“We knew the quality and security of our Cisco network infrastructure was going to support the technology needed in the classrooms. For many universities, their infrastructure wasn’t ready, and they were trying to procure the necessary connectivity, whereas our biggest pain point was actually making sure all of our students and faculty were equipped with the devices needed to access the network.”
When Hurricane Ian hit in the fall of 2022, many NCCU faculty shifted classes online and continued to offer coursework synchronously thanks to the tech tools already available to students, faculty, and staff. University leadership and emergency management teams hold many meetings over Webex to ensure everyone’s time is used effectively. And when monkeypox presented a concern at the beginning of the fall 2022 semester, NCCU held important campus town halls remotely.
NCCU faculty have become adept at synchronous teaching on various platforms, and the university will next prioritize using data and analytics more robustly to bring apps into its tools to evaluate student engagement.
“Despite their familiarity with teaching from anywhere, our faculty are clamoring for more training and are eager to use innovative technology beyond straightforward teaching. Whether that means installing a confidence monitor or bringing in speakers remotely, we’re all invested in creating an innovative, dynamic learning environment,” said Kraus.
It’s also important to Kraus to acknowledge the role that hybrid living, hybrid learning, and technology play in helping students and faculty form relationships and connections.
“I think faculty are used to being the experts in their field, so when they were first faced with teaching over collaboration platforms, it might have been, understandably, intimidating. Now, it is a given. The pandemic coincided with a summer of reckoning in terms of the racial injustices taking place in our country,” she said. “With George Floyd’s murder and the growth of the Black Lives Matter movement that summer of 2020, this was a deeply personal moment for the entire NCCU community. Many of our faculty were directly affected by these events, and their openness to embracing technology was in large part because it allowed for connection. Faculty demands for hybrid tools go beyond their role as instructors and include personal considerations.
“For NCCU, we’re not going backwards on hybrid. We’re going to keep moving forward and fully utilize the benefits of technology,” Kraus said.
Editor’s note: This story is adapted from a Cisco interview with Leah Kraus and is published with permission.
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