David Betancourt from Cerritos College gave a really engaging presentation at the Lilly Conference online in 2020. I was happy to see that Betancourt was the first speaker on the asynchronous list of recoded talks in the instructional strategies section. Betancourt provided an overview of the presentation in an energetic and conversational tone. He started with a discussion of moving courses online and losing the face-to-face component. Betancourt teaches band and explained how he is looking forward to making music in person. Nonetheless, he learned pedagogy that may not have been obvious before the pandemic. Cognitive overload was discussed, and Betancourt mentioned cutting back and reassessing content and structure. “What do you feel is important for them to learn…” was a question Betancourt asked. The well-being of the student became a consideration and, Betancourt mentioned now brought forth productive conversations with students. Relational teaching and the human element has come forth. Technologies were discussed in terms of the benefits of how we can deliver content, provide accessible information, and communicate. Assessment has become more efficient when digitized and students are more comfortable communicating, said Betancourt. I agree! I also agree with Betancourt that we have been creating more OERs and implementing a version of the flipped classroom. With this, we now have more options for asynchronous delivery and reimagined the lectures: shorter, more multimedia, attention span considerations. Interestingly, for student engagement Betancourt talked about how asynchronous has provided options and connections while also acknowledging the benefits of face-to-face (or virtual synchronous) interactions. Betancourt underscored the importance of “embracing the technology they use” and considering what engagement means to the students. Students engage in different ways! Betancourt seems to always end with a takeaway or nugget of wisdom His takeaway is “What is your actionable item?” and “What are you going to do with it?” Betancourt is super entertaining and informative: his 30+ minute talk seemed like a 5-minute chat.
