Adapting to the Challenges of Remote Learning in Clinical Education

“You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have."

The spring semester for colleges and universities was one of rapid change and technology adoption. My personal connection to the Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) department at a small university in the Midwest allowed me to witness this change as it happened. Like many schools during the health crisis, this university responded to the call for social distancing by transitioning to an entirely online learning model. This decision was made quickly and with little time to prepare, challenging individual departments to implement the new model virtually overnight. This department consists of approximately 100 students, eight faculty, and a long list of community partners, with such partnerships being the hallmark of traditional SLP programs. SLP students are trained through a combination of classes and clinical placements which involve a wide network of schools, hospitals, and rehabilitation facilities. With so many stakeholders, technologies, and priorities involved, this department’s transition would be especially challenging.

As I write this article, almost six weeks have passed since the decision was made to go virtual, and I can report that the department has risen to the challenge with overwhelming success. While there are still many issues, the department is functioning – classes are being held, the students are gaining clinical competence, and learning is happening. Much can be said about the nature of leadership and how a crisis can inspire creativity in the most unexpected of places. I think the quote by Bob Marley at the beginning of this article says it best. But my purpose in writing this article is not to celebrate the accomplishments of one department (although they deserve it), but to share the challenges experienced by this team and highlight the lessons-learned that are relevant to any organization in a similar transition or even in the new-normal world of team collaboration.

Challenge #1: Too Many Tools

In this case, the problem was not a lack of tools, but too many! The department had access to Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Teams, Canvas LMS, Google Hangouts, WebEx, VPN, SharePoint, Shared Drives, OneDrive, Box, and others. With the rapid switch to remote work and learning, users were left to choose their own platform based on preference and familiarity. In many cases, the selected platform did not actually work for all the stakeholders. For example, Zoom might work to host meetings with external parties, but Teams is better for recurring communication between faculty members. The result in the first few days was chaos - people were drowning in communication tools, but no one could communicate. 

Lesson: Pick the right tool for the job

To address this, the faculty met to review the various channels of communication, determine which tools were best for each stakeholder, and adopt a common approach. Essentially, they developed their own communication strategy, born out of necessity, which considered their unique needs and the needs of all stakeholders – students, faculty, staff, adjuncts, and community partners.

In the end, consistency and thoughtful application of the available tools helped to make sure that the department was enabled to communicate. The department was able to meet all of their needs without acquiring any new technology. They moved forward with using Canvas for online classes, Zoom for meetings with external partners, and Teams for internal collaboration. In fact, until this crisis, they did not even know they had Teams available as part of their Office 365 suite, which was all too common before the crisis. For more information about Teams, read my article Adopting Microsoft Teams.

Challenge #2: Not Enough Training

As with any diverse group of people, different individuals bring different skills to the table. Some are very technically savvy, while others need more guidance. As the stakeholders were called to learn new tools overnight, some took to using Teams, Zoom, and OneDrive more rapidly, and it was those individuals who coached the others.

Lesson: Training is best done before it is needed

It is interesting to think how much more prepared the university, or any organization, would have been if all users were trained on existing tools ahead of time. A set of targeted “snippet” courses, 15-30 minutes each, with flexible scheduling options, would have made a huge difference in ensuring adoption and proper use. Of course, some will always rely on power users in their own teams for guidance; that’s a sign of a strong bond between team members. But training can help ease this transition and reduce the load on group leaders so that they can meet more pressing challenges.

Challenge #3: Archaic Processes & Procedures

Tools and training are an important part of the remote collaboration solution, but they cannot resolve issues in broken processes and procedures. Many of the same issues and disconnects occurred when work forces were all in the same location, but they were not as obvious because the individual team members could go to extra lengths to fill in the communication and information gaps for critical business processes. At this university, there are processes that still depend on physical presence to function. For example, the add/drop and academic advising processes are still very much hard-copy driven procedures.

Lesson: Address critical processes & procedures as if everyone is remote

When processes are integral to the proper function of the university, or any organization as a whole, every department is affected. In the aftermath of the health crisis, organizations will be more aware of these singular points of failure. Successful organizations will find creative solutions through innovation and technological advancement. For more information about this topic, read Alitek CEO Mike Brookover's article Information Management in the Age of Social Distancing and Beyond.

Challenge #4: The Culture of Meetings

Working remotely requires a culture of frequent, ad-hoc conversations. Virtual “water-cooler” discussions are essential to bring teams together and foster collaboration, especially when individuals are physically separated. Sometimes, this can be in stark contrast to a culture of formal meetings, with strict rules, large audiences, and low levels of participation.

As this department discovered, most people adapt to online meetings very quickly, as they tend to be more results-focused and less time-consuming. When a student can reach out to a faculty member online and get an answer to a question, or faculty can exchange ideas, or a clinic director can meet with a community partner on short notice, more gets accomplished without the overhead and disruption of a scheduled meeting.

Lesson: Establish shared ground rules

Not all meetings are better held online. Sometimes, there is no substitute for in-person interactions. Similarly, for larger groups it is important to establish shared guidelines for virtual meeting etiquette to maintain productivity and facilitate discussion. The more accustomed people become to online meetings, the more natural such meetings will seem, as everyone will be operating with the same set of expectations.

The Lessons of Social Distancing

 As we begin the conversation about restarting our economy, we are encouraged by stories of innovation and creativity which have allowed educational institutions and businesses to keep going in the face of unprecedented change. In this department’s case, the university faculty and students proved to be very adaptable. Everyone wanted to make it work, and the online transition became easier with the right tools, preparation, and practice.

As an Information Management professional, I was in a unique position to recognize the key takeaways from the transition to a distributed work model. The first and most important lesson is that people are amazingly resilient and adaptable. Many of the problems that arose were due not to reluctance, but to disruptions and disconnection in communication and information sharing. These disruptions surfaced when standard processes, which were normally performed on campus and in person, were suddenly driven by disconnected participants. In fact, some of the same issues and disconnects occurred when everyone was physically on campus, but they were not as obvious because individuals could go to extra lengths to fill in the communication and information gaps for critical business processes.

Having been on the front lines of Information Management transformations for decades, I was impressed to see how this university stepped up to solve these immediate and complex problems with creativity and grace. I could not be prouder of these dedicated education professionals for putting aside their worry to meet the needs of their students, and I am proud to say one of these professionals is my amazing wife!