Northwest State Community College made a vital pivot when faced with the changing education landscape due to COVID-19, redirecting its face-to-face classes to virtual (online/distance) classes. The valuable lessons all two-year and four-year educational institutions learned as a result helped shape the new wave of education. NSCC lead faculty for Visual Communication/Graphic Design Mike Vanderpool sought to engage the education community in Ohio to share ideas and find ways that we can support each other as we move forward to an uncertain fall. Thus, the #OhioLeads Virtual Summit 2020 was born.
“WHAT WENT RIGHT, WHAT WENT WRONG”
The four-day education summit was held via Zoom technology, which became a commonly-used connectivity tool for higher education during the initial COVID-19 pandemic wave. Of the motivation for creating the summit, Vanderpool said “It was an opportunity for people in education to discuss what went right, what went wrong, and what we might do differently going forward to be better prepared for the next time a challenge like COVID-19 disrupts our traditional models.”
A STATEWIDE COLLABORATION
Over 20 colleges and 158 people registered to attend the virtual summit. In total, 16 sessions over a variety of topics were presented, with average per-session attendance ranging between 20 and 55, per Vanderpool. The summit also had an international flair, with an English and Math teacher from Indonesia joining the summit daily.
NSCC hosted the event and organized the content distribution, but there were contributions from Ohio State University, Bowling Green State University, Zane State College, Rhodes State College and others. The K-12 population was represented as well, with Hilltop and Liberty Center technology directors contributing.
LESSONS FROM THE NSCC COVID-19 “PIVOT”
When asked to describe the experience of the NSCC COVID-19 educational pivot to full virtual learning, Vanderpool remarked, “I learned that NSCC did an amazing job with the COVID-19 adjustments. I’m proud to have been a part of what NSCC did because I think what we did, while hard to measure, really can become guidance for how we might all be better able to connect and serve our communities in the future.”
SUMMIT DETAILS AND ON-DEMAND VIDEO
Individuals interested in viewing the breakout topics are asked to go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ohioleads-virtual-summit-2020-tickets-104340834244#. NSCC representatives are currently getting the Summit content available for public viewing, and it will be shared via the College’s social media platforms using the hashtag #OhioLeads.
