As the Faculty shifted from online to mixed (some students in class, others online) courses, the Tech Innovation Fellows, a student-led group that helps the Faculty digitize education, had to make sense of this new world. Our main concern was being left with two-tier education, with online students’ experience suffering due to technical issues. Our solution: bimodal learning, a combination of in-class and online education.
We took an approach to bimodal learning that was both technical and creative. We began by examining current technologies available in our building, as well as the school’s current needs. We then found a fantastic videoconferencing tool called the Owl, which provides 360-degree video and audio input.
To implement this new solution, we realized we had to improve the technical skills of students and professors. So, we developed a digital toolkit at our Tech Innovation Fellows portal, TeachnLearn, and hosted bimodal training sessions with professors and teaching assistants.
Through TeachnLearn, we offered information on all things bimodal — easy to consume, accessible and up to date. For the site developers, Xiaoyu Hu and Mona Shadid, both third year JD students, “our vision was that the information (would) not only be useful for day-to-day in the classroom but for any faculty member who visits the website. We provide separate resources for students and faculty on Zoom, Brightspace and Teams, in addition to bimodal learning.” The site’s most viewed page, on bimodal teaching, features downloadable classroom-ready infographics for professors.
TeachnLearn was part of a larger picture. We also provided both in-person and virtual one-on-one training sessions with professors. These sessions were key in developing their technical skills. We also met with professors individually to help them learn how to use the Owl. The work done by the Faculty and the Fellows was even featured in a CTV News interview with Dean Alain Roussy.
Our training sessions and web resources feed off each other. We referred professors back to the website to continue using its resources even after their one-on-one sessions. This teaching and learning ecosystem was instrumental in supporting our staff and students. Since launching the website, we have received over 1,000 unique views, with most at peak times such as the start of a term.
While the work of creating a truly equal learning space for both in-person and online students is not finished, we hope that our innovative contributions to the Faculty of Law have helped build an environment professors and students can be proud of.