Canvas and plumbing

So, as we are about to start the second week of lock down and move on to more teaching from home, this seems a good time to reflect on last weeks achievements and of course what’s in mind for the coming week.

Student engagement has been reasonable and after chatting with some colleagues, it seems very similar for most of the staff in Construction. Of course, we went into this quite well prepared with the only real concern being that learners may not have their own IT systems in place. This it seems, has been a slight issue as learners who have been working on a mobile are now starting to find assignments a lot more challenging.

Still, a steady stream of work has come in from Quizzes to assignments (all of is to an excellent standard). The team is using the feedback stage as a means to further engage with learners and take the opportunity to check their wellbeing and also to try and aid learning in different ways such as, directing learners towards peer collaboration by text or even facetime.

When feeding back to learners it has been useful to check the learners knowledge of applications such as Teams and other methods of group chatting and if unsure. we can direct them towards learning a little in preparation for what potentially could be a long period of time away from the usual classroom environment.

Of course, small group teaching with Teams will be a great idea and we have plenty to offer the learners, but as the number days in quarantine mount up it is only a matter of time before my wife reminds me that I have to replace the kitchen radiator, so maybe this will be an opportune moment to show learners how to hang a radiator (or how to swerve the job). How long can I keep that up for?

Hopefully this week, the engagement for our level 1 learners will increase and we will utilise this time to assess for the next academic year and direct learners to what’s coming after this situation finally comes to an end.

From a personal point of view that strange feeling of waiting on students to either submit work or login will no doubt leave as we start to learn the routine of those learners who are already on board. A little bit of planning ahead to try and look at different ideas for the weeks ahead will most certainly be on the cards, but this week, trying to relax and accept this strange uncertainty is a must to help me maintain a certain level of sanity.

Therefore, this week as normal we will continue to work with the engagement officer and also keep in touch with learners through the various ways in order to reassure them that we are here and ready to keep teaching as long as they are fit and well.

Stay Safe

Neil Pollard