SCAD Savannah Goes Virtual: Five Best Practices for Dynamic Digital Learning
At the height of the pandemic, when university classes transitioned online and everyone — students, parents, and scholars alike — weighed the efficacy of virtual instruction, a SCAD professor invited his students to look over his shoulder. Literally. That’s right: From his in-home workspace, SCAD professor Keith Osborn mounted a video camera above his drafting desk so his students could have a real-time, bird’s eye view as he demonstrated the finer points of animation.
While the search for silver linings in a crisis as disruptive as the COVID-19 pandemic might seem trite, we must nonetheless appreciate opportunities for seismic shifts and profound progress in moments of uncertainty. This is my mindset, and professor Osborn’s ingenious instructional improvisation perfectly embodies the SCAD ethos of preeminent education and student-centered engagement — were it not for the pandemic, he might have never thought to alter his students’ perspective. Yet, his inventive teaching is just one example of the innovation SCAD brought to the virtual classroom.
At the end of the most unusual, yet transformative, quarter I’ve ever witnessed in my 20 years as a university president, I can’t help but celebrate SCAD’s accomplishments, anchored in five best practices that unified our faculty and assured students — who received not only a one-of-kind education but a relevant introduction to virtual tools and environments that will define the creative professions and world of work for the foreseeable future.
1. Positivity makes productivity
Enthusiasm is at the heart of the SCAD mission just as energy must be central to the virtual learning environment. In today’s digital classrooms, positive energy begins with an appreciation shared by students and professors: They are partners, architects of an academic journey unlike no other, where they elevate and evolve courses bravely, boldly, and quickly — where they are literally making history.
We encouraged this mindset at SCAD through thorough, communal orientation sessions developed during the pandemic and hosted before the start of the Spring 2020 Quarter. In those session, tailored for both faculty and students, the SCAD family learned not only how to maximize the digital environment, but how to push the boundaries of digital instruction. That same spirit of creative camaraderie guided SCAD Faculty Peer Partners — a specialized team of virtual instruction gurus who supported every single course during the spring quarter. By proposing a shared mission to faculty and students, asking them help author it, and supporting them with multifarious resources, SCAD cemented meaningful experiences and promoted ever-evolving student learning.
2. Happy students feel more confident
It’s long documented that learning thrives when students are not only intellectually engaged, but physically and emotionally healthy and happy. Just months before the pandemic, SCAD created Bee Well, a suite of services and programming, from counseling support groups to Pilates classes, that the university swiftly transformed into digital offerings. Yet, because we knew self-care and student wellbeing would be even more important during a pandemic, we did even more: 88 brand-new Bee Well workshops, 13 virtual Bee Well support groups for various student populations, and mindfulness and meditation webinars helmed by SCAD friend and health expert Jenny Evans.
Actions, not words, evince an organization’s priorities, and I know that Bee Well’s virtual transition clearly communicated to our students that we care about their welfare and are committed to creating healthy environments in which they can learn. SCAD professors partnered with Bee Well professionals, hosting in-class workshops and drop-ins that further signaled the university’s student-centered philosophy. Above all else, SCAD faculty created spaces for and moments of dialogue in the classroom, where members of the SCAD family checked in on one another, shared stressors and successes alike, and made it clear that pandemic — as much as any course assignment — was a valuable learning opportunity to experience and feel.
3. Focus on the challenges at hand
The quick pivot to virtual instruction and social distancing was as emotionally jarring as it was disorienting. Now more than ever, students need to be reassured not only that they’re getting a worthwhile virtual education, but that the material, concepts, and projects they develop in the digital classroom are relevant — professionally and societally. The same holds true for the virtual environment itself: The medium’s relevance lies in its mirroring of the realities of work-from-home professionalism.
At SCAD we saw this in SCADpro, which took its much-lauded — and, typically, in-person — assignments to virtual venues using Zoom, Slack, and other collaboration platforms. The result: corporate partnerships with industry leading clients that model those happening in creative disciplines all over the world at the moment. Moreover, the assignments them could not have been more reflective of the moment. SCADpro students worked with: medical professionals do make life-saving PPE; education experts to shape the future of at-home K-12 instruction; and logistics professionals to reexamine supply chains. Still other courses, outside SCADpro, helped students market and sell their art, while the university’s professional communication studio — SCADamp — coached students how develop, deliver, and captivate compelling pitches and presentations using the latest work-from-home technologies. SCAD leaders, faculty, and students made certain that every component of each class and the entire curriculum blended together to create an unquestionably relevant, professional education experience.
4. Technology is your new best friend
As social distancing endures and work-from-home is the new normal, technology is even more important in virtual instruction. And yet, as swiftly as the pandemic arrived and universities found themselves piloting new applications, platforms, and other tools, we are reminded that not all professors are tech savvy. In fact, some of SCAD’s finest and most popular professors, such as Dr. Robin Williams, our chair of architectural history, are renowned for their face-to-face, in-person lectures. Yet Dr. Williams took his enthralling architectural tours to YouTube — he created a channel and invited his class along on his walks through Savannah.
As all faculty fine-tuned their digital classrooms, SCAD Faculty Peer Partners offered tech assists while the university’s IT unit hosted daily, open-to-anyone tech-talk and help-desk sessions over Zoom. SCAD IT went even farther, developing Project V-Lab, a remote-access portal housing supercharged software key to students’ professional development. Such efforts — not to mention the no-cost extension of myriad software licenses to students — strategically created robust learning environments for faculty and students alike.
5. Make something happen
As anyone working or studying from home knows, the day-to-day can feel repetitive. And while repetition can create routine, too much of the same can also sap morale, energy, and creativity. We need breaks to recharge, and we need changes of pace and compelling conversations that inspire and motivate — which is why we created Guests and Gusto especially for the spring virtual quarter.
From Madame Gandhi to Ashley Longshore, from Jerry Saltz to Jason Alexander, a host of artists, musicians, activists, auteurs, and luminaries graced the screens of SCAD Bees’ laptops during the quarter. Not only did these friends of SCAD discuss the happenings of the moment, they also embodied the enduring spirit of art and design that will shape our world going forward. Meanwhile, SCADpro Hack-A-Thons, 48-hour virtual design sprints, debuted as lively innovation challenges that complemented core constructs taught in digital courses and moved theory to practice.
Truly, these events — invented specifically for virtual learning — not only augmented in-class learning but bolstered the university’s sense of community by creating additional student touchpoints. And, as the very notion of the university it tested and tried in this time, the importance of an academic community cannot be overstated. While courses for Fall 2020 at SCAD will continue to be delivered primarily virtually, we are currently planning for designated SCAD spaces to be accessible to ensure students have preeminent access to technologies and equipment that might not otherwise be available. However students wish to proceed, the best practices we’ve created for digital learning will continue to guide our work. Of course, our work will continue to evolve. Just as SCAD will continue to invent.
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