Balancing Privacy & Presence in Post-Covid Pedagogy: A TPC Study

Study Results & Discussion

Though this study began as a response to a pedagogical call from the field of TPC educators, I want to start by saying that it is so much more than that. From my first interview to my last, the colleagues I spoke to relished the opportunity to share what they and their students have been going through during the pandemic. The fear, anxiety, self-doubt, worry, isolation, loneliness, and lack of human contact was and remains for some of us overwhelming. As I reviewed these results for this article, I was taken aback by just how strong the desire for empathy, compassion, and human connections are that we have for each other in TPC. Our dedication to our departments, colleagues, students, community partners, support staff, and our families and friends is without bounds and I hope the results of this report do TPC stakeholders justice and give voice to the post-pandemic situation. Hereafter, I explore the thematic results illustrating TPC faculty’s pedagogical strain, experience of technological change, problems with privacy, environmental impacts on teaching and learning, and their quest for human presence in their captured, distanced classrooms.

Pedagogical Peradventure

With more online TPC courses resulting from the pandemic, faculty share significant changes to their pedagogy and growing concerns about their efficacy. As Johnson-Eilola & Selber (2021) iterated, the new social and technological changes in TPC have invited “a wholesale reconsideration of what [faculty] and their students were doing in the classroom” (p. 155). Many study participants said that they had difficulty rescaffolding content for their students using new technologies. Participants, regardless of experience, found themselves like Phillip Kelley—a 5th year PhD student—struggling while planning his course LMS to cope with asynchronous teaching. According to Ernesto Day, a participant with faculty training experience, “if you are going to do asynchronous, you have to know what your course is based on and it has to be built and done before day one.” When the pandemic started, half of the study participants (N=5) built their TPC courses online on the fly.

A fully digital approach to course development, while familiar for some, introduced pedagogical obstacles to others. Even experienced, full professors teaching online synchronously had difficulty adjusting their teaching methods. Participant Sandra Nash at a small private institution shares, “Whereas my pedagogy might involve whiteboards and meeting in small groups, I had to rethink a lot of that.” Like most participants, she found that collaborative, experiential learning situations in digital classrooms (asynchronous, synchronous, and even hybrid face-to-face) are hard to manage. The technologies available, she confesses, “were just not supportive.” As a result, the majority of participants (N=7) in the study found their typical pedagogical practices were not well accommodated by the social and technological changes to TPC classrooms and this left many feeling defeated.

On experiencing the sense of pedagogical doubt, Ernesto, from his support position at a large public university, shared that emerging technologies entering pedagogical practice left “a lot of older faculty feeling as if they just need to go ahead and take their retirement.” He emotionally offered, “a lot of them came to me and said, ‘I think I’m just going to retire. I can’t make this jump.’” These despondent faculty are not alone in their feeling of helplessness. A recent piece by McClure & Fryer (2022) stated that some scholars are “retiring earlier than planned” and “some graduate students, too, might take an early exit and choose not to pursue academic jobs because of what they have experienced and what they have seen their faculty mentors endure.” But, Ernesto, as a technology pioneer, does not want to lose his senior faculty fellows because of new software. He “went to their office[s] and [he] talked to them.” He said,

He lamented to me that this impact on faculty is something he will never forget. His fear, shared by faculty at Josh Rogers and Kendra McGuires’ universities, stems from “[the] initial transfer to the digitization of courses and the changing of technology, [and] the hopelessness and the outdated feeling that many of the older faculty felt.” Many participants noted “the danger that [retirement] posed, not only to the department, but to the field in general.” Thus, the pedagogical disruption of technology and increase in pedagogical doubt weighs on the field and should be carefully monitored.

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Technology Terraforming

In addition to significant pedagogical reorientation, TPC faculty expressed that the very fabric of their classroom was transformed through new technologies. During the spring 2020 semester, all higher education went online during the emergency lockdown (Teräs, Suoranta, Teräs, & Curchur, 2020). This migration meant that all teaching and learning was mediated by technology for several months, and many TPC classes that were face-to-face remain distance learning courses today. According to all participants in this study (N=10), the technology they use for the classroom changed substantially since “classes moved online” (Frith, 2021, p.1). Most notably, faculty indicate that they regularly use LMSs (N=10), have begun teleconferencing (N=8), started including social or collaborative media platforms (N=5), and now use audio, video, and/or screen capture software as part of their classes (N=8).

According to participant Josh Rogers—a full professor with decades of experience—all this technology adoption led to many faculty stories about how much time they spent this year trying to teach their courses and how inefficient it was. “They couldn't get anything else done and their lives were just completely consumed with trying to figure out this new mode of instruction.” This stark revelation, Roger's account of his colleagues' plight, was reiterated by several individuals in this study. However, this point of view on technology adoption does not align with some reported institutional perspectives that are leveraging a technology initiative to “please, please, please reach out to your students and make them come back [in the fall] because we need their tuition…,” shared Kendra.

According to Gallagher & Vance (2021), “The technological solutions that universities and organizations have implemented include impressive features, collaborative functions, and…appear to ensure human presence, making digital systems seem to be a panacea” (p. 56). Participants like Verna Elliot—an instructor from a large public university—shared that they “added a couple of new technologies,” and created support for students as “they find a way to learn the new system and navigate the LMS early on.” But, many students who prefer traditional classes, says Verna, “[are] not nearly as happy about the classroom situation; [and], it was harder for them to invest themselves in the digital classroom because they didn't want to be there to begin with” and it felt “empty.” This sentiment confirms findings about student feelings toward online classes from studies by Martinez et al. (2019) and Harris & Greer (2021) from both before and during the pandemic.

Further, the majority of participants (N=8) started using online conferencing software (e.g. Zoom, Webex, Teams, Meet, Skype, etc.) as part of their instruction, even when their courses were predominantly asynchronous. But, per Jody Henry’s exasperated utterance, even though “[we] have more access to resources that institutions have,” like Zoom, the faculty, students, community partners, and clients for TPC are “at [their] Zoom bandwidth limit.” According to Nadler (2020), the issue of “Zoom fatigue” has become a problem in education despite its use pre-pandemic. It simply wasn’t used as much for everything before the crises, but it is now and that is leading to increased burnout. Therefore, the panacea of technology for the world of the classroom may not be a true TPC cure-all.

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Privacy Perforation

As a result of technological adoptions, TPC stakeholder privacy has reemerged as a key concern for a handful of data-minded digital pedagogues. In this study, several participants (N=5) noted grave concerns associated with the increase in faculty and student data sharing and capture. For concerned scholars like Celia Abbott—a full professor at a small private university—the situation is dire because when it comes to privacy on new technology, she claims, “I don’t think we’re anywhere near where this platform needs to be.” Celia’s concerns and those of other participants mirrored some of those attributed to York (2021) and Vie (2021) when it comes to online data collection and our rights, as well as confirming the need for increased education about our digital data and its management (Duin & Tham, 2020).

According to Ernesto, as a result of the digital migration of TPC courses, we need to up our game where digital data creation, instruction, and management are involved. He states,

Ernesto’s awareness of our responsibility toward our students, their data, and how data management is taught and practiced as part of digital TPC courses is on point. We, as information and communication professionals, must consider the data of all stakeholders in our courses, regardless of initiatives or environment, and make sure that we are acting in accordance with all individuals’ best interests (York, 2021). But, ensuring privacy is not always as easy as asking and answering Ernesto's important questions.

Participant Claudia George, an instructor at a small private university, points out from her vantage that the privacy issue is often complicated by institutional factors. She states,

In Claudia’s situation, it seems that the appropriate actions for managing student data and information is unclear at best. As in the scholarship of Duin & Tham (2020), it seems the responsibility of figuring out and passing along important knowledge about TPC stakeholders data and understanding privacy concerns is the sole duty of the faculty. Not only that, evidently the guidance that is provided in some cases may complicate a tough situation even more. Hence, TPC stakeholder data privacy and education in institutional settings with increased virtual education and languid classroom privacy policies entrenched in archaic legalese are equally in great need of attention.

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Environmental Endeavors

The permeability of TPC stakeholder privacy is very closely associated with the changes to our course environments. As the number of technologies used by participants in the virtual learning space increases, the classroom becomes more fractured leading to distinct environmental impacts on faculty and students that were palpable for all participants (N=10). Verna indicates,

Like many faculty in the study, Verna adopted multiple technologies that split their course environment. They integrated non-educational communication platforms like Discord, Slack, and Hangouts into the classroom space to improve engagement, but not without labor and emotional costs.

The creation of “off topic” communication spaces for Verna, like Jody and others, was a time consuming attempt to persuade students to participate in online TPC courses. Though these efforts seemed to work, Jody shared that she’s “been asked to make really grand changes in the way that [students] learn and interact,” and Verna assured me, “I had to win them over to the new environment, so that they could get on with their learning.” Within typically asynchronous class spaces, both of these faculty created synchronous outlets for students to connect with them and each other, but Verna has “heard some people refer to [this new work] as “Emotional Labor,” and “[It’s] all become a lot more difficult in the new landscape.”

Turning to the new environmental effects on students, they too have felt the impact of changes in the TPC classroom in asynchronous, synchronous, and hybrid courses alike. According to grad student teacher Phillip Kelley, his “students are much less able to participate, in general, because of [what’s] going on in their life ecologies.” He says when they are online it is “like they just don't have as much time or energy, which of course will have downstream consequences for the quality of [their] learning.” Student’s, like Phillip’s, are not only stressed in this virtual environment because of surveillance in the virtual space, as discovered by Gallaglher, Meister, and Russell (2021), they are also suffering from isolation, depression, and loneliness due to lacking human contact.

Josh Roger’s captures the harsh realities of student experiences within this new environment. Rogers iterated a story about a freshman student he recently interacted with after his own hybrid course meeting. He candidly shared,

Stories of students wanting to be in the classroom, with their peers, talking to professors, but finding that they are in an online limbo were numerous among participants. Though we are endeavoring to improve our TPC course environments through technology, there is simply not a good replacement for the presence of the classroom.

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Performing Presence

Last, but perhaps most importantly, the study data reveals that the creation of presence in digital TPC classrooms is integral to stakeholder success. The TPC digital environment and the attributes of meaningful educational experiences indicate that presence is a must for faculty and students (Stewart, 2017; Martinez et al., 2019; Gallagher & Vance, 2021; Harris & Greer, 2021). Further, our human need for connection, like that expressed by the student in Josh’s story, puts enormous pressure on the performance of presence in exclusively virtual spaces like the online classroom (ISPR, 2000). All participants in this study (N=10) reiterated the necessity of the human element in successful teaching and learning experiences. And, in no small part, TPC faculty each took it upon themselves to be more present in their classes after the onset of the pandemic. Two distinct avenues of performing presence emerged from the data as shared between the majority of participants; the first avenue focused on supportive, professional presence, and the second avenue focused on creating personal presence.

Regarding the performance of professional presence, almost half of the study participants—Verna, Ernesto, Jody, and Kendra—dedicated themselves to being more available to students. Service to students was offered no matter the digital course environment (asynchronous, synchronous, or hybrid). Verna interacted with synchronous students during and outside of class using Discord, Slack, and Hangouts. Often, they shared that they were interacting with students from multiple sections at once regarding course content and personal interests. Ernesto conducted “coffee talks” at any time of the day or night, made a YouTube cooking channel to help students isolated and on their own for the first time, and even hosted a “drive-up dessert bar” handing out food and advice to students most impacted by the pandemic. Jody instituted an “openness on deadlines and…tried to create more meaningful spaces for students to engage” on class topics. And, Kendra, like many of her asynchronous colleagues stated she has “always been concerned about my presence in the online classroom.” So, she relaxed policies and set up “Webex classrooms” as “[a] room, where [students] can drop in before an assignment is due” because “that isn't really that difficult to do, [and] it shows students ‘hey I’m here, I’m not just some random person behind the computer.’” So, it is plain to see that faculty made themselves more present to their students professionally in their digital TPC courses, but their presence does not stop there.

Despite many faculty feeling overwhelmed, like they could not continue teaching or simply defeated by the challenges of the pandemic, all participants (N=10) reported that they had tried to be personally present for students via the extension of compassion and/or emotional support. A pair of narratives on personal presence in this capacity illustrates the compassion exhibited by TPC faculty in this study. Starting with Claudia, despite institutional forces against her, she took it on herself “to extend a lot more grace [to students].” When her students seemed to “break down.” She instituted wellness challenges for extra credit that “reminded [them] they were part of a larger community,” she “relaxed” attendance policies, and gave out “notes…of encouragement and shout-outs during class.” This personal presence boosted her participation in the hybrid course design.

Kendra too, on top of her “drop-in rooms,” shared a touching experience with a depressed student. She compassionately offered,

Together, Kendra and this student made arrangements for both the successful completion of the class and the student’s graduation that summer. Thus, these narratives and this study reveals that the creation of presence, professional and personal, is key to successful student learning in the current TPC digital classroom, but it is not without risk.

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