A Student’s Point of View: A Teacher’s Perspective
I can’t believe it’s the 11th week of the fall semester and we are still using Zoom.
We have only 4 weeks to go until the semester is completed and I feel this is a major accomplishment for everyone thus far since 35% of my classes are in person! That is just great.
Students and teachers are now very familiar with Zoom, and always trying to perfect the use of it. That is what I’m going to talk about in this blog. I want to share, A Teacher’s Perspective and discuss their experiences in handling what’s becoming called, “Zoom University”. I interviewed Jenn Poggi and Dan Hughes who were my first-year teachers. I was interested in discussing their ups and downs and tips and tricks that they have found useful!
Jenn Poggi, as assistant professor of photojournalism, teaches intro-level courses such as first-year photo arts and photojournalism classes for upperclassmen. When first introduced to Zoom, she had just come back from the Photography in Cuba study abroad class trip. The transition to online went smoothly because students were able to focus on critiquing and processing the photos for their final projects. One of the major challenges for Jenn was keeping students engaged and making sure they did not become distracted. She tried to keep class as “synchronous as possible,” making sure the chemistry of the class remained intact because Jenn believes students learn from each other, too. She finds Zoom features, such as breakout rooms, come in handy for students to have productive conversations about their work. Zoom inspired Jenn to, rethink parts of her educational philosophy and how to deliver content differently” to make it work. Jenn believes using both old and new resources will help us re-imagine what education can look like. What Jenn takes away from the experience is the need to make the best out of the situation and keep going.
Dan Hughes, a lecturer in the Photo Sciences. He teaches intro-level photography courses and multimedia classes. These include first-year photo arts 1 and 2, 4d, and multimedia production photography classes. Dan isn’t too fond of Zoom. He enjoys the in-person class experiences better because he can see how the students are feeling from their eyes and body language. What Dan enjoys is exploring how new pieces of hardware integrate with Zoom. He uses a device called an ATEM mini pro. This allows students to view his demos from different angles even from the camera’s point of view. This helps students to engage with the material without feeling like they are missing out or can’t see what he’s showing. Dan showed me a demo during our interview. It was the coolest, innovative thing I ever saw. I really can see why it’s beneficial. He believes using it is “overkill’ because it’s expensive, but a dupe of the product is an HDMI drive that does similar things! I believe it’s such a “Dan thing”, because he is known for being tech savvy. Dan is still figuring out better ways to make sure his students are learning and continue to have an interest. What he will continue to do is make demo videos even if in-person classes come back. He enjoys creating representative content for his students to see!
Conclusion
After interviewing with these amazing professors with Zoom, I noticed they are still learning just as much as their students. They may have more knowledge their subjects, but everyone learns something new every day. Zoom is an obstacle but a tool as well, this goes for everything in life. We go through ups and downs, but we can always use what we learn to go back up. With a positive attitude that Jenn and Dan shared, I think we can go far and grow significantly!
About Emily SuDock
Emily SuDock is a third-year advertising photography student who is also cross-registered in the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. She has been hard of hearing most of her life. Emily was born in China adopted by her loving family. They are a big part of her life. Emily has a Nikon 600 with a 35 mm lens which she loves taking portraits with.
