IMA? (Institute of Management Accountants) continues to offer resources to help academic members contend with the new virtual and hybrid learning environment.?
A recent Faculty Friday webinar, ?HyFlex Teaching: What, Why, and How,? featured seasoned educators Dell Ann Janney, CPA, associate dean and professor of accounting, Culver-Stockton College; and Wendy Tietz, Ph.D., CMA, CSCA, CPA, professor, Kent State University. They discussed how in the current pandemic environment, many faculty members are being asked to teach using the HyFlex model?that is, teaching in the classroom and online simultaneously.
Janney and Tietz shared the findings of their recent faculty survey to assess some of the challenges for online teaching: staying in front of a computer for hours on end; keeping students motivated without breaks; and wi-fi/technology issues, among others. And, more personally for educators: caring for their own children while teaching online.
In their engaging webinar, Janney and Tietz offered numerous suggestions for coping with these challenges, including:
- Setting up Zoom recurring meetings
- Creating a Zoom redirect tool in the school?s learning management system
- Asking students to turn on their cameras and to use Zoom virtual backgrounds
- Checking in with students for feedback?
?The biggest challenge in this environment is engagement, engagement, engagement,? said Janney. To help with student engagement, she recommended using outside polling platforms, such as Poll Everywhere, Nearpod, and Kahoot!
A recorded version of this one-hour webinar, not eligible for CPE credit, is available on YouTube.
Janney and Tietz also participated in a recent episode of IMA?s Count Me In podcast series to talk about the HyFlex model. In their 20-minute talk, they explain exactly what the model does for teachers and students, and how to overcome some of the challenges that may arise. The podcast is available on the IMA website.
Tune in for Tomorrow?s Faculty Friday: The Unexpected Upside of Teaching in a Pandemic
Tomorrow, January 29, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. ET, tune into a thought-provoking Faculty Friday titled, ?Believe It or Not, I Am a Better Teacher Now: The Unexpected Upside of Teaching in a Pandemic,? featuring Kelly Richmond Pope, Ph.D., CPA, associate professor in the School of Accountancy and MIS at DePaul University and renown author, film director, and forensic accounting expert.
Pope will discuss how the COVID-19 global pandemic forced many educators to convert their courses literally overnight. This quick turnaround to online learning for both instructors and students was greeted with uncertainty and challenges. She?ll share some of the valuable lessons she has learned while teaching during the pandemic, including best practice teaching methods and examples of innovative methods to increase classroom engagement. She?ll also reveal how to overcome many pandemic-related teaching obstacles to become a stronger educator.
Register now for the Friday, January 29 webinar.?
Educators can view the entire Faculty Friday library on the IMA website (Note: Recorded webinars are not eligible for CPE credit). Recent offerings include ?The Bots Are Coming?to Intro Accounting,? which covered how to introduce robotic process automation (RPA) and bots into an entry-level accounting course. A recorded version of that webinar is available on YouTube.
Members who have an idea for a webinar or would like to lead one in the future should contact Jodi Ryan, CAE, IMA director of member engagement, at jryan@imanet.org.