Black Swan Design:  How to Make Your Courses Flexible with Limited Resources

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we moved our face-to-face courses to remote instruction—in a hurry and with “good enough” as our benchmark. As we prepare for in-person education that has to be able to “toggle” to remote teaching in an uncertain future, we must find ways to interact with our students that 1) support their continued learning, 2) show compassion & flexibility for their varied circumstances, and 3) fit within our existing time and prep demands. This webinar will share three low-effort do-them-right-now design techniques for flexible instruction that will reduce student anxiety and pressure, reduce your own instructor frustrations, and allow you to focus on the interactions that you want to have with your students. We will discuss three new-normal practices for assessment techniques: testing, grades, and feedback;  access to materials, interactions, and people (in the course and beyond); and  equitable and inclusive practices that honor your students’ circumstances. All of the techniques and strategies that we will examine in each of these focus areas are backed by neuroscience research that shows us how—and why—we can lower barriers for our students and for ourselves. Are you under a mountain of grading? Learn how to shrink it. Are your students anxious and worried about access to materials or big exams? Learn how to help them see ahead and plan well. Do your students feel like they don’t belong in your course? Learn how to make them feel “a part of” instead of “apart from.”

A few promises: this session will not add to your already stretched resources. In fact, our conversation will help you to decide what you can profitably not pay attention to as you develop and hold class sessions with your students, either in the socially-distanced classroom or remotely. We will also focus on things that you can do without a lot of special equipment, staff support, and development time. Finally, we’ll frame our discussion around ways to honor the various commitments in our students’ and our own lives, in order to find good balance, address systemic inequity, and interact in a supportive way with one another.

Bring your questions and ideas, too: a portion of the webinar time will be devoted to an open ask-the-expert format where you can get help and support for your own specific challenges and plans. 

Thomas J. Tobin, PhD, MSLS, PMP, MOT, CPACC is the Program Area Director for Distance Teaching & Learning on the Learning Design, Development, & Innovation (LDDI) team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as well as an internationally recognized speaker and author on quality in technology-enhanced education. His books include

• Evaluating Online Teaching: Implementing Best Practices (2015).
• The Copyright Ninja: Rise of the Ninja (2017).
• Reach Everyone, Teach Everyone: Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education (2018).
• Going Alt-Ac: A Guide to Alternative Academic Careers (2020).