Jamie's Educational Technology Blog

What does collaboration mean to you? When I think of the word collaboration, I think teamwork. I think unity. Collaboration does not mean working separately to accomplish a common goal. It means working together and sharing ideas to create something that would not have been as impactful or meaningful if it had been done alone.

While I was exploring the #MSFTEduChat hashtag on Twitter, I realized that perhaps the most important type of collaboration during this current school year, may just be between teachers and parents. With COVID-19 still largely affecting in-person learning, it is more important now than ever for teachers and parents to work together. One tweet I stumbled across from a MicrosoftEDU team member asked the question, “How can teachers and parents work together to support their students’ learning?” Some students are hybrid-learning, spending half their week in the classroom, and the rest at home. Other students are learning completely remotely. Collaboration and communication have never been so important between parents and teachers to help students navigate this new world of virtual learning. Many parents are taking on a new role in their children’s education. They have become at-home teachers overnight, and it has not been an easy task.

Using Microsoft Education tools, this transition has the potential to be a lot easier on both parents and teachers, and therefore easier on students. Microsoft Teams gives parents and teachers the ability to communicate with one another seamlessly with the weekly parent/guardian email digest. This feature of Teams shows parents a breakdown of their child’s assignments and what they have or have not completed. This makes it so much easier for parents to stay up to date on their child’s progress from subject to subject. It allows them to see whether they are on track or struggling in certain areas. It also gives teachers to ability to send weekly emails to parents to give them a run down of information regarding the upcoming week’s assignments. This is just one innovative Microsoft Education feature that can aide communication between parents and teachers to foster a more collaborative learning environment for students during this challenging time.

The most important thing to remember about this school year, is that it is a brand new journey for everyone. Teachers, students, and parents alike are all navigating the virtual learning world for the first time. It’s also important to keep in mind that there is always room for improvement and feedback on what is and isn’t working. Although teachers can keep track of what is working for them by their own measurements, they can also benefit from receiving input from their students and parents. All parties should try their best to give one another feedback and offer helpful suggestions when possible. Since parents now have an up close and personal look at how their children are being taught via Zoom, Skype, and other online education tools, it gives them the opportunity to be more vocal and speak up when they feel things are being done well or could use some adjustment. Teachers can certainly take advantage of the educational technology at their fingertips to make these adjustments and facilitate a stronger partnership between classroom and home. Although collaboration and communication between parents and teachers has always been significant when it comes to education, it seems virtual learning has definitely highlighted its importance. As the saying goes, “It takes a village“.

I found this intriguing article on EdSurge via Twitter that confirmed what I already thought to be true: Zoom learning is not the same as in-person learning. However, the reasons for this are not what I initially had in mind. This article explores the ways in which our brains interpret Zoom learning, right down to the hormones it causes our bodies to release. The article was taken from a podcast done with Brenda Wiederhold, a clinical psychologist who treats her patients with forms of virtual technology. During her interview, Wiederholder explains what is known as “Zoom fatigue”, which is when “overuse of video conferencing causes us to feel tired, anxious, or worried.” Basically, because we understand that communication via Zoom is not in real time, although it appears to be, our brains subconsciously pick up on this and try to compensate for the lag. Over time, this causes us to feel more tired than we normally would during in-person learning.

Additionally, we are not able to pick up on body language and facial cues as easily or as often as we would be able to face to face. This would normally cause our bodies to release “feel good hormones” like dopamine and oxytocin. Instead, Zoom calls might actually be causing our bodies to release cortisol, which is released when our bodies are in fight-or-flight like situations. It’s crazy to think that video conferencing could be causing our brains to send a message to our bodies that we in danger. It’s even crazier to think that it could be due to prolonged eye contact with the large faces staring at us on our computer screens.

Luckily, Wiederhold also provides us with some tips and tricks for lessening the hormonal stresses from Zoom learning on our bodies. She says that sometimes, when permitted, turning the camera off is not always a bad idea. She expressed that when she and her colleagues did this for work calls, they reported feeling less fatigued afterward. She also suggested being eye level with your camera, especially if you are a teacher, and looking at it while you are speaking. This helps those watching feel as though you are actually looking at them and aides social connection. Lastly, for those that may just feel nervous about speaking on camera, she suggests practicing diaphragmatic breathing to calm your mind and body, thus allowing yourself to have a more relaxed disposition and manifesting that to your students or colleagues.

This article is definitely something that students and teachers across our country can relate to right now. During this time, as we are still dealing with interruptions to our traditional learning routines due to COVID-19, Zoom has become an integral part of at-home instruction. As useful and necessary as it currently is, it is not what we are accustomed to. Reading this article reminded me that we are all human, and that feelings of anxiety during this new and unusual time are normal and okay. Now that I have a better understanding of what causes our brains to feel this way, I plan on putting some of the tips to alleviate these stresses to use going forward.