Fourteenth International Conference on e-Learning & Innovative Pedagogies

Abstract

Scholars such as Michelle Pacansky-Brock, in Best Practices for Teaching with Emerging Technologies (2017), and James M. Lang, in books like Small Teaching Online (2013), have argued for the advantages of online and blending educational models. Since a world-wide pandemic has now killed well over two million people, their arguments have become even more urgent. This paper makes a strong case for the multitudinous benefits of hybrid and remote teaching and learning as a new normal for colleges and universities internationally post-pandemic. It demonstrates a variety of successful pedagogical strategies deployed from 2018 through 2021 within the Department of English and Comparative Literature at San Diego State University, the flagship campus of the largest and most diverse public university system in the U.S. It illustrates how successful face-to-face teaching and learning techniques in the Humanities can be adapted to synchronous and asynchronous e-learning models. It also explores innovative and motivational new paradigms to “flip the classroom,” such as lectures with embedded, low-stakes quizzes. It covers specific strategies for empowering students, building community, offering flexibility, and accommodating learning differences. These include Digital Humanities projects, collaborative classroom debates, a “Ted Talking Shakespeare” assignment, and more, through using common and accessible tools such as Zoom, Canvas, Blackboard, and Wordpress.com. Its examples come from the discipline of literature but are applicable to a wide range of other educational fields.