Some Thoughts On Skeuomorphs
A skeuomorph is a new object that retains an old object’s properties even though the old design doesn’t serve an operational purpose. Think digital watches with hour and minute hands, online calendars with pages, or zip-up boots with shoelaces.
Why do we create skeuomorphs? Partly because when we go to design something new, we use the old model as a starting point and recreate what we know. Partly to give users an idea of what the new thing is and how it works. And partly because the old designs are beautiful and we want to preserve those elements.
When we all jumped into online learning about a month ago many of us had never done it before and so we naturally sought to simply recreate the physical classroom online. And that worked for a while, especially because everyone is being so tolerant. But it’s not necessary, desirable, or even possible to just take an on campus class and put it online.
Here are some things we no longer need:
The seating arrangement. No matter how hard you try to pull them in, students who sit in the back or the middle of the room don’t get the attention the students in the front get. I make a herculean effort to connect with the students in the back but it’s just plain hard to see them. I can’t see from their eyes if they understand what I’m saying, if they’re eager to speak and just need me to give them a chance, or if they’re bored and need me to change my approach. But online, everyone is in the front row. I’m definitely engaging with more of my students now than before.
The desk. I’m not sure why, but interacting with my students on a screen sometimes feels more real, more human, that sitting across the classroom or across my desk from them.
Textbooks. Yes, they can be great and I’m all about easing the teacher's load. But with the whole world of multimedia a click away there’s no reason to have your students buy a $200 textbook for every course. Try video clips, audio clips, links to articles and journals, and your own outlines, notes, and presentations.
And some things we do:
Schedules. It’s tempting and devilishly easy to be on-call and online all the time. Don’t do it. Just because your phone rings (or buzzes or chirps or plays the hook from Smoke on the Water) doesn’t mean you have to answer it.
Calling on students. When you’re in your online classroom, call on students and ask them to volunteer, just as you did in the physical classroom. It’s easy to simply talk into your webcam for 45 minutes, ask if there are any questions, and hearing none dismiss the class. Use your participant list to remind yourself that there are students out there.
Pedagogy. Teaching is teaching. Learning is learning. Moving to the online space doesn’t change that. Hold on to those teaching skills you’ve honed over the years. They still work.
Perspective. Good heavens this is absurd isn’t it? It feels like this will never end but in a couple of years we’re going to look back on this time and laugh. We may even be a bit nostalgic for this chance we had to stop what we were doing and look at everything differently. Remind yourself of that every once in a while.