Category Archives: College teaching

Zoom? Zoom! Online college teaching puts my communication skills to the stress test

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Updated November 5, 2023

The room 235 classroom clock never changed during the Covid-19 lockdown. Photo by Kevin Swayze

The clock on the wall showed 14 minutes to 11.

That’s what I remember from March 12, 2020.

That was the last day I stood in classroom 235 at Conestoga College in Kitchener. I said goodbye to my business communication students, complained about the broken clock and walked out the door. 

My first winter teaching contract was over. I was looking ahead to returning to that room in May.

The world had other plans.

On Friday the 13th, 2020, Ontario Premier Doug Ford started talking about how Ontario would respond to something called COVID-19. Four days later, the province was locked down.  Everyone was ordered to stay home.  My wife and oldest daughter started sewing surgical masks from cotton fabric originally planned for wall hangings and quilts. 

The first time I went for groceries wearing a floral green mask, I snatched the last two packages of toilet paper from the shelves of my closest Food Basics store.

Coveted Covid toilet paper in March 2020. By Kevin Swayze

And stood in line for an hour to get to the checkout. It felt like I was in a store in Florida under a Hurricane watch.

Lockdown learning

I did return to teaching in May 2020. Call it lockdown learning: My classroom reopened on Zoom.  Thirty international students and me managed the stuttering “high-speed internet.”  I was in my basement. They were jammed in little apartments and basements across Waterloo Region.

Nobody turned their cameras on.  Little black squares for students.  I was teaching into the abyss.

I was learning how to communicate all over again. I was learning and modelling business communication in the new online world.

I thought I was an effective communicator before.  Now, I was a drill sergeant in a supportive communications boot camp. No yelling. No pushups. No 20-mile marches.

I poured on patience and empathy.   Laughed a lot.  Commiserated.  Modelled effective communication tactics, like active listening and open questions.  I offered what felt like decades-long pauses after questions, offering addled students space to reply through audio distortion.

How much impact?

I now wonder how much difference my efforts actually made, considering how unfriendly zoom is for inter-personal communication.

My personal dislike of video communications came through, as my anxiety increased. I can only wonder what three hours of a talking head filling the screen for students did to their stress and anxiety.

Now, after I’m back to teaching in-person classes all the time, I see more research into the profound differences between in-person and online communication.

Researchers tracked brain activity when two people interacted, in person and online. The results didn’t surprise me: it’s harder to connect with someone online.

“In this study we find that the social systems of the human brain are more active during real live in-person encounters than on Zoom,” said Hirsch, the Elizabeth Mears and House Jameson Professor of Psychiatry, professor of comparative medicine and neuroscience, and senior author of the study.

“Zoom appears to be an impoverished social communication system relative to in-person conditions.”

When I’m teaching, it’s all about inter-personal communication. Without trusting me, socially, I doubt students – or anyone – will consider what I share.

My communication style

After I completed a Toastmasters International communication style survey, it was no surprise how I responded to online teaching stress. Here are my results, all scored out of 10.

  • 9 – Supportive – patient, cooperative, and sympathetic. Active listening. Calm and steady – I don’t like tension! (There’s also anegative aspect to the score: I am sometimes indecisive).
  • 2 – Analytical – cautious, precise, and disciplined. Diplomatic. (negative: I can be a perfectionist).
  • 1 – Initiating – sociable and enthusiastic.  Easy communication. Respond to praise (Negative aspects: I tend to talk more than listen).
  • 0 – Direct – results-oriented, focused and competitive (Negative aspects: impatient and demanding)

Confirmed: I am a supportive communicator.  

I don’t push technology to solve problems. I rarely order people around.

Instead of struggling with my class PowerPoint, I tend to talk more about prefer talking Poutine and burritos to keep student attention. Sharing favourite recipes!

I ask questions.  I want to hear about a student’s life experience before logging into the classroom.

Minimal lectures.  I encourage students to share their knowledge.

Their success is my success. 

Online connections

Over six Covid semesters, students respond out of the ether, from overcrowded apartments, or using iPhones while riding a bus home from work on a winter night.

Even during the most stressful online days of Covid, students gave me more than 90 percent positive results in school-wide class experience surveys.  

And I thank them all for teaching me how to improve.

My new normal  – teaching in real and virtual – is all about doubling down on collaboration and conversation.

Classroom 235 looked pretty well the same before Covid lockdown, as after. By Kevin Swayze

I was zooming again in September 2022, but one of my three classes was in person. In the same classroom, I walked out of two and half years ago.  Weird. Very Weird.

The clock on the classroom wall still showed 14 minutes to 11 as the students walk in and I greet them wearing a paper surgical mask.

A lot happened in the 914 days since I last walked back into room 235 – and a lot stayed the same.

This post is based on a speech presented – online – at Cambridge Toastmasters Sept. 15, 2022.

Daylight Saving Time: International students won’t like this change

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I do not envy my international students, as they face an insult to their brains and bodies this weekend from the end of Daylight Saving Time.

It messes changes with Canadians, too, both in spring and fall.  The one-hour time adjustment addles people for up to a week. 

I teach Technical Communications at Conestoga College in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. I’ve already heard some of my international students ask: so why do we do it? I heard the same kind of comments in past semesters from students from Cambridge, Waterloo, and Brantford.

Daylight Saving Time has a complicated, convoluted history in Canada.  There is a consensus, mostly, of few benefits and many downsides of the bi-annual switching between Daylight Saving Time and Standard Time.

I expect grumpy, sleepy, and disoriented students joining me in class at 8 a.m. on Monday, November 6, 2023.

Thanks to that one-hour switch from Daylight to Standard at 2 a.m. Sunday, November 5. I’ll be grumpy, sleepy, and disoriented, too. Moreso than normal, I mean.

I’m always mentally foggy after the “fall back” time change, even after that bonus hour of sleep. I will have to remember to change the clocks on my microwave oven and coffee maker. And I won’t want to go to sleep at my normal bedtime Sunday night.

But it won’t be as bumpy as after the time change on March 10, 2024, when Daylight Saving Time returns for summer. That’s when we’ll all likely be more addled by the loss of an hour of sleep time that night, in return for more sunshine in summer evenings.

I always oversleep after the “spring ahead” clock change. And I have to change the clocks on my kitchen appliances back again.

When you wake up disoriented after the time change, check the official time on Canada’s atomic-powered clocks. 

Daylight Saving Cost: ‘Social Jetlag’

Researchers talk about “social jetlag” due to the time changes. It can prompt people to stay inside and eat more in the winter when it’s healthier to be outside and active in the fewer hours of available sunshine. 

Some research suggests an increased risk of heart attacks, strokes, immune-related, digestive system problems, and injuries after the spring and fall time switches.  

Time changes also disrupt sleep and mental health.

Sorry, Daylight Saving Time Started in Canada

Daylight Saving Time was first implemented in Canadian town in 1908 in Ontario, then a few more in 1914 in Saskatchewan.  

The idea was adopted by Germany, France, and the United Kingdom during the First World War. It was intended to maximize work hours before sunset, minimizing the need for artificial lighting. 

The idea spread across Europe, back to North America, and eventually to a peak of 143 countries around the world trying it, at least for a while.  Today, the tally is down to 71, with more countries canceling each year.

In 2023, it’s 111 years and counting for Daylight Savings in Canada. Except, not in the Yukon Territory, most of Saskatchewan, and some parts of parts of British Columbia and Quebec.

The push to end Daylight Saving Time continues across the rest of Canada.  

The Province of Ontario passed legislation to end it, as soon as neighbouring Quebec province New York State does. New York’s Daylight Saving plans depend on proposed legislation at the United States federal government.

The idea of year-round summer Daylight time is part-way through U.S. government approvals in 2022, with hopes of becoming law in 2023.  

But the process is stalled in the U.S. and Daylight Saving Time remains in Canada.

Free activities for international students in Cambridge, Kitchener, and Waterloo

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Sunset over the Grand River at Linear Park in Cambridge, Ontario Canada.
Sunset over the Grand River at Linear Park in Cambridge, Ontario Canada.

I share tips for inexpensive fun and relaxation with my international students at Conestoga College.

Here’s a list of my recent suggestions to my Technical Communications classes, with a focus on minimal cost recreation. This is also likely of interest to any student at Conestoga, and at the University of Waterloo or Wilfrid Laurier University.

During the break week, when I’m not teaching, I share information about activities that don’t cost much or any money.

I encourage them to spend time outside visiting:

Kitchener Public Library, Waterloo Public Library and the IdeaExchange library in Cambridge, offer events, such as movies, crafts, and a 3D printer access. Yes, the libraries still offer books and movies to borrow.  (Students will be asked to sign up for a library card for any registered events).

There’s an e-sports gaming hub open to Conestoga Students at the Waterloo Campus of Conestoga College, at 108 University Avenue, in Waterloo.

There are also Farmer’s Markets to visit in Kitchener, St. Jacobs, and Cambridge.

I also always suggest international students go for a walk in Downtown Cambridge, which straddles the Grand River. Four bridges are open for pedestrians to cross the river in what was the City of Galt. Galt, Preston, Hespeler and parts of Waterloo and North Dumfries townships were joined in 1973 to create the City of Cambridge.

There’s also evening video shows projected on the Old Post Office branch of IdeaExchange, the Cambridge public library system. Times and shows follow the seasons.

Cambridge is a popular place for movie and television production companies looking for filming locations, often including historic buildings and the Main Street bridge as backdrops.

Are you ready to use Ai to build your public speaking and leadership skills?

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“Robot Technology” by Alex Knight/ CC0 1.0

So, how will you use generative artificial intelligence to help you improve your next speech or presentation?

That’s the question I asked in an Ai-themed education session at my Cambridge Toastmasters Club meeting on Aug. 17, 2023.

Some people replied they were already experimenting with it, while others were curious.  I remain open to exploring it, with a wary outlook. Yes, I do worry about how generative Ai will impact student – and faculty – learning in my business communication classes at Conestoga College.

Whatever you do, I encourage you not to trust whatever answer an Ai tool like ChatGPT delivers to you.  It efficiently delivers what appear to be facts, but it doesn’t really know anything. Things don’t always go well, even when you ask it to share its sources and references.

How ChatGPT Ai works

Sometimes, Ai chatbots don’t know what to say and “hallucinate” to complete the task. They make stuff up, kind of like the way humans do.

Keep all your fingers

So stay in control of the tool – don’t let that tool control you. As someone who’s used to using power tools in woodworking, control is a good thing.  I still have all my fingers. 

In my experiments with Ai, it often felt like magic. Other times, it was brilliantly stupid.

I’ve sometimes received wrong information in a chat response. Or the words looked pretty, like an empty crystal vase: all packaging and nothing inside.

I’ve found the more precisely I frame a question, the more accurate the response.  Prompt engineering is a thing.  Learn more about how to ask Ai effective questions in this free online course offered by The University of Michigan.

Trying on Ai for size

Yoodli is an Ai company that records your speech or presentation on video and offers speech coaching. Toastmasters International partnered with the startup company, offering a custom interface as part of your membership. Here’s the Toastmasters Yoodli FAQ list.

I used Yoodli to help me prepare for the speech. I found it helpful, offering me a tally of my filler words and reviewing my word choices. I’ll keep experimenting with it.

In 4 Ways to Use ChatGPT in Toastmasters, Mark-Shane Scale of Talbot Trail Toastmasters suggests using Ai to help with Toastmasters club meetings:

  • Generating or Brainstorming a Theme for the Meeting
  • Speech Writing Brainstorming Support
  • Impromptu Speaking Prompts/Questions
  • Word of the day suggestions 

I encourage you to experiment with Ai and explore your comfort level with the technology I believe is here to stay.

Proceed with caution

Sign up for ChatGPT at openai.com. The basic tier is offered at no charge, but be aware that your data will be used to help the Ai service improve.  So, effectively you’re paying use of the tool with the data you share, and you’re nudged to sign up for the paid version ChatGPT Plus for $US20 a month (as of July 2023).  

Or you can sign up for the Microsoft version of ChatGPT that’s cooked into the company’s Bing online search engine.  You ask questions in a chat, and it offers summarized answers with links to source websites.   Microsoft is also pitching its Edge internet browser as a “copilot for the web.” 

Google’s Bard Ai tool is not yet available in Canada.

To minimize exposing your personal data to any online service or email list, consider creating a “burner” email account. It’s essentially a throwaway email account distanced from your personal or business accounts. Even then, I won’t share any personal or copywritten information with Ai. I don’t know where or how it will be used.

And if you use Ai generated content in a speech, ethically, I suggest you make your research source clear – just as if you quoted a book or a movie. It’s the ethical and human thing to do.

No sweat! Don’t celebrate Canada Day like I used to on the family farm?

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Canada Day is Sat., July 1, 2023. Photo by Praveen Kumar Nandagiri on Unsplash

Canada Day was usually just another work day on the farm when I was growing up.

Not like today, when it’s a holiday with community parades and fireworks in Cambridge, Kitchener, or Waterloo. Or a backyard family barbecue might be more appealing.

Now that I’m a business communications professor at Conestoga College, I encourage the international students I teach to enjoy the break from classes, join in community events and learn more about Canada.

Canada Day events Waterloo Region

For my students at the Doon or Downtown Kitchener campuses, there are Canada Day festivities in Waterloo Region. The Canada Day parade down King Street in Cambridge ends at Riverside Park, where fireworks light up the skies.

And for my Brantford students, there’s plenty to do on Canada Day in Brantford, too.

July 1 now is so different than when I was growing up on a farm just south of Hamilton, Ontario.

Late June and early July was in prime time for cutting and bailing hay, before putting it in the barns to feed cattle over the winter. The weather was usually stinking hot and humid. And it felt even hotter when working the upstairs mow of the barn, under a sheet metal roof with minimal air circulation and clover dust burning my eyes.

Days that felt like 35 C outside felt more like 45C or 50C up in the mow. I remember sweat stinging my eyes and running down my back as I worked beside my dad and brother with hooks to drag, lift and stack 30 kg bales of cut and bundled grasses.

It looked like what was happening in this video, except we would always be wearing gloves. The video below shows how I remember the bales of hay carried up into the barn for stacking.

Didn’t care about Canada Day

Almost five decades ago, I didn’t care that most stores were closed on July 1. If was sunny and hot, we were putting bales up and in the hayloft, not shopping.

Now, I tell my international students that since July 1 is a national holiday, most stores and businesses will be closed across Canada.

It wasn’t until I turned 16, and started working part-time in a camera store in shopping centre off the farm, that I started paying attention to the Canada Day Holiday. Especially when it fell on a Saturday, like in 2023, when my holiday day might end up on Friday, or a Monday. I learned to like working on July 1, because I was paid a premium rate.

And later, when a newspaper reporter and assigned to work on holidays, the employee union contract guaranteed I receive double-time pay.

Some designated tourist areas, such as St. Jacob’s village and Farmer’s Market district north of Waterloo, Toronto and Niagara Falls, have exemptions that allow stores to remain open on a “statutory holiday” such as Canada Day.

You probably won’t find me at the St. Jacob’s farmer’s market on Canada Day now.

It’s a place far removed from the farm I grew up on. It’s dressed up for tourists driving Teslas, not this old farm boy who is fond of pickup trucks.

Without a bit of sweat on my brow, I have a tough time reliving warm memories of being with my family, on a working holiday celebrating Canada Day.