motivated. Instructors use the UDL guidelines to help students access information, build knowledge, and internalize learning by providing multiple means of engagement, representation, action and expression. There are definitely elements in the guidelines that instructors may already do: giving choices to students, developing self-assessment and reflection, and supplying background. Still, the guidelines are full of strategies that help all students learn. They are a valuable resource to help instructors help all students. As we move all our students to credit classes, taking a look at these guidelines and setting a goal to up our game in this skill area is a good idea.

Number 2

     Another important skill instructors should have is the ability to craft lessons and learning experiences that cause just the right amount of struggle for students. In fact, "students do better when given room to struggle with difficulty," according to a study cited by Brown, Roediger, and McDaniel (2014), authors of the book Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning. The trick is getting that struggle just right and scaffolding to assist students if the struggle pushes them to too high levels of anxiety where learning starts to fail and students start to quit. Knowing that point for each student is important. Allowing students to struggle and getting students comfortable with that feeling (without failing to experience it) will help them later when they encounter those same feelings in other situations like more advanced classes or their work.

Number 1

     A final necessary skill for 21st century teachers is being able to implement technology and teach technology to our students. Particularly in community college where we get a lot of first gen students and some students who may be less prepared in all sorts of ways, it's important to introduce them to and have them practice with basic tools they may end up using in life or work. Even something as basic as Google Docs and its basic workings give students something they can use for a long time. Practicing with new tools forces them to gain more flexibility and makes them more at ease when trying whatever new tool they might need to learn at work. Being comfortable with trying new software or web tools gives those students an advantage in life.

These are just my thoughts. Disagree? Agree? Leave a comment!