Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education ISSN: 1759-667X Special Issue 22: Compendium of Innovative Practice October 2021 ________________________________________________________________________ Home alone? Creating accessible, meaningful online learning spaces to teach academic writing to doctoral students Vera Leberecht Keywords: teaching academic writing; doctoral writing; synchronous online teaching; Covid-19. The challenge The teaching of academic writing has seen disruptive changes since the Covid-19 pande- mic began. Most prominently it signalled a need to turn to remote teaching at very short notice. Here, I share my experience as a self-employed academic writing teacher for doc- toral students in Germany and its neighbouring countries. In my writing workshops, rather than conveying knowledge or teaching techniques, I seek to support early career researchers as they explore what constitutes good academic wri- ting in their research fields, expand their competencies, and develop their professional identities as members of their respective scientific communities (on writing as a social, embodied practice see: Kamler, 2008; Lee and Aitchison, 2009; Aitchison and Guerin, 2014; Kamler and Thomson, 2014). In my sessions I aim to create low-threshold, mean- ingful learning experiences that involve interacting with and learning from peers, working on real-life tasks, and being present as human beings with minds, emotions, and bodies (Immordino‐Yang and Damasio, 2007; Immordino-Yang and Gotlieb, 2017). Another im- portant aspect is the focus on participants’ resources and on solutions rather than prob- lems (Bamberger, 2015; Oades et al., 2017; Middendorf, 2019). When the pandemic forced me to move my support online, I wanted to retain my success- ful hands-on, interactive, personal approach but this created three main challenges: how could I transfer a successful analog approach online while still taking seriously the partici- pants’ specific needs as academic professionals? How could I ensure the writing workshop stayed as accessible as possible and kept its sense of live presence/character? How could Leberecht Home alone? Creating accessible, meaningful online learning spaces to teach academic writing to doctoral students Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, Issue 22: Compendium October 2021 2 I support participants to reflect, interact, and connect as adult learners who do not just need and want to learn but also to contribute their own experiences and expertises (Know- les, Hilton III and Swanson, 2015)? The response To transfer as many qualities of a long-standing, well-evaluated teaching format to the on- line environment as possible, I took three major decisions: I wanted to deliver live (syn- chronous) sessions that felt real to the participants and that used simple technology. I decided early to focus on synchronous training to engage participants in multiple ways (cognitive, social, visual, bodily-kinesthetic, etc. See: Gardner, 2011; Rapanta et al., 2020). The resulting shared live online space fostered a sense of togetherness, even though group members were not in the same physical room. I was visibly present in our virtual room during the whole workshop, even during small-group work. This availability and ac- cessibility contributed to a focused atmosphere and was noted as a positive by partici- pants. In addition, it enabled me to join small groups to answer questions and assist in technical/technological troubleshooting. Students reported that they appreciated my ap- proach as it complemented the asynchronous, written forum discussions and feedback (e.g., on Moodle or Blackboard) offered by other colleagues. I wanted my online teaching to have qualities which made it feel as real as its on-site counterpart. I reinforced this through the use of analogue objects and materials (flipchart, books, prompt cards) to complement digital whiteboards, slides, online resources, etc. I also encouraged participants to use long-hand writing (Mueller and Oppenheimer, 2014; Morehead, Dunlosky and Rawson 2019; Oppenheimer, 2019) for note-taking and other writing tasks. To ensure that participants could focus on content and meaningful interaction (Turkle, 2017), I usually chose the simplest technical solution available. I did this in order to keep the training accessible for doctoral students, whose situations are traditionally precarious (Consortium for the National Report on Junior Scholars, 2021), and who were deprived of Leberecht Home alone? Creating accessible, meaningful online learning spaces to teach academic writing to doctoral students Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, Issue 22: Compendium October 2021 3 the institutional infrastructure they could formerly rely on (e.g., modern computers, broad- band, etc.) when forced to work from home. During the workshop, students spent considerable time on synchronous writing tasks (e.g, free writing, writing sprints, storytelling, and mind-mapping). During individual tasks, they could choose to stay visibly present to strengthen the community of writers, or to find another workplace. In small groups, they gave and received peer feedback on drafts pro- duced on the same day, or in advance, and discussed individual challenges and useful writing strategies. Breaks could also be spent together in break-out rooms created for in- formal, relaxed interaction with peers. Participants really appreciated the steps I took to retain my hands-on approach with its focus on connecting with fellow human beings (‘I was underestimating the importance of dialogue and feedback, I'll try to communicate more with my colleagues’, 28 July 2020). They may have been at home, but they were not alone. The practical tasks I gave them were useful for creating an atmosphere of deeper thinking and playful experimentation in their writing (‘I no longer fear writing. I now find writing playful’, 8 September 2020; ‘hand- writing: this increased the output during the writing sessions a lot for me’, 15 January 2021). Students reported feeling even more productive after the online sessions; attending a workshop virtually from the comfort zone of one’s desk might make it easier to just sit down and write than when in an unfamiliar classroom. Recommendations When I developed more routine and confidence, after the initial turmoil of adapting to onli- ne teaching, I realised that effective teaching depends on many factors. As an educational professional, I wanted to create live, synchronous environments where young academics with diverse backgrounds could enter the professional conversation and connect with me, each other, and themselves – wherever possible. I did not want to teach writing skills but to empower young people in the academy (Peris- Ortiz and Lindahl, 2015; Rodríguez-Gómez and Ibarra-Sáiz, 2015). To reach this goal, I Leberecht Home alone? Creating accessible, meaningful online learning spaces to teach academic writing to doctoral students Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, Issue 22: Compendium October 2021 4 addressed multiple intelligences (Armstrong, 2009; Gardner, 2011), I used humour (Powell and Andresen, 1985) and a fair share of pragmatism (Silvia, 2018). To sum it up, the real question is not whether we teach on-site or online, but what kind of teaching we provide (Ross, Bayne and Lamb, 2019; Bayne et al., 2020). Educators are constantly challenged to reflect on who they are, and who and what they care about. What do you want your students to take away from your class? Once we are aware of our own motivations and foundations, we can create the learning/teaching environments that best suit us and our learners – whether we meet in the physical or virtual world. References Aitchison, C. and Guerin, C. (eds.) 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Available at: https://impact.chartered.college/article/the-relative-advantages- disadvantages-paper-digital-media-education/ (Accessed: 10 June 2021). Peris-Ortiz, M. and Lindahl, J. M. M. (eds.) (2015) Sustainable learning in higher educati- on. Berlin: Springer. Powell, J. P., and Andresen, L. W. (1985) ‘Humour and teaching in higher education’, Stu- dies in Higher Education, 10(1), pp.79-90. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075078512331378726. Rapanta, C., Botturi, L., Goodyear, P., Guàrdia, L. and Koole, M. (2020) ‘Online university teaching during and after the Covid-19 crisis: refocusing teacher presence and learning activity’, Postdigit Sci Educ, 2, pp.923–945. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438- 020-00155-y. Rodríguez-Gómez, G. and Ibarra-Sáiz, M. S. (2015) ‘Assessment as learning and em- powerment: Towards sustainable learning in higher education’, in Peris-Ortiz, M. and Lindahl, J. M. M. (eds.) Sustainable learning in higher education. Berlin: Sprin- ger, pp.1-20. Ross, J., Bayne, S. and Lamb, J. (2019) ‘Critical approaches to valuing digital education: learning with and from the Manifesto for Teaching Online’, Digital Culture and Edu- cation, 11(1), pp.22-35. Available at: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5cf15af7a259990001706378/t/5dea73f08c35 4b64fb152aae/1575646198702/Cover-merged.pdf (Accessed 10 June 2021). Silvia, P. J. (2018) How to write a lot: a practical guide to productive academic writing. 2nd edn. Washington: American Psychological Association. https://impact.chartered.college/article/the-relative-advantages-disadvantages-paper-digital-media-education/ https://impact.chartered.college/article/the-relative-advantages-disadvantages-paper-digital-media-education/ https://doi.org/10.1080/03075078512331378726 https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-020-00155-y https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-020-00155-y Leberecht Home alone? Creating accessible, meaningful online learning spaces to teach academic writing to doctoral students Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, Issue 22: Compendium October 2021 7 Turkle, S. (2017) Alone together: why we expect more from technology and less from each other. New York: Basic Books. Author details Vera Leberecht studied Linguistics, Intercultural Communication and Theology in Germany and Finland. She worked at Maastricht University Language Centre for several years, first as a teacher for academic writing, then as a head of department of the English Section. In 2008, she left the university to start her own training and consulting business. She is pas- sionate about empowering professionals to communicate with reason and resonance, in academia and beyond. Home alone? Creating accessible, meaningful online learning spaces to teach academic writing to doctoral students The challenge The response Recommendations References Author details