{"id":24927,"date":"2024-09-11T08:32:04","date_gmt":"2024-09-11T08:32:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hfd.phee.dev\/social-check-in-for-the-implementation-of-online-teaching-formats\/"},"modified":"2024-11-05T11:38:10","modified_gmt":"2024-11-05T11:38:10","slug":"social-check-in-for-the-implementation-of-online-teaching-formats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hfd.phee.dev\/en\/social-check-in-for-the-implementation-of-online-teaching-formats\/","title":{"rendered":"Social check-in for the implementation of online teaching formats"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]After Tool 2 of the blog series “Student Wellbeing in Digital Studies” addressed ways and tools for ensuring psychosocial safety in the planning and preparation of courses, this blog post focuses on promoting student wellbeing during the delivery of courses. The focus is on synchronous online teaching using video conferencing systems, which is also playing a role at many universities after the coronavirus pandemic. Based on our interviews with students, we present ways in which a good start to an online seminar can be designed, with a focus on promoting appreciative relationships between lecturers and students as well as between students. <\/b>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Many studies have already established the links between students’ mental well-being and the coronavirus-related switch to online teaching formats (Traus et al. 2020; Besa et al. 2021; Giesselbach et al. 2023; TK 2023). There is a consensus that the lack of social contact<\/strong> and direct exchange with lecturers is the greatest stress factor. Students particularly missed the informal or more casual conversations on campus. This raises the question of how the lack of opportunities for interaction<\/strong> and social exchange in the digital world can be compensated for and how appreciative relationships can be encouraged. It is important to note that practices of informal exchange cannot simply be transferred 1:1 to the digital world, but that online teaching is accompanied by complex changes in media technology and media culture<\/strong> that have a significant impact on interpersonal communication. The tools (e.g. chats, whiteboards, breakout sessions or surveys)<\/strong> that are used cannot be regarded as neutral instruments that have been translated into digital form and have a specific function to fulfill. They actively shape social exchange and thus teaching and ultimately determine aspects such as activity or inactivity, attention and addressability, motivation and distraction in a specific way (cf. Bohnenkamp et al. 2020). <\/span>[\/vc_column_text]

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How can social interaction be created in online teaching?<\/h2>\n <\/div>[vc_column_text css=””]In contrast to face-to-face teaching, teaching via video conferencing systems is subject to different orders of interaction and does not have the same channels of perception. For example, there is no commonly perceived horizon of experience in which information such as smell, temperature or other environmental information can be shared. The senses are mostly limited to sight and hearing and are transmitted digitally. How I perceive the other person depends on the camera and microphone settings or the quality of the devices themselves (low-resolution image or a noisy, distorted microphone) as well as the selected image section, which often only shows the other person in fragments. <\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”21364″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” css=””][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text css=””]Intuitive interactions and fluent speaker changes are made more difficult as no direct eye contact can be established that addresses a specific person or group. The reduced mutual perception of the seminar participants also challenges the interpretation and understanding of non-verbal signals, which are, however, of great importance for the exchange. <\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]For example, when situations arise in which students use subtle facial expressions to signal when they are unable to follow the seminar (cf. Gabriel\/Pecher 2021). This very reduced or one-dimensional perception can also have an impact on the cognitive process and ultimately the learning success in the seminar context, which is also impaired, as the following experience report from a student makes clear: <\/span>[\/vc_column_text]
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``So I'm very receptive when I'm sitting somewhere. I can ask questions directly, you can somehow tell from the reactions of fellow students (...) how it is perceived. And completely different things arise, completely different thoughts, cross-references and it's incredibly difficult for me to sit in front of the computer all the time and stare into this square. It's an absolute horror for me.``<\/section>\n
Individual interview with student teacher<\/section>\n <\/section>[vc_column_text css=””]Another effect relates more to interpersonal dynamics. Roth and Laut (2023) in their study on the <\/span> Changing communication in organizations using video conferencing<\/span><\/a> found that informal and personal discussions tend to be marginalized in favour of an effective and factual communication culture. This in turn has a negative impact on the development of trust and solidarity between the organization’s employees. An excerpt from a group discussion illustrates that this strong change in group feeling or interpersonal relationship building can also apply to online teaching in the university context: <\/span>[\/vc_column_text]
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B2: \u201c(...) Yes, and these really informal conversations were also missing. I just generally found a lot of people stupid. Just because of the tile. I thought I found them really unlikeable. (B1: Me too.) For no reason, I didn't know the people at all.``<\/section>\n
Group discussion with social work students<\/section>\n <\/section>[vc_column_text css=””]Now, of course, it makes a difference for the bond whether the students already know each other from the face-to-face context or only get to know their fellow students or the lecturers in online teaching. The latter case is much more challenging for building relationships, which is also noted by lecturers: <\/span>[\/vc_column_text]
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``The digital space (4 sec.) makes a lot possible, but it has its limits when it comes to shaping relationships, especially when it comes to building relationships. I can also hold a seminar digitally if I know the people, if they know me, if we already have a good relationship. If we know how to communicate with each other, then it works. But otherwise, activating students on Zoom is much, much more difficult. The potential for distraction is much higher.``<\/section>\n
Individual interview with a professor of social work<\/section>\n <\/section>[vc_column_text css=””]The assessment that the quality of online teaching depends above all on the relationship with the lecturer is shared by the students. When asked when, for example, the use of didactic online tools such as collaborative work on whiteboards or shared notes (in the BigBlueButton video conferencing system) is considered to be conducive to learning, one person responded: <\/span>[\/vc_column_text]
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``If it was thematically interesting. If we had a good relationship with the lecturer and somehow had a group feeling and felt picked up.``<\/section>\n
Group discussion with social work students<\/section>\n <\/section>[vc_column_text css=””]Pietsch and Zybura repeatedly emphasize in their project that social distancing processes and a lack of relational richness are not only due to the technical conditions of online teaching.<\/span> Unconditional Teaching<\/span><\/a> emphasized. The task of lecturers must be to convey a sense of community and belonging and to ensure an appreciative, attentive atmosphere as well as to express an authentic interest in the students. Only the social hierarchies that are inherently anchored in the university system would culminate in the digital space. Above all, it is important to take a power-critical look at social barriers and asymmetrical hierarchies at universities that curb self-determined learning by students. In her already in <\/span> HFD discussion paper<\/span><\/a> Pietsch and Zybura show which values form the basis for attitude development in order to ultimately break down social barriers in the teaching context. <\/span>[\/vc_column_text]
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Social check-in as a way of opening an online event with a rich relationship<\/h2>\n <\/div>[vc_column_text css=””]We are all too familiar with opening situations in which teachers first check that the technology is working by saying “Can you hear me well?”. But how can teachers quickly establish good access to the students, as the first few minutes of an online event are of enormous importance for building relationships and creating a group feeling? One possibility is to put the subject matter of the course on the back burner at first and ask how the students are feeling in general, which one student reported as follows: <\/span>[\/vc_column_text]
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``What I also liked was that some lecturers took ten or 20 minutes from time to time, like at the beginning, to just ask questions and talk about how everyone was doing. And I always found that very connecting. Because especially in this online context, I really missed the connection. (...) And when the lecturers did something like that, it was also easier for me to follow the material. Because then I had the feeling, okay, we're also somehow human here as a group. And it's not just that everyone sits in front of their laptop and just sits there.``<\/section>\n
Group discussion with social work students<\/section>\n <\/section>[vc_column_text css=””]In the digital learning context in particular, authentic interest in the realities of the participants’ lives can be expressed through active questioning. Inquiring about the students’ state of mind, possible stresses and strains, but also resources, reduces hierarchies at the same time. It is important not to judge, but to establish common ground and appreciation. In doing so, it also makes sense to <\/span> Showing teacher vulnerability <\/span><\/a>and, if necessary, to start with a short report of your own experiences. Talking about mental health and self-care creates a culture of acceptance in which scope for action can develop: <\/span>[\/vc_column_text]
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``And what I've noticed is that it helps if perhaps the person who initiates it also starts to report it. And thus provide a certain level of vulnerability, which makes it easier for others to open up and also makes it clear that, as is so often the case, it's not just some kind of banter in the sense of \u201cHow are you?\u201d``<\/section>\n
Group discussion with social work students<\/section>\n <\/section>[vc_column_text css=””]Another possibility for a social check-in is based on the development of the aesthetic dimension in online teaching. Susanne Blazejewski suggests activating all the senses in online teaching, which is otherwise so rigid and technology-focused, <\/span>to create touching moments<\/span><\/a>to create subjective experiences of well-being or discomfort, to perceive oneself and others or to enable physical activation and relaxation processes (cf. Blazejewski 2021). <\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_empty_space][vc_single_image image=”21378″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” css=””][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

A number of methods can be considered for opening the seminar, such as presenting the seminar participants in their personal working environment (e.g. by panning the camera around the room or taking photographs of individual objects). This task makes it possible to detach from one’s own perception as a portrait in the camera section in favor of a physical presence in the room in order to ultimately be more open to an exchange with the other students and the lecturer. <\/span><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]There are many different methods for a social check-in that can promote group spirit, social interaction and thus also the well-being of students. Which method works best for a particular group of students naturally varies and must be tested accordingly. <\/span>[\/vc_column_text]

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Summary: Tips and tricks for a social check-in<\/h2>\n <\/div>[vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n