key: cord-0740596-qgsa1rfa authors: Prashanti, Eachempati; Ramnarayan, Komattil title: Covido‐pedago‐phobia date: 2020-05-30 journal: Med Educ DOI: 10.1111/medu.14257 sha: fae0d0f780c5ee38f4fd3f951b25595e94e62507 doc_id: 740596 cord_uid: qgsa1rfa Breathlessness, aches and pains, abdominal discomfort and hoarse voice! These may sound like the clinical presentation of COVID‐19, but Nay! These are the symptoms experienced by the countless health professions education (HPE) teachers who have suddenly been thrust into the online world to engage learners. 1. We need to be consciously aware that what we are experiencing currently is an 'emergency remote teaching' 2. Unsurprisingly, this academic upheaval has churned out many fears in the teachers leading to a malady we label as 'Covido-pedago-phobia' 3. Letting oneself meander through the technological quagmire with handholding, making mistakes and learning from them will often assuage fears This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved 4. Universities where online education has been on the back burner, have suddenly woken up to realize that it is now in the forefront 5. ...many things that were thought to be "impossible" prior to the pandemic (clinically and educationally) were actually perceptual barriers… Breathlessness, aches and pains, abdominal discomfort and hoarse voice! These may sound like the clinical presentation of COVID-19, but Nay! These are the symptoms experienced by the countless health professions education (HPE) teachers who have suddenly been thrust into the online world to engage learners. The current pandemic has posed a daunting challenge to HPE teachers, requiring them to have competence in online education almost overnight. We must, however, remember that competence is not proficiency and that well-planned online learning experiences are distinctly different from learning that is rapidly migrated to an online world in response to a crisis or disaster. We need to be consciously aware that what we are experiencing currently is an 'emergency remote teaching'.(1) Unsurprisingly, this academic upheaval has churned out many fears in the teachers leading to a malady we label as 'Covido-pedago-phobia'. 'Covido-pedago-phobia' can be defined as the fears experienced by teachers, when they are compelled by the Covid-19 pandemic, to rapidly transition from conventional teaching to an online educational milieu. It is a conglomeration of several minor phobias which are elucidated below along with possible approaches to overcome them. We offer these, in part, as consolation for the timid 'digital immigrant' teachers (2) who need to know they are not alone in this predicament. From books and blackboards to computers and cyberspace, the abrupt transition many are experiencing can generate insecurity and intimidation akin to the incoherence and discomfiture associated with learning a foreign language. Teachers commonly being 'digital immigrants' can have trepidation instructing 'digital natives' in a medium that is all too unfamiliar. (2) This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved Overcoming this fear requires acquaintance with how things work in the online environment. We need to understand the similarities and differences between online and traditional pedagogy while exploring the different types of online encounters that can take place with students (e.g., synchronous vs asynchronous). Knowing the advantages and disadvantages of both is the best initial foray. Fortunately, there are several resources from which to glean before embarking on the hands-on experience.(4) (3) Technophobia, perhaps unknown to technophiles, is prevalent among HPE teachers. This malady can stymie the effective use of technology through intimidation and lack of confidence. Again, however, there is a plethora of web-based tutorials and training programmes to help technophobic teachers navigate this new world. That said, many find this a difficult phobia to overcome all by themselves, making the key to overcoming this fear being to seek help. Admitting one's own ignorance could be critical to the optimal use of technology to enhance students' learning. Letting oneself meander through the technological quagmire with handholding, making mistakes and learning from them, will over time assuage fears. Teachers should, thus, attempt to go through the required steps themselves (with supervision) rather than just watching what is being done by technological trainers.(5) Playing with the buttons and simply experimenting like a child playing with a new toy will allow problem identification and confidence building. Teachers often taken pride in being both the expert teacher and teaching expert in classroom scenarios. This 'vanity' is rattled when, often under duress, they clumsily grapple with gadgets in full view of their students, thus exposing their technological incompetence. The trick here is to take students along with you as partners in this journey. Give away authority and concentrate on how best we can contribute to learning. Learning from students allows teachers to understand what they want so we can adapt to their needs. Yes, moving from being a 'sage on the stage' to being in the 'stage of non-sage', requires patience and persistence. This in no way This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved relinquishes the role of the teacher but re-emphasizes that we are partners with students in their learning rather than having magical capacity to imbue them with what we know. Students will appreciate that their teacher is open enough to admit the lack of expertise with technology if they are willing to go the extra mile to help them learn the subject.(5) Doing so, furthermore, creates the potential to role model the behaviours we expect of our learners now and in their future careers. (3) The aloneness created by physical and temporal distancing from students can unnerve even the most ardent teacher. Paucity of interaction and discussion between teacher and students can deprive online sessions of their richness, vibrancy and vitality in a way that can feel as if the class has lost its soul. To overcome this, we need to constantly explore how to increase instructor-content-student interconnectedness to ensure that links come alive. Introducing activities like polling, quizzes, and games, amidst online lectures can establish connectivity with learners.(6,7) Asking students to voice their queries in the chat box and asking the class representative to act as a moderator will make the teacher more comfortable and connected with their students. High expectations in a new environment can make even the most intrepid faculty somewhat tentative and uncertain about whether they can live up to expectations of administrators, students and parents. Universities where online education has been on the back burner, have suddenly woken up to realize that it is now in the forefront of all educational endeavors. This compelling imperative thrust upon those who have not taught online before can be disconcerting to say the least. This calls for more understanding and appreciation from all concerned, which may be more easily said than done. It is likely to be important, therefore, to give some flexibility to faculty, allowing them to innovate in the ways they want to reach out to the students and assisting them in this transition. With proper support and encouragement, everyone can become familiar with the benefits of taking the challenge created by such changes head on.(1) This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved The veteran, versatile, virtual teacher is one who invests time planning, preparing and practicing for the online sessions. He or she is also the one who engages learners actively and acts as a partner in their learning. As such, we need to be aware that meaningfully structured and rewarding online experiences are quite different from the 'emergency remote teaching' emerging from the pandemic crisis we are facing today. This is an opportunity for educational leaders more than it is a threat because the principles outlined above, aimed at providing guidance as to how fears of virtual teaching can be overcome, are precisely the principles educational leaders have been striving to help faculty understand since long before COVID-19 struck. We are currently observing that many things that were thought to be "impossible" prior to the pandemic (clinically and educationally) were actually perceptual barriers that need not have existed. As such, we need to devise ingenious ways to help apprehensive educators overcome the fears that may be natural side effects of reacting to an unprecedented situation to internalize strategies for better online teaching so we do not slip backwards into old habits that should have been overcome when the pandemic recedes. The Difference Between Emergency Remote Teaching and Online Learning. Educ Rev Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants: Dichotomy or Diversity in Psychiatric Nursing? The Free Encyclopedia Teaching Courses Online: A Review of the Research Dealing with teachers' technophobia in classroom Student perception Kahoot Active learning in the online environment: The integration of student-generated audio files