Tammy Cardona-Zambeis

To excel as an instructor, we must never stop trying to refine our learning environment and our approaches to student needs. Through consistent and cyclical renovation, we can increase our students' success and learning outcomes. This requires cyclical work on the materials, learning environment, our approaches, etc. Such a cyclical process does not just take place through trial and error, but with various layers of feedback from many stakeholders in the student's success journey. And through support informed by student learning outcomes and perspectives. 

While summative and formative assessments both should be employed in a good assessment plan, communicating before and after the assessment is key. Whether through the rubric before or through feedback after, communication within these steps should be clear, concise, and easy to follow for student success. 

From a student-centered perspective, it is essential to deliver the course materials in a way that students can build on previous knowledge and respond to the material in a way that strengthens their knowledge and ability to apply it for future growth. A flexible digital syllabus and a consistent well well-designed course framework allow the student to do just that. 

I am more aware of the importance of module design and creation in the student's ability to succeed. Developing a layout and elements that work is essential to long-term student success. The elements that work can be organized and used as necessary. With well-designed modules, the student can best follow the content. And with consistency in the module layout, the student can become familiar with how to navigate and best interact with the course content overall. 

Communication, as in all aspects of life, is key for online teaching/learning. When speaking with a student directly, especially concerning critique, the communication must be private yet documented appropriately. And in public forums, the teacher must be prepared to professionally and empathetically respond to students who disrupt the flow of communication and learning. Because, as with all forms of discussion, there can be those who disrupt or communicate poorly. 

I was actually surprised that synchronous discussion was only best suited for individual student interactions. I will make sure to emphasize asynchronous discussion with larger groups, and if the groups are too large for effective communication, perhaps look into synchronous discussion groups that I can moderate and engage with. Either way, when communicating with students, I will remain encouraging, supportive, and listen well to ensure student success. 

In this module, I truly appreciated the attention given to how we get to know our students and let them know we have their backs as their instructors. By asking them to create a biography instead of only producing one ourselves, we demonstrate a desire to see them as more than faceless, nameless students online. And by emphasizing our academic and career qualifications before hobbies and fun facts, we also demonstrate our fitness to support them academically. 

I am reminded by this module that, as instructors, we should not limit ourselves when it comes to strategies and tactics that may produce the best learning outcomes. What works for one instructor or one scenario may not always be best or the only way to approach the situation. If we want to be the best instructors for our students, we must not only be well-versed in the course content, but all of the navigation, tech support options, and student-centered perspectives; only then are we prepared to assist all of our students toward their success.