Why My Online Learning Manifesto Still Resonates Today

Kyra DeLoach

I Said What I Said Nene Leakes GIF from Tenor.com

As I’ve gone through the experience of online teaching and learning I have gained so much. I am someone who works with students in person but have always wanted the flexibility of online education for my learners, as I usually make them sit in a room for hours listening to me talk about training and other things. Throughout my time in CEP 820, I have learned much more than that.

When I started this course I wrote an online learning manifesto. At the time, I remember feeling kind of silly and having a hard time. I am not a teacher... I don’t have an online course… What do I know?! After revisiting it– I said what I said.

In my manifesto, I broke it down into pieces of advice for what I think online learning should be. Reading the manifesto made me feel inspired and proud. Throughout the course I also realized that I had already been doing some of the things that are recommended for successful online spaces in my personal life such as my Learner Inventory – reading Michelle Pacansky-Brock's blog I felt seen! Michelle said, “Humanized online teaching leverages students’ lived experiences as the context of your curriculum. (Pacansky-Brock, n.d.) This was in line with my manifesto when I said Online learning should be intentional. and Online learning should be learner-focused. Showing students that you want to get to know them and allowing them to know you better at the beginning of the semester does just this.

Another resource that aligns with my manifesto is the Humanizing Visual Guide. This gave other examples of how to humanize your class and talked about why it is important. Michelle says, “Humanizing leverages learning science and culturally responsive teaching to create an inclusive, equitable online class climate for today's diverse students.” This resonated with me because, for me, working with college students, I try to make everything personable and relatable. I have found that being real and having my voice shine through makes me get through to my students more than any other strategy I have tried. By letting my students see the real me, they feel more comfortable showing me the real them and letting themselves make mistakes and make magic.

All in all, I feel like my CEP 820 class validated that I am moving in the right direction, I am in the right place, and I am doing something that I am passionate about. I think that technology gives us so many opportunities to change and make things extraordinary with anything– especially education. I will leave you with this from my previous manifesto– “Online learning should be whatever it needs to be.” This will change with each course, each semester, and each student that you have. I believe that this statement is true of online learning and if you make things learner-focused you will make the course whatever it needs to be. 

References

DeLoach, K. (June 2, 2024) The Online Learning Manifesto. Wix. https://deloach6.wixsite.com/living-with-purpose/post/the-online-learning-manifesto

Pacansky-Brock, M. (2020). How to humanize your online class, version 2.0 [Infographic]. https://brocansky.com/humanizing/infographic2

Pacansky-Brock, M. (n.d.). Getting to know you survey. Michelle Pacansky-Brock's website. https://brocansky.com/humanizing/student-info