COLLECTIVE(DELIBERATE%CHOICE%IN%ONLINE%COURSE%
CREATION%%
Kevin%Garvey%
Kanda%University!of!International!Studies!
!
DESCRIPTION%OF%THE%COURSE%%!
This!course!is!a!first3year!speaking!and!listening!course!that!focuses!on!skills!such!as!discussion,!
media! analysis,! and! presentations! in! English.! It! meets! four! times! a! week! for! ninety3minute!
periods!for!a!total!of!fifteen!weeks.!The!same!group!of!students!also!takes!a!reading!and!writing!
course!that!meets!for!the!same!amount!of!contact!hours.!The!high!number!of!contact!hours!with!
the!same!people!generally!leads!to!these!courses!being!significant!sites!of!socialization!for!first3year!students.!!
!
As!instructor!of!the!speaking!course,!I!seek!to!create!a!communicative!environment.!By!this!I!
mean!an! environment!in!which! casual,! colloquial,! and! communicative!target! language! use! is!
encouraged,!while!grammatically!perfect!language!is!rewarded!but!not!required.!In!a!functional!
communicative! environment,! students! should! feel! free! to! contradict! or! supplement! teacher!
instruction! or! lecture! with! their! own! ideas! or! learning! outcomes,! as! expressions! of! learner!
autonomy.! Additionally,! students! should! feel! comfortable! socializing! in! the! target! language!
outside!of!classroom!tasks,!as!a!sign!of!intrinsic!motivation!for!language!learning.!
!
Due!to! the!pandemic!in!the! spring! of! 2020,! the! course!was! moved! to!an! online! format.! This!
change! represented! challenges! for! first3year! students! needing! to! form! vital! social! support!
networks.!It!also!presented!a!challenge!for!my!goal!of!creating!a!communicative!environment.!
As!an!instructor,!I!sought!to!identify!and!provide!solutions!for!these!challenges,!detailed!below.!
These! efforts!made!clear! the!central!importance! of! deliberate! choice!in! creating!a! functional!
online!classroom.!!
!
PROBLEMS%ANTICIPATED%%!
Three!key!issues!were!anticipated!ahead!of!the!start!of!the!semester:!the!lack!of!opportunities!
for!students!to!casually!socialize,!the!absence!of!a!common!physical!classroom!in!which!students!
could!freely!mingle,!and!the!limits!of!audiovisual!communication!via!an!online!platform.!
!
First3year!university!students!typically!spend!a!great!deal!of!time!socializing!with!peers.!While!
students!frequently!produce!detailed!reflections!on!their!coursework!in!their!language!journals,!
there!is!a!universal!trend!towards!mentioning!social!interactions!with!peers.!As!an!instructor,!I!
was!deeply!concerned!that!the!online!environment!would!not!provide!adequate!opportunities!
for! first3year! students! to! build! these! social! bonds! that! sustain! them! during! their! years! at!
university.!
!
7.	  Collective	  Deliberate	  Choice	  in	  Online	  Course	  Creation.	  Kevin	  Garvey.	  Pages	  33-­‐36.	  Literacies	  &	  Language	  Education:	  Research	  &	  Practice,	  2020	  Special	  Section:	  Teaching	  During	  a	  Pandemic.	  English	  Language	  Institute,	  KUIS.

During!class!time,!I!was!similarly!concerned!that!students!would!not!have!the!freedom!to!move!
about!a!room!as!they!normally!would,!collectively!building!an!informal!classroom!community.!I!
rely!heavily,!as!an!instructor,!on!the!willingness!of!students!to!work!together!amicably!in!varying!
combinations!throughout!the!semester!and!year.!
!
The! final! issue! I!was! concerned! about!was! the! intelligibility! of! my! instructions! as!well!as! the!
intelligibility!of!student!speech.!Both!the!students!and!the!teacher!were!largely!unfamiliar!with!
online! learning,! and! I! anticipated! a! steep! learning! curve! for! myself! (with! three! weeks! of!
preparation),!and!an!even!steeper!learning!curve!for!the!students.!!
!
SOLUTIONS%%
My!focus!was!on!recreating!the!communicative!environment!of!the!offline!classroom,!wherein!
students! felt! they! could! naturally! and! organically! communicate! in! the! target! language.! The!
solutions!I!arrived!at!were!a!result!of!collaboration,!experimentation,!and!improvisation.!In!each!
case,!I!have!introduced!my!original!issue!and!the!methods!devised!for!solving!it.!!
!
Issue%One:%How%Can%I%Help%Students%Socialize%with%Their%Classmates?%
Sharing(Emails(and(Self!Introductions,
Before! the! start! of! the! semester,! I! emailed! students! with! the! contact! details! of! their! first!
(random)! “study! group”! members.! I! encouraged! them! to! communicate! over! email! and! to!
exchange!contact!information.!Additionally,!I!instructed!students!to!submit!a!self3introduction!
including!pictures! and! a! short! biography.! I! compiled! their! submissions! into! one! large! shared!
document!and!shared!this!with!the!class.!My!goal!with!these!activities!was!to!give!students!an!
opportunity! to! open! communicative! channels! with! one! another,! find! common! interests,! and!
begin!building!friendships.!!
!
Outcomes,and,Reflection,Students!reported!finding!common!interests!and!forming!early!friendships!with!classmates!in!
their! learning! logs.! Additionally,! it! was! clear! to! me! that! students! were! often! continuing! on3going,! long3term! conversational! topics! during! class! time,! and! moving! easily! from! the! simple!
“warm3up”!questions!I!provided!into!an!extended!interaction!in!the!target!language.!!
!
Issue%Two:%How%Can%I%Recreate%the%Feeling%and%Structure%of%a%“Room”%In%Which%Students%
and%Teachers%Can%“Mingle”%and%Interact?%%
I!was!able!to!mitigate!this!issue!through!two!solutions:!randomized!student!lists!and!regular!quiz!
activities!to!structure!the!lesson.!!
!
Solution,One:,Creation,of,Randomized,Study,Group,Lists,In!order! to! ensure!students!were! all!meeting!with! one!another,! I!created! a!spreadsheet! with!
seven! randomized! versions! of! the! class! roster.! With! seven! near3random! study! groups! across!
thirteen! weeks,! I! decided! to! change! groups! every! two! weeks.! One! eventual! change! to! this!
method!was!to!allow!students!to!form!their!own!groups!by!having!them!write!their!names!on!a!
digital!whiteboard!under!categories!based!on!preference!(e.g.!favorite!sport,!favorite!food).!!

Outcomes,and,Reflection,At!the!beginning,!I!believe!students!felt!limited!to!only!talking!with!their!study!groups.!After!two!
rotations!of!study!groups,!I!allowed!students!to!choose!their!own!groups!by!topic!or!members.!
This!method!was!positively!received!by!students,!with!some!reporting!that!it!felt!more!natural!
to!group!themselves!with!others!who!had!similar!topical!preferences.!However,!I!still!introduce!
randomized!pairs!and!assign!study!groups!periodically!to!maximize!student!exposure!and,!in!a!
word,!keep!things!fresh.!!
!
Solution,Two:,Quizzes,for,Conversation,I! used! Google! Forms! and! Classroom! to! write! and! distribute! daily! grammar! and! vocabulary!
quizzes! that! informed! a! warm3up! question.! Google! Forms! compiles! and! visually! represents!
respondent!answers,!and!I!used!this!information!to!give!immediate!feedback!to!the!whole!class!
at!once!on!commonly!missed!questions.!!
!
Outcomes,and,Reflection,Students!often!wrote!about!their!grammar!and!vocabulary!quiz!scores!in!their!learning!logs,!and!
sometimes!asked!questions!during!class!time! about!a! specific! quiz! item.! The! routine! of!daily!
quizzes!gave!the!class!more!structure!and!regularity!online.!Overall,!Google!Classroom!seems!
to!work!well!as!a!framing!device!for!coursework.!!!
!
Issue%#3:%How%Can%I%Maximize%Student%Comprehension?%Use,of,Google,Meet!
Google!Meet!is!a!free!browser3based!teleconferencing!program.!I!ran!a!Meet!session!and!resized!
the!windows!so!that!my!slideshow!and!Meet!window!were!adjacent.!Within!Meet!I!turned!off!my!
camera!and!activated!auto3generated!subtitles.!I!then!shared!my!desktop!screen!on!Zoom.!This!
presented!students!with!a!display!of!my!slides,!subtitles,!and!a!video!feed!of!the!teacher!through!
Zoom.!Students!could!take!a!screenshot!at!any! time.!I!was!able!to!display!four!lines!of!auto3generated!text!at!one!time,!so!a!screenshot!taken!at!the!right!moment!could!capture!a!great!
deal!of!teacher!instruction!for!future!reference.!!
!
Outcomes,and,Reflection,Multiple!students!reported!greatly!appreciating!the!subtitle!function!during!teacher!instruction,!
and!I!wonder!if!it!would!be!possible!to!use!it!in!some!capacity!in!an!offline!class.!Visiting!with!
student!groups,!I!often!saw!them!referring!to!their!screenshots!as!they!negotiated!their!current!
task.! Courses! are! not! tiered! in! this! department,! and! I! believe! the! subtitle! function! was!
particularly!helpful!for!students!with!lower!listening!ability.!!
!
UNDERSTANDING%AND%ACCEPTING%CHANGE%%
Reimagining! the! face3to3face! speaking! and! listening! course! for! online! teaching! has! been!
challenging!but!fascinating.!I!often!found!myself!having!to!balance!the!need!to!digitally!arrange!
student!socialization!with!a!strong!desire!to!respect!their!autonomy.!I!feared!being!either!too!
controlling,! dictating! when! and! where! students! could! interact,! or! too! hands3off,! leaving!
students! with! unstructured! time! and! amorphous! tasks.! The! absence! of! a! readable! physical!

atmosphere!made!me!increasingly!reliant!on!student!learning!journals,!one3to3one!interaction,!
and! incidental! communication! during! class! time! to! understand! how! students! felt! about! the!
course.!!
!
Teachers!and!students!must!learn!that!the!online!class!“room”!only!exists!through!deliberate!
action.! Motivational! aspects! of! language! learning,! such! as! serendipity,! familiarity,! or!
community,!do!not!appear!without!deliberate!choices!by!participants!to!actively!construct!space!
for! them! in! the! disembodied! online! environment.! Without! a! deliberate! collective! choice! to!
construct!this!disembodied!yet!active!learning!community,!online!classes!are!simply!a!series!of!
audiovisual!cues!and!exchanges.!!
!
The!techniques!listed!for!classroom!management!above!were!developed!in!the!shadow!of!the!
face3to3face!class!that!did!not!happen!this!semester.!!I!believe!the!course!improved!over!time!as!
the!teacher!and!students!were!able!to!adjust!our!collective!expectations!of!what!the!class!could!
or! should! be,! and! thus! get! out! from! under! the! shadow! of! the! face3to3face! course.! As! our!
collective! expectations! shift,! I! hope! to! continue! to! improve! and! refine! these! classroom!
management!techniques!and!develop!the!online!course!to!be!uniquely!engaging!and!beneficial.!
At! the! heart! of! that! improvement! is! an! understanding! that! creating! a! communicative!
environment!online!requires!a!deliberate!choice!by!teachers!and!students!to!interact!and!to!build!
a!class!community.!!!!!!