91探花

91探花Bothell Associate Professor Jody Early blends eLearning with service learning聽projects to create community online and offline

91探花Bothell associate professor Jody Early faced a difficult task鈥擟hallenging her busy nursing and health studies students with a more meaningful learning experience by combining an online global women鈥檚 health class with community-based service learning.

Early was determined to find a way for her 鈥榩lace-bound鈥� and non-traditional students鈥攐ften juggling聽demanding work schedules and family commitments鈥攖o reap the benefits of service learning by partnering with local and international organizations.

So she set out to build community online and offline by carefully bringing together聽seemingly disparate pedagogical approaches in her Women鈥檚 Global Health and Human Rights online class.

Technology creates opportunities for access and connection

鈥淲hat draws me to technology is the issue of access,鈥� says聽Early, associate professor of Nursing and Health Studies. 鈥淥ffering online and hybrid courses increases pathways for students who, for a variety of reasons, may not be able to earn their degrees otherwise. eLearning, in all of its forms, also enhances flexibility and choice for students who seek a more blended educational experience.

鈥淗owever, there is a stigma attached to online learning,鈥� Early says. 鈥淪ome feel it cannot live up to the face-to-face experience in terms of quality and outcomes, despite an impressive volume of credible research that shows it can. Does teaching in a virtual environment mean, as faculty, that we have to sacrifice experiential or community-based strategies? Does it have to be formulaic and watered down? Absolutely not.鈥�

Early structured her class to address these issues by seeking to eliminate the sense of loneliness and disconnect often felt by online students. She talked with each student often, and gave them many opportunities to work with peers and community partners.

What to consider when including service learning in online courses

To further enhance their learning experience with real-world situations, students were required to complete a community-based project as part of their final grade. But Early gave them plenty of options. Most of her students had no experience in community-based learning and research courses at a university level, and 90 percent worked full-time, so this flexibility was extremely important, says Early, who relied on three key strategies to build community online and offline:

• Explain the relevance community-based learning to online courses: Adding community-based learning to an online course can motivate students and reduce feelings of isolation. Students can have more 鈥渉ands on鈥� opportunities to apply what they are learning, and to learn from community members and peers. 鈥淚 truly believe it is critical for students in any discipline to have opportunities for authentic, problem-based learning,鈥� Early says. 鈥淚ncluding community-based projects in my course allowed the students to transfer what they were learning and discussing online into 鈥榬eal time鈥欌�攖o strategize, to problem-solve and to deepen their understanding of all of the factors that impact women鈥檚 health and gender equity around the world.鈥�
• Address the importance of cultural humility:聽Spend time discussing and reflecting on one鈥檚 position relative to the service learning context;聽explain what reciprocity means in the context of service learning, and don’t聽assume that students have been exposed to these topics prior to your class. Addressing the importance of cultural humility early on as students prepare to work with community organizations聽is聽essential.
• Provide students with options: Allow students to choose from a variety of projects and offer options that can be completed individually as well as with partners or in groups. This helps to mitigate barriers for students whose work, health and/or life situations might otherwise prevent them from participating in service learning.

Her students partnered with Seattle Against Slavery, Northwest Film Forum, Refugee Women鈥檚 Alliance, A Call to Men and National Women鈥檚 Health Network. They participated in challenging projects that pushed them outside of their academic discipline and comfort zone, and engaged in a broad array of activities, from leading canvassing events against human labor trafficking to curating a digital art exhibit about women鈥檚 global issues, even organizing and leading a film screening and panel discussion on International Women鈥檚 Day with lauded film director Lynn Shelton. Much of the organizing took place online.

Early鈥檚 efforts to build community online and offline paid off, her students say.

鈥淪tudents who are very busy working and studying love online classes, but there was a beautiful twist in Dr. Jody Early鈥檚 class,鈥� student Leah Ta’an says. 鈥淲e were still able to connect with the community and fellow students as part of our project.鈥�

The class compelled nursing student Varinder Heera to get more involved in issues affecting girls and women.

鈥淎s I completed the final project, I became more determined to support girls in their quest for an education and being in charge of their own lives,鈥� says聽Heera, who became a volunteer with an organization based in India that supports women鈥檚 health and rights. 鈥淚 have realized raising awareness and taking action to stop gender inequity has a major impact on everyone鈥檚 health.鈥�

A survey of her class showed that 94 percent of Early鈥檚 students 鈥榮trongly agreed鈥� or 鈥榓greed鈥� they felt a sense of community and social connection to their instructor and peers; 84 percent 鈥榮trongly agreed鈥� or 鈥榓greed鈥� they felt motivated throughout the course to explore learning materials, readings and media.

Pairing service learning with online classes

• Use community-based strategies to enrich online courses:聽Adding community-based learning to an online course can motivate students and reduce feelings of isolation. Students can have more 鈥渉ands on鈥� opportunities to apply what they are learning, such as helping organize a community event or getting involved with a non-profit, and to learn from community members and peers.
• Begin with a 鈥渕odule zero鈥�: The first online session should help students who have never taken online classes to get comfortable with the basics. Early describes this best practice as 鈥渁 starting point on the home page, to help my students familiarize themselves with the class, me, the syllabus, quizzes, expectations and what they鈥檙e about to embark on.鈥�
• Plan ahead, keep it small and plan for contingencies: Give yourself three to four months鈥� lead time to plan this type of course, which works best with 30 students or fewer. Work your network to find partner organizations that can benefit from student service.
• Provide students with options: Allow students to choose from a variety of projects with options that can be completed individually, with a partner or in groups. This helps students design a schedule that works for them and can mitigate barriers for students whose work, health and/or life situations might otherwise prevent them from participating.
• Ensure good communication: Regular communication with students and community partners is vital to ensure there is reciprocity and to work through unexpected situations. Early builds in mid-quarter progress reports and schedules student conferences as needed. Keep open lines of communication with community partners as well, and schedule check-in phone calls or meetings regularly.
• Consider community of inquiry (COI) dimensions when designing a class: COI highlights three elements that are critical to successful online learning environments: cognitive presence, social presence and teaching presence. .