Thinking about distance learning + limited internet access

Over the last year, I’ve had a chance to speak to museum associations from Alaska to Oklahoma to New Hampshire about distance learning. One question has come up repeatedly: how do we offer distance learning programs when internet is unreliable?

The good news is, many students are back in school. Schools have more reliable internet and museums are doing more virtual field trips to a whole class instead of 30 students signing on individually from their home. Additionally, educators are able to download digital resources and integrate them into their curriculum without relying on students to do it. Plus:

The bad news is, the digital divide is still very real. “9.3 million students…attend rural schools…[and about] 18 percent of households with school-age children lack broadband access at home.” Even if schools are open, if students have to quarantine at home and join separately from their classmates, they may not be able to log on.

The digital divide also affects museums. Smaller institutions who didn’t offer digital programs before the pandemic, pivoted; but in the pivot, they found that they didn’t have the technological infrastructure to support it. Like schools, they may have invested in mobile hotspots. And also like schools, they may have found those hot spots limiting.

So to answer the question above: how do we offer distance learning programs when internet is unreliable?

In the near future, create content that can be accessed asynchronously or on a smartphone. According to the U.S. Census, 84% of households have a smartphone, while only 78% have a desktop or laptop and 63% have a tablet.

In the long term, museums invest in their own infrastructure through grants, partnerships, and perhaps even other museums.

So-crazy-it-just-might-work idea: what if live virtual field trips didn’t have video? If video slows internet speeds, have everyone turn off video. Provide images ahead of time they can print out or pull up on their device. Turn on captions for accessibility. Use other features of the platform (like chat, polls, unmuting) to engage.

Should I continue to create digital programs in a post-pandemic world?

I had the honor of giving the keynote address at the 2022 North Carolina Museums Council (in-person!) conference. The conference theme was ‘Reexamining Our Stories’ and the thesis for my keynote was ‘to reexamine our practice is to remain relevant.’

I used Nina Simon’s definition of relevancy (make connections that unlock meaning) to layout my argument that museums made great strides in reimagining their digital practices during the pandemic to engage with audiences, and we can’t stop now.

Here are three excerpts from the talk that answer this pressing question of whether museums should continue to invest in digital.

  1. Yes! Because even if our physical doors are opening, creating digital access opens new pathways to connect with audiences.

    There is a lot to learn in stories of specific museums. But I’ve also had the opportunity to reflect on global trends hosting the Microsoft Libraries and Museums podcast. 

    On the show, I interview innovators in libraries and museums from around the world about how they have found new ways to use digital to tell their stories. The benefits of using digital are many, but after three seasons of conversations I’ll name a few trends that have emerged: 


    First, digital can take us behind the scenes: We may be the one industry where people love or long to see how the sausage gets made. They want to see what’s behind closed doors. Where’s the rest of our collection? How do we preserve objects? Digital allows us to answer those questions and take visitors into previously restricted areas. This can be done by doing live streams from storage or conservation, showing off rare objects and unseen spaces. On the podcast, the     National Library of the Netherlands shared how they experimented with virtual reality to showcase a fragile and rare children’s pop-up book of Noah’s Ark. They collaborated with a technologist so that you could stand at the bottom of the ark, look up, walk around and through these pop-up pages. This book is otherwise in storage where it is too delicate to be manipulated by visitors. Virtual reality gives it new life and new opportunities for meaning making.

    Second, digital increases access and reach. When we celebrate what’s unique to our museum through online platforms, it sets us apart from the abundance of online content and broadens our connection to more audiences who can find meaning in our collection. For example, the Mountain Heritage Center has an exhibit on quilts that just opened earlier this month. It celebrates the artistry of this craft from southern Appalachia. Taking this example, when we share our unique collections by digitizing them, sharing on social media, or through digital programming we are opening ourselves up to new audiences that may never have found their way to us otherwise. In this example, there are crafters, historians and other niche audiences outside Western North Carolina that will be attracted to that content because of their own interests. Then there are other audiences - let’s say designers, schools, etc.  - that didn’t think they were looking for inspiration from quilts, but when they see it, they find something new and it draws them in. And maybe there’s a third group, too: they may be more fleeting in their interest, but you’ve momentarily captured their attention, broadened their horizons, and shared your passion with them.

    …

    Nina Simon adds to her definition of relevancy by saying that “it is essential. It gets people to pay attention, to walk in the door, to open their hearts. But it is also meaningless without powerful programming on the other side of the door. If the door doesn’t lead to valuable offerings, if nothing touches peoples’ hearts, interest fades. They don’t return.” 

    …

    We now know that the door doesn’t have to only be our physical doors. It can be a virtual door as well. If anything, digital allows us to offer more ways to invite people in. They can choose which door to walk through based on their interest, geographical location, and preferred way to connect. Then, we can welcome them on the other side with content that piques their interest and is aligned to our mission and values.

    …

    Now, what I've hoped to answer in part, with all of these examples, is the question, perhaps unstated but maybe felt by many is: 'do we really have to keep doing this'? You might especially be asking yourself this question when resources are low, tech difficulties are high, and you’re just about done, or you’re a staff of one.  

    My answer is yes for all the examples that I've shared with you today: the opportunities to reach new audiences; to involve communities; to remain flexible in the future; to creatively tell our stories.

  2. Yes! Because investing in infrastructure also allows us to remain flexible for the future.


    There are many other reasons our buildings may need to close their doors in the future - remodels or expansions; gallery updates; our own version of extreme weather here in North Carolina - but we don’t have to be caught on the backfoot anymore. We had to learn on the fly. As we’ve heard in the conference sessions today, the work we’ve done to experiment with new platforms, implement new collaborative processes, and invite new voices into our exhibitions, will allow us to soar and absorb future turbulence without getting thrown out of our seats.

  3. Yes! Because it doesn’t have to be expensive, even if you’re a small museum.

    The tech… doesn’t have to be expensive to use or create. It can be the platforms your audiences are using, then you meet them where they are…In 2021, the cultural research firm LaPlaca Cohen surveyed behaviors of national arts and culture visitors in the pandemic. The report, among many other things, found that the top four forms of online engagement were: 

    • Artist livestreams

    • Podcasts

    • Online classes or workshops

    • Tied for fourth: live and pre-recorded performances

    Some of us may be in IT, but most of these platforms can also be done from any department and accomplished on a small budget using platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Zoom or otherwise.

    …
    [Plus], many platforms, like YouTube, Zoom, and TikTok, have built-in accessibility features, like live captioning, that allows visitors who are hard of hearing to engage with our programming. Scott Gillam is from the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, a leading institution on inclusive design.     He said in our podcast interview, that - quote - “in serving audiences that really benefit from certain accessible solutions, we find that we create a richer experience for all visitors.

    Who among us hasn’t been working from home, our dog is barking, the neighbor is getting a tree cut down, and we’re tuning into a staff meeting or webinar. We click for captions and regardless of whatever background noise is around us, we can still tune in and enjoy. Even within the galleries, when they become noisy again, having closed captioning always-on for videos is a must to equalize the experience for those who need it and those who generally benefit from it.

***

As we navigate the future, I want to encourage you to keep going and building on the progress you have built. We all, unique among museum professionals from any other period in history, had to build this and figure it out in unprecedented times. So take a breath and congratulate yourself: for the things you tried, for the things that worked, even for the things that didn’t. We can continue to experiment, learn, and evolve to remain relevant to the audiences and communities we serve.





Celebrating six months of The Distance Learning Workbook!

Today I’m celebrating six months since I published The Distance Learning Workbook: A Launch Guide for Museums!

I loved creating it and sharing it with field. It’s been super exciting to see how the workbook has been used by museums around the world. The workbook also spawned a mini-ecosystem of content including nationwide webinars and a podcast mini-series!

Six Month Snapshot:

If you’ve used the workbook and would like to share your experience, please email me! If you haven’t downloaded it yet, get it (for free!) here.

Museum Buzz Mini S3ries: Accessibility & Distance Learning

“When you realize that one out of four people in the world has a disability and the chances of experiencing a disability over the age of 35 is one out of two - it’s 50% - there’s really no excuse for not doing this stuff anymore.
”
— Sina Bahram

Sina Bahram, President of Prime Access Consulting, provides insight into how to approach accessibility when designing a distance learning program. From platform providers to the learner experience, we dive into best practices, practical tips, and more. 

But most importantly, he advises, "start small and [don't] be overwhelmed by all of the things...check your websites for some accessibility best practices. Talk to persons with varying abilities in your evaluation methodologies...And understand that you will not get it right overnight. You just won't. But, you need to start and then build that momentum and inertia over time."

This Mini S3ries (Season Three of Museum Buzz), came out of a publication that I released in May of 2021 called The Distance Learning Workbook: A Launch Guide for Museums, which walks museums through the four foundational components of building a distance learning program. It is free to download on my website!

Full Interview Transcript

[00:00:00] Emily Kotecki: Welcome to Museum Buzz, a podcast where we unpack trendy, buzzy words in museums, through conversation and games. I'm Emily Kotecki. . This is Season Three, the Mini Series, where we are featuring three incredible guests talking about three very important topics related to distance learning, such as online communities, social emotional learning.

And today, we're talking about accessibility with Sina Bahram. Sina is the president of Prime Access Consulting. Sina, thank you so much for being here.

[00:00:38] Sina Bahram: Thanks for having me.

[00:00:40] Emily Kotecki: I want to actually begin with the pandemic since the pandemic really expedited and shifted everything to digital. And I'm wondering how you felt when that happened. Were you feeling dread because everything was online or was it some sense of optimism? Because a lot of those digital platforms had accessibility features built in, or maybe something else entirely?

[00:01:03] Sina Bahram: Yeah. I mean, some contexts may be helpful, right? Like I happen to be blind. So I use a screen reader and various assistive technologies that, um, read digital information to me. Right. My phone talks, my computer talks, that sort of thing. And so uh, you know, the question about accessibility. Yeah. Very well put because, uh, it makes a big difference whether we're accessing things in person or virtually, um, you know, my background happens to be computer science.

And so, you know, I'm a pretty technical person. I have the advantage, really the privilege of being very familiar with things. I was doing things remotely, uh, you know, 10 years before everybody was kind of forced to. Right. So in that respect, it was a little bit of more of the same, you know, Well, all right.

Um, we've got these various things that are now happening remotely, and that's perfectly fine because it's technologies like zoom and, um, you know, slack and email and things that I'm using on a daily basis anyways. 

In terms of your, your question around the accessibility of services, uh, it's an interesting dichotomy there, right? In some way, The pandemic has led to an unprecedented amount of digital literacy being proliferated around the world, really around the world. People are using zoom and video chats and things of this nature a lot more where they ordinarily wouldn't.

And this is wonderful if those services are accessible because you're then able to do things that otherwise may have been more difficult, especially for persons with discipline. But by the flip side of that, if you're forced to do those things and you happen not to be very tech savvy, or what's far more common, unfortunately, and this is at the heart of your question, those services aren't accessible because they weren't built inclusively or designed inclusively.

So how did I feel? You know, I think I was preoccupied with a lot of other aspects of the pandemic at the time.

 But it has led to an incredible proliferation of doing things remotely, which again, we'd be remiss if we didn't recognize and honor the fact that persons with disabilities had been asking for. For decades beforehand and we're told this will be too expensive. This will be impossible. And March of 2020 hits and all of a sudden by April, every single conferences online.

So clearly it wasn't all that hard to actually achieve when the will was there.

[00:03:24] Emily Kotecki: You described a proliferation in digital literacy around the world. Did you see that in museums and how they approached accessibility within those digital programs? 

[00:03:35] Sina Bahram: I would say, uh, through some necessity, uh, maybe a little bit for some folks, but I wouldn't say sector wide. No. And, and the reason is this, when typically done accessibility and really inclusion by extension. Reactive, right. It's oh, no. We found out our website site.

It doesn't work for population acts. Right? We should to do something about it, right? This is, this is the unfortunate and sad approach to accessibility that is often times done. So as a result, you know, pandemic hits, everything's going online. We're doing so much more stuff remotely. But then it's, it's the same, it's more of the same, it's a reactive approach.

So maybe it was more on people's minds and such, but I don't know that it led to a more inclusive strategy being implemented upfront. I think what's interesting is now I think there may be what you're talking, talking about happening a little bit more because folks feel like maybe they're not as much reacting to the next crisis every single day. And so now it's like, all right, We have this remote platform.

We didn't have this before. We keep hearing about how this is good for accessibility. We are thinking about inclusion. Is this an opportunity for us to, to invest in something that aligns with our values as an institution? Right? So like, I don't want to kind of paint a total doom and gloom sort of pessimistic picture, but I don't know that it immediately led to better accessibility, if that makes sense.

 

[00:05:09] Sina Bahram: Yeah. I mean, when we really think about these terms, right? Accessibility, uh, are those things that we do, uh, most, especially for persons with disabilities or who rely upon assistive technologies as a way of like mediating their interactions with the world. I use a screen reader or a cane when I'm walking, someone else may be a wheelchair user.

[00:05:30] Emily Kotecki: I want to break down some terms here. Uh, you said accessibility and by extension inclusion, can you maybe define those and the differences between them? 

[00:05:40] Sina Bahram: Yeah. I mean, when we really think about these terms, right? Accessibility, uh, are those things that we do most, especially for persons with disabilities or who rely upon assistive technologies as a way of like mediating their interactions with the world. I use a screen reader or a cane when I'm walking, someone else may be a wheelchair user.

Right? 

So when we think of accessibility and the kind of the strictest sense, it is really rooted in this definition of disability. And, you know, you look at disability, there's multiple ways of thinking about that. There's an impairment kind of way of thinking about that. Uh, the medical model, which is a little outdated, right?

Something is wrong with the person. And then the one that I tend to subscribe to, which is the more environmental or social model of disability, where we, we realize that it is the environment that is disabling, not the individual that is disabled. And the reason I say all of that to then get us to inclusion is, the way we make our environments less disabling is not just by tackling accessibility.

It is by following what is known as an inclusive design methodology, right? So we, we consider the various vectors of human difference upfront and we build in flexibility and a lack of obstacles for people to modify these interfaces that we're making, whether they're buildings, or apps, or video games, or what have you, so that when you get to that webpage, you can zoom in on the text.

When you are interacting with a kiosk, it can speak to you when you are feeling a tactile reproduction at a museum of an artwork it is in, in positioned in such a way that it can be fully experienced from a seated position. Right? All of these kinds of things make the environment more inclusive and therefore accessible, but it helps everybody.

It just happens to be critical for some folks.

[00:07:35] Emily Kotecki: How do you extend or apply those best practices into the digital learning realm? So online courses or virtual field trips?

[00:07:43] Sina Bahram: Yeah. I mean, this is a interesting one because there's a couple of things built into that question, right? Are we teaching in an accessible and inclusive way? Let's let's just start there. Right? Are we using visual language, only? Or color, only, to depict a meaning. You know, 'everybody find the things that are marked in red,' right. Or that doesn't work if you're color blind much less, if you're actually blind. Right? But also like, as we can see here, you know, language like this, right. So that's problematic whether you're in a classroom, whether you're in a field trip at a museum or whether you're doing it over Zoom.

But then when we separate out the content accessibility issues, if you will, the programmatic and pedagogical concerns around inclusion and then zoom out and say, how do these platforms affect the accessibility of the experience we have to start considering, well, how easy is it for someone who's using assistive technologies to participate? Is the signup process accessible in terms of the flow to register via email and something is really trivial as that can be an irritation or an annoyance on one end of the spectrum, but it can actually be an absolute blocker with no work around on the other end of the spectrum.

 And so when we think of these digital platforms, are we using them in such a way that they themselves are as accessible and inclusive as they can be? That the content we're putting on them is also as inclusive and accessible as it can be. And then lastly, are we enforcing certain rules of behavior and methodologies that lead to a, a welcoming experience for everyone? 

[00:09:28] Emily Kotecki: Beyond the platforms themselves, there are the users of these platforms, the learners. So how do you make inclusive and accessible environments for them to connect with each other and with the content?

[00:09:42] Sina Bahram: Um, I think it's norming good behaviors, right. You provide a visual description as you present an image and you do so not in a way that is, let me pause here and describe this for all the blind people. Right? Casually mentioning the visual and salient features of the image as you're making your point, right, as you're teaching your concept. 

So it's norming these behaviors so that others may replicate and learn from them, right? So this is one thing. The second is to be very intentional and informed in our decision-making around these things. Right? So we don't just pick a platform for, uh, voting.

Uh, let's just say like, you know, like a quick classroom poll, for example. Right? All right. Everybody, a quick pop quiz. Uh, it's multiple choice and we'll graph the answers on the screen, a very common kind of practice, right? You, you need to think about, well, is that accessible on like an iPhone, if somebody is using Zoom or, or a screen reader, you know, is that something that someone's going to be able to do quickly enough, such that they're not left behind in a real time setting?

So it's being thoughtful and informative and informed, not only about like the platform decisions, but about like some of these on the fly decisions that, that, that are so common in educational contexts. Um, to make things more inclusive and welcoming also it's a shared responsibility, right? So it is creating an environment in which it is encouraged, uh, to solicit feedback around how one can make things more inclusive and welcoming, right? Not viewing it as a complaint, but really checking in with the learners about how the experience is going. Asking ahead of time about particular accommodations that could make that experience better. You know, things like, uh, cart C-A-R-T for, for real-time captioning or sign language or alternative formats; for example, you may distribute something as an image or as a PDF, uh, which may not be as accessible, but if you've got the word document lying around and can email that attachment out as well, all of a sudden you've made it available to a much wider audience that previously may not have had access to that, you know, digital asset to that little, little piece of electronic information.

So it's, it's really understanding the behaviors that we do on a daily basis and how they may, not through any malice on our part, but just through ignorance, right? Unintentionally, uh, alienate or segregate folks, you know, making them feel distinctly different from the group. That is what we need to pay a lot more attention to. 

[00:12:26] Emily Kotecki: When you look across the type of platforms that museums have used in the last, let's say 18 months, do you find that there are some platforms that have these built-in features better than others?

[00:12:39] Sina Bahram: You know, Zoom has made it real big commitment to accessibility. It's hardly perfect, but it has been accessible and for even before the pandemic. So there's definitely, you know, a shout out to them for just offering a very usable and accessible product. Again, not perfect, lots of things to complain about. Um, Teams is Microsoft's current thing that they're, that they're pushing. And Teams definitely has some accessibility work that has been put into it. Something like maybe a Google meet or whatever Google's flavor of the month for that product is these, days would go in third place there. So if you stick with one of those, you're at least checking that like, underlying infrastructure, accessibility, checkbox, right? We at least are using a platform that is not starting off from 0% accessibility. 

 In the learning management space, by the way, realizing that there are additional, you know, offerings like Canvas, for example, Moodle, things of this nature, that have put some effort towards accessibility as well.

 And then keeping things simple, you know, like. If you don't need a 3-D animation and like an artsy fade in just to display your graph. Just display your graph, right? Just, just have the download of the data available so that somebody can visualize it or sonify it, using sound to explore data, in their own way.

Right? If you don't need it, it just adds needless technical debt that then leads to potential inaccessibility.

[00:14:07] Emily Kotecki: What are some of the priorities that you advise your clients to make when they're looking at digital projects, digital learning projects, uh, when it comes to accessibility?

[00:14:17] Sina Bahram: Definitely using interoperable and standards based technologies. When we're working on a website projects, WordPress and Drupal power over half of every website you've ever been to. There's a reason for that. They're really good at what they do.

And so, the advantage there is that there's an entire ecosystem built around those kinds of environments. Can you use a smaller scale, um, some would boutique, uh, content management system. Absolutely. Can it be made accessible? 100%. Sure can. However, it may not start that way. And so you're signing up for a lot more burden than sticking with the bigger players in the space where the functionality is there, the design is there and under your control, and the accessibility has been worked on, I think is a really important thing. 

When you realize that one out of four people in the world have a disability and the chances of, of experiencing a disability over the age of 35 is one out of two. It's 50%. There's really no excuse for not doing this stuff anymore. 

[00:15:20] Emily Kotecki: So, Sina,we are about to shift our conversation into the game and more lighthearted portion of the interview. But before we do, is there anything related to distance learning and accessibility that we haven't had a chance to talk about?

[00:15:34] Sina Bahram: I think it would be great for folks to really start small and not be overwhelmed by all of the things. You know, you can think of a video and you think of captions and audio description and providing a transcript and all of these kinds of things, but start with something, right? Captioning your videos to start off with. Check your websites for some accessibility best practices. Talk to and incorporate persons with varying abilities in your evaluation methodologies, or in your just conversations, right? Basically opening our bubbles to including those different perspectives and those lived experiences.

And understanding that you will not get it right overnight. You just won't. Simple fact, right? But it is a journey. And I know that is a cliche, but it is awfully true that it is a journey and you need to start and then build that momentum and inertia over time.

[00:16:30] Emily Kotecki: Okay, so are you ready to play a game? Let's

[00:16:32] Sina Bahram: Let's do it. 

[00:16:33] Emily Kotecki: Okay, so your company is called Prime Access Consulting, and this really had me thinking about prime numbers. And so our game is focused on questions and, uh, pop culture about the idea of prime. Beginning with, the first question, is Amazon prime day was June of 2021.

After two days of sales, they had sold 250 million items. I'm going to give you a multiple choice, which one was the best selling product? Was it a, an air purifier or air purifiers, an electric water flosser or, Kindle's?

[00:17:14] Sina Bahram: Kindles are somewhat saturated at this point. Uh, everybody's concerned about COVID, I'd probably go with the purifier as my answer.

[00:17:23] Emily Kotecki: It is actually the electric water flosser.

[00:17:26] Sina Bahram: That's good. The latest research research shows that it's a, you know, a water pick is as good as flossing as long as you're strict about it.

So that's fantastic. on, good on people for good dental hygiene.

[00:17:35] Emily Kotecki: I know in researching that particular question, there was a lot of actually dental oriented best-selling products over prime days. So that and Crest White Strips were very popular. So

[00:17:45] Sina Bahram: I wonder if it's because we're spending so much time on camera, uh, that people want their teeth to look good.

[00:17:50] Emily Kotecki: That adds another good idea. Good point. Okay. Question two. Jodie Foster stars in this 1997 movie where she receives messages from aliens in outer space in the form of prime numbers.

[00:18:03] Sina Bahram: Contact.

[00:18:03] Emily Kotecki: Yes. Congratulations. Okay. Last question. Before 1844, there used to be several longitudinal meridians. That was confusing for the world.

So in 1844, there was a world conference which chose this British cities meridian as the Prime Meridian, longitude zero, for the world. 

[00:18:24] Sina Bahram: Grenwich? 

[00:18:25] Emily Kotecki: Yes, that's right. Fantastic. [Clapping] You won the trivia game.

[00:18:29] Sina Bahram: Excellent.

[00:18:30] Emily Kotecki: Um, well, Sina Bahram, President of Prime Access Consulting, thank you so much for all of your thoughts and insights today. 

[00:18:37] Sina Bahram: Thank you so much for having me.

[00:18:39] Emily Kotecki: This mini series came out of a publication that I released in May of 2021 called The Distance Learning Workbook: A Launch Guide for Museums, which walks museums through the four foundational components of building a distance learning program. Especially in the wake of the pandemic, many museums are pivoting to distance learning and needed to answer the question of "where do I begin?" The workbook is very interactive and hands-on walking museums through questions and activities relating to targeting audiences, identifying stakeholders, doing a technology audit, really making it relevant to your institution.

It is free and downloadable on my website, emily-kotecki.com. But, a workbook can only do so much. There's only so much time and length that people want to spend. And there is so much to cover in distance learning, which is where this podcast series came out of. So, it is an accompaniment to the workbook and I hope you enjoy the interviews.

I hope you enjoy the workbook. And if you have any questions about either of these or want to talk through ideas or work together, you can contact me through my website, emily-kotecki.com. 

And stay tuned for the third and final episode of the mini series coming out Friday, September 24th. If you miss that one or you want to go back and listen, these episodes will always be available wherever you listen to your podcasts. Thanks for listening. I'm Emily Kotecki. .


Museum Buzz Mini S3ries: SEL & Distance Learning

“ There is a responsibility at this point for museums to address a lot of this conversation and these challenging issues that students want to talk about and that teachers are struggling with. ”
— Kristin Smith

Kristin Smith, Project Manager at the North Carolina Museum of Art, shares her experience of creating an online course for educators about social emotional learning (SEL), including the structure of the course; the benefits and challenges of teaching this content online; and why museums have a responsibility to create ways for visitors to learn about SEL. 

This Mini S3ries, season Three of Museum Buzz, came out of a publication that I released in May of 2021 called The Distance Learning Workbook: A Launch Guide for Museums, which walks museums through the four foundational components of building a distance learning program. It is free to download on my website!

Full Transcript

Emily Kotecki: [00:00:00]  Welcome to Museum Buzz, a podcast where we unpack trendy, buzzy words in museums, through conversation and games. I'm Emily Kotecki.   This is Season Three: the Mini Series, where we are featuring three incredible guests talking about three very important topics related to distance learning, such as accessibility, online communities and today we're diving in to social emotional learning with Kristin Smith.   

Kristin is a longtime friend and colleague and the program manager at the North Carolina Museum of Art. She has been developing online courses since 2013, most recently developing a course for educators about art and social emotional learning.

Kristin, thanks for being here.

Kristin Smith: [00:00:49] Thanks Emily. 

Emily Kotecki: [00:00:50] Let's begin by defining what is social emotional learning?

Kristin Smith: [00:00:56] Well, first off, we should say that it's been around for a very long time. It's not a new thing.  But really it is about helping students develop a set of skills, set of mindsets, ways of being in the world that help them to become more aware of how they feel, how they react, who they are in the world.

 But then also a better sense of those around them and the bigger context of the world. So a sense of how they then interact with the rest of the world and what that means, how  to navigate the complexities of life in a way that feels that manageable . So we are, we're all still social, emotionally learning. It doesn't ever stop. This isn't just for kids, isn't just for young kids. It's for older kids. It's for adults. It's for everyone. 

 You mentioned that it has been around for a while,  the concept of social emotional learning, but it does seem like in recent years it's become a very popular kind of focus, especially in museums. Why do you think it has re-emerged in the focus of museums?

A great question. And I think that from my perspective, it's also indirect because I work with schools and teachers so much it's it's about museums, but we directly serve students and teachers. Um, so in thinking of that audience, the major disruptions that have happened over the course of the last year, more you're in more in tandem with a lot of the racial injustice, the protests,  a reckoning that's happening with who we are in the world and what we are trying to grapple with as we move forward. It's caused a lot of feelings. [Laughter] And I think that people are grappling with how to navigate all of this and how to have conversations about it. 

And so there's the past year but I think that in general, there's been a rise in a lot of mental health focus, especially with teenagers and even younger kids of, uh, and I think we've lost a lot of opportunities to teach those skills to students. It's falling on schools to return to some of those real core ideas of what it is to be human and, and move through the world as an essential part of learning.

Emily Kotecki: [00:03:25] So, can you describe the course that you have created for teachers to  give them those skills to then help students?

Kristin Smith: [00:03:33] So the course that we designed is rooted in the CASEL framework for SEL. But the, the core competencies are around self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, relationship skills and responsible decision-making.  We wanted to make sure to go beyond those SEL competencies so that we're maximizing that exposure to arts based learning because we're an art museum. And so our collection, our art is the thing that allows everyone to be inspired, find connection. So we wanted to make sure that we are really hitting the art hard in the course.

So we took those competencies and layered another framework on top of that. So we chose five themes that allow for the, the most direct relationship  with art, looking at art, talking about art and making art. So the course is designed into eight modules where teachers are, uh, introduced to what SEL is, just the general definition and why it's important and what it means.

But then they're introduced to five themes that become the lenses in which we look at art and we look at SEL. So those five themes are mindfulness, identity, perspective sharing, community building, and agency. 

They're looking at strategies and resources that are connected to those themes and they're looking at project ideas, art making ideas that they could do related to those themes. And then throughout the whole thing, I think what's at the core of the course is, that they have ,are being asked to do a reflective journaling practice.

So whether it's called visual journaling or Sketchnoting, um, they are constantly reflecting because so much of what's important about social emotional learning is that there's a kind of processing that's happening, where you're thinking about who you were, who you are now, who you may be, and we're hoping to take them through a creative processing where they're reflecting on who they are within the theme, the artwork, the SEL competency, what they're maybe already doing, and then what they hope to be doing. 

It is an adult SEL course also. It's not just that we're giving them strategies for them to take into the classroom.

We're helping them to also go through the same things that they might ask their students to go through.  

  Emily Kotecki: [00:06:08] Can you maybe give an example of how specifically you use an object to teach SEL because there are so many layers, like you said, there's the lens of the five themes of thinking about art making and objects to then look at SEL.

So could you give an example of how an object was used in that context?

  Kristin Smith: [00:06:29] In a real straightforward way, which I think a lot of us in museums have done. We've used a work of art to just identify emotion. So that self-awareness piece. We have a mindful moment with Monet where we teach a 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 strategy where they're identifying through their senses, five things they might see four things that they might hear and so forth. And that is really about shifting your awareness away from the things that are feeling anxious inside of you to something that's outside yourself. and so you're taking your mind away from the thing that is circling wildly through your head.

You're looking at a work of art. You're learning a coping strategy to help you then bring your brainwaves down and focus in a different way. So that's a really simple strategy that we do. You can do that with really any work of art.  There's so many works of art where we are in that self-awareness lens, having students think about their own identity.

So a whole range of artists and artworks. We use Beverly McIver Hank Willis Thomas,  Minnie Evans, artists that are exploring the complexities of their identities. Um, and, and when you are looking at another person's work and learning about what matters to them, how they have become who they are, it makes you then think about your own story and want to make art that tells your story as well.

Emily Kotecki: [00:07:59] What are the challenges of teaching SEL in distance learning?

Kristin Smith: [00:08:04] I think the number one thing about teaching SEL in an online setting. Which I think has been the whole year for all teachers is it's a different relationship that you have. It doesn't mean that you can't have strong relationships. I think all teachers figured that out over the years, that there are still so many ways to connect with your students and learn more about them and find ways to get them to share more about their lives with you.

But I do think that so much of SEL is about human interaction. Um, and I think we all know  human interaction is very complex and it's really built on the relationships that you create. So your classroom community is built on those relationships. So anyone that has done work with distance learning, you know, that it is different than when you do face-to-face.

So there's just that challenge of not having a side conversation with a teacher that's at your workshop or not being able to read someone's face as well, because it's just through a discussion post. So I think there are challenges and you can design around that in a lot of different ways to find ways to build a community within your online, your distance learning program.

Emily Kotecki: [00:09:23] What are some of the ways that you design around it ?

 Kristin Smith: [00:09:26] Yeah. So we provide as many opportunities as possible for educators to engage in discussion. So real authentic discussions where they're sharing challenges that they are having in the classroom and then offering solutions to each other using online tools where people are sharing their, their opinions.

So Padlet is always a great resource. Flipgrid is always a great resource where teachers are either written or verbally interpreting works of art and sharing their ideas so that you're getting a chance to hear and see other people's voices conversations don't bounce back and forth as they might in person, unless you are doing a synchronous conversation with your, with your teachers, which we do get that opportunity when we do webinars, but not as much. 

Emily Kotecki: [00:10:18] So, I guess to flip the initial question, what are some of the qualities of online learning that provide unique ways or really kind of different ways to teach SEL?

Kristin Smith: [00:10:30] And this is the one that I got, I struggled with.  So I think one thing always the case with any distance learning is that you can streamline information and structure information and design experiences that can happen in a more condensed format that you might not be able to if you're doing face-to-face, someone is interacting with content on their own time in their own space and so you can ask things of your participants that you may not be able to in a face to face. You can move at a quick pace. So I think you can pack a lot more in. and provide a multitude of opportunities for engagement, same way that you could with face-to-face, but different. 

 At times, and we get a little more bang for your buck, but you miss out on the opportunity of being with people. Um, so I think for a lot of people, distance learning is just perfect because it fits their, their goals. 

Emily Kotecki: [00:11:42] What was similar or different in terms of creating an SEL and art course versus other courses that you've created, the integrate art with math or science?

Kristin Smith: [00:11:52] Well, I think this goes back to your initial question about why museums are interested in SEL right now. Um, I think that there is a responsibility at this point for museums to address a lot of this conversation and these challenging issues that want to talk about and that teachers are struggling with.

Um, and I think through art, it's an opportunity to enter into those conversations in a really meaningful way. So I think with this course, it felt really important. And that was different. I mean, not that the either courses didn't feel important. I always think that bringing art into all classrooms is so essential because of the same reasons.

Um, I think that art is a catalyst for people to know themselves better. And, and that's why I like those courses. I want math teachers to have more art in their classrooms and I want, uh, to see, you know, every classroom teacher think about ways of using art. I just think that we're at a moment in time that understanding ourselves a little bit better and understanding others a little bit better could make a pretty significant difference. 

Emily Kotecki: [00:13:10] Okay. And as we begin to wrap up, what is one best practice after going through this process of creating a course, um, that listeners could walk away with, if they wanted to integrate SEL into their online learning programs?

Kristin Smith: [00:13:24] You need to know your audience. I think that you need to have some conversations with those that are coming to your museum, but the audience that you'll be serving, have some conversations with them and find out what's most important to them when it comes to art and SEL, what are they most needing to understand?

I think that audience input is essential in shaping the core of any program. 

Emily Kotecki: [00:13:55] Is there anything else about SEL and online learning that we have not talked about that you feel like is really important for anyone who's, whether at their beginning, intermediate or advanced, um, you know, educators developing these types of programs?

Kristin Smith: [00:14:07] I think such a huge thing to just keep in the front of your mind always is that this is a process. There are just no clear cut answers to all of it. You have to come to this work with a hugely open mind and be prepared to feel a little uncomfortable, feel a little unsure and, and work through that and ask questions.

Open yourself to the process of your own understanding of it all.   

Emily Kotecki: [00:14:43] So it's very meta. You're creating a social emotional learning experience. While going through a social, emotional experience yourself while creating that. 

Kristin Smith: [00:14:52] So meta. 

Emily Kotecki: [00:14:53] Very meta. Um, well, Kristin, at the end of every episode at Museum Buzz, we play a game and today your game is trivia where I will give you quotes. From , I've got from a movie and from some authors about emotions, because we're talking about emotions and artists and not only visual artists, but other types of art also helps us channel our emotion.

I'm going to give you the quote and then I'll give you three, I'll give you multiple choice and you can choose which one you think said it. Ready?

Kristin Smith: [00:15:22] Do you know how much I just really, really love trivia. Emily, thank you for this game for all you listeners. Do you sense the sarcasm in my voice? All right, Let's do this. 

Emily Kotecki: [00:15:33] Let's do do it. Okay. Which movie does the character scream? I'm in a glass cage of emotion while inside a telephone booth. Is it a Napoleon dynamite, B anchorman or C Sideways?

Kristin Smith: [00:15:53] Oh man. So good. I'm going to go with Sideways?

Emily Kotecki: [00:16:01] Oh, it was B, Anchorman

Kristin Smith: [00:16:03] That's what was my original, but that's the way I don't like multiple choice. Cause I always question myself and then I get it wrong. 

Emily Kotecki: [00:16:11] because you know, this 

Kristin Smith: [00:16:12] That is, classic anchorman. Yes, yes, yes, 

Emily Kotecki: [00:16:15] Question two, this is a quote, who said this quote? I think you don't want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them and to dominate them. Is it A.) Irish playwright, Oscar Wilde, B.) American painter, James Whistler, or C.) English author, Charles Dickens. 

Kristin Smith: [00:16:37] That sounds like Oscar Wilde. 

Emily Kotecki: [00:16:39] Yes, well done Kristin. And you didn't second guess yourself. 

Kristin Smith: [00:16:42] Woohoo! 

Emily Kotecki: [00:16:43] Last question. This is also a quote "education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence." Which poet wrote those words or said, I'm not sure, uh,   Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, or Maya Angelou. 

Kristin Smith: [00:17:03] Maya Angelou. 

Emily Kotecki: [00:17:04] Robert Frost, 

Kristin Smith: [00:17:05] Darn 

Emily Kotecki: [00:17:06] But great job, Kristin.

Kristin Smith: [00:17:09] [laughter] one out of three! 

Emily Kotecki: [00:17:14] Well, I want to thank you again, Kristin Smith, Project Manager at the North Carolina Museum of Art, for talking to us all about SEL and online learning.

Kristin Smith: [00:17:22] Thanks, Emily. That was fun.

  Emily Kotecki: [00:17:26] Thank you, Kristin, and thank you to everyone for listening. This mini series came out of a publication that I released in may of 2021 called The Distance Learning Workbook: A Launch Guide for Museums, which walks museums through the four foundational components of building a distance learning program. Especially in the wake of the pandemic, many museums are pivoting to distance learning and needed to answer the question of "where do I begin?"  The workbook is very interactive and hands-on walking museums through questions and activities relating to targeting audiences, identifying stakeholders, doing a technology audit, really making it relevant to your institution.

It is free and downloadable on my website, emily-kotecki.com. But a workbook can only do so much. There's only so much time and length that people want to spend. And there is so much to cover in distance learning, which is where this podcast series came out of. So, it is an accompaniment to the workbook and I hope you enjoy the interviews.

I hope you enjoy the workbook. And if you have any questions about either of these or want to talk through ideas or work together, you can contact me through my website, emily-kotecki.com. Thank you. And stay tuned for the next two episodes coming out September 17th and September 24th.