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The PARS Approach

Creating Spaces for Students Online

Casey McArdle

cmcardle@msu.edu

https://tinyurl.com/WRAC2020

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2015 http://www.owicommunity.org

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2017-2019

Personal, Accessible, Responsive, Strategic: Resources and Strategies for Online Writing Instructors (https://wac.colostate.edu/books/practice/pars)

Casey McArdle

Jessie Borgman

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Personal OWI

Make a connection beyond content delivery
Build community beyond 1’s and 0’s
Writing is personal and teaching is personal

“Personalizing the online classroom/CMS with images, putting your picture on emails, combining your voice with written feedback, and creating videos that walk students through assignments and lesson plans can help you engage in a personable partnership with your students.”

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In their study on community college online courses and social presence, Liu et. al. (2009) found that a constant marker of persistence in online courses was “developing integrated social and learning communities” (p. 172).

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Personal OWI

Use Zoom to hold class sessions

Make screencasts (like the one Dànielle made for us)

Hold online office hours so they can still talk to you and hear your voice - see your smiling face!

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Accessible OWI

Don’t just put content built for F2F into an online space
Take advantage of the space to craft assignments for that space
How will students roam/navigate your CMS?

“Accessible instruction is about more than setting expectations and making you and your course materials accessible to your students, it’s also about creating a community of inclusion in your course and inviting students with all levels of ability to interact with you in a way that works for them.”

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The image on the left is a navigation full of links. This type of navigation would overwhelm students because they wouldn’t know where to begin. Keeping your navigation simple like the image on the right is a navigation that is likely much less intimidating to students because there are fewer places to click.

Accessible design increases engagement

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Accessible OWI

If you are making videos, please make them closed captioned - have a script

Make it easy for students to find assignments in D2L or on your Google Doc

Zoom operates at low bandwidth, so it can be used with bad connectivity - it can also be used on phones

If you record your Zoom classroom meetings, get consent from students first.

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Responsive OWI

Setting real expectations = turn around times
Responding to emails = solving early problems
Establish pattern of return = routine

“Being responsive is about setting expectations and following through to show the students you’re right there with them… An effective online instructor determines appropriate communication strategies, manages time, defines their evolving role as the online instructor, and establishes a supportive presence within the classroom.”

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Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Project #1 sent out -work on draft	Work on draft	Submit to Eli Review for Peer Review Feedback You (instructor) respond - general notes	Peer Review	Peer Review due You (instructor) respond	Revision Plan due You (instructor) respond to Plan	Final draft due You (instructor) respond to final drafts next day

Being responsive is also about letting students know when you will respond, how you will respond, and on what. This builds a consistent plan of feedback and a bridge between you and the students.

6 ½ week online summer WRA 101 course

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Responsive OWI

Keeping everything on a schedule students can access is even more important when teaching online

Have daily email reminders ready to go to students

Provide students a chance to respond to you and your peers - email, MS Teams, Slack, etc.

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Strategic OWI

Focus on student engagement
Be honest about the workload
Plan ahead for hardware and software issues - know your tools so you don’t have to rely/wait on others to fix them

“Think about how strategic you are with your face-to-face courses. Think about how long you take to plan each day’s lesson and activities. When you teach online, you also have to negotiate the digital space as well - your pedagogy may work face-to-face, but does it work solely online?”

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An entire semester planned out.

Students can see what is happening from Day 1.

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