Send message to Contributor

Contributor long abstract:

A main topic of my presentation is teaching an online course: “Research Methodology of Islam in Central Asia and the Caucasus” which I conducted for a group of MA students from Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Georgia. The course was designed to teach the theories of qualitative research and practice in fieldwork. Within the class, I planned visiting a mosque, drawing “a map of Muslim Tbilisi” (together with the students), and organising meetings with various people such as religious professionals, representatives of Muslim community, social activists and so forth. However, the course was almost entirely conducted online. It was a first time when I conducted the online course via the Zoom platform teaching people who I did not meet before in a real life. I will talk how I modified my plans due to the changing circumstances. In which way I interacted with my students, and how online teaching changed my approach to education and research methods.

Send message to Contributor

Contributor long abstract:

Musings and Meditations as if Zoom Teaching Matters

Discussant: Prof. Mary Bernadette Conde

Teaching Fellow

OSCE Academy

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Abstract

When Covid-19 pandemic hit and caused worldwide lockdowns at the beginning of 2020, the educational sector was ill-prepared and forced to shift from offline mode to online digital platforms. In higher educational institutions like AUCA and OSCE Academy in Kyrgyzstan, a faculty, who is used to conduct classes in offline mode is confronted with real issues and challenges on how the virtual classrooms can still be as effective as the offline classes. My discussion will focus on the challenges and effectivity of a few online tech tools that I have adopted that worked and why they worked and otherwise; and the adjustments I had to make in whether it is Padlet, Wonder, LMS Canvas, Flipgrid, or Nearpod, among others, for undergraduate and graduate students. Another point that I want to raise in my discussion is to explore and see whether these online tech tools can still be effective pedagogical components of the post-covid offline learning mode or the so-called ‘new normal’ post-covid classroom.

Send message to Contributor

Contributor long abstract:

We will discuss preparations for new, a co-taught course on Central Asian Societies at the University of Illinois and the American University of Central Asia. The course is designed to bring examples and data from Central Asia into discussions of core sociological theories and questions in hopes of broadening the international scope of Sociological instruction and furthering familiarity with this geo-politically important part of the world. Our "global classroom" approach focuses on introducing students to Said's concept of orientalism as a means of challenging epistemological approaches to Central Asia, while using data from the Central Asian region to test, expand, and refine core approaches to citizenship, identity, family, and gender employed in American Sociological textbooks. Designed as a gateway to studies of the languages, religions, cultures, and histories of this often-overlooked region in the US, engagement with students from the region will significantly enhance the educational opportunities, in the longer-term support a study abroad exchange, and provide students experience in shifting normative frames while engaged in critical comparison. Our presentation will include handouts on the use of synchronous and asynchronous scheduling, group projects and presentations, course design specifics, and approaches to evaluation.

Send message to Contributors

Contributor long abstract:

The current Covid-19 pandemic has clearly demonstrated that public schooling in many developing countries, including Kyrgyzstan, is deeply vulnerable to crisis situations and unprepared effectively to adjust to new realities on the foundation of a long outdated teaching and learning infrastructure. The impact of school closures and the transfer to online schooling on the overall teaching process and quality, and students’ learning and wellbeing have not yet been studied in Kyrgyzstan. Only erratic reports in mass media and social media on the relevant topics provide us with a fragmentary idea of the overall situation of public education during the pandemic months, and leaves many questions open. Of particular concern remains how the process of online schooling was implemented by teachers in public schools without institutionalized digital pedagogical tools, virtual exchange platforms, appropriate technical infrastructure, and teaching resources. This study aims at establishing comprehensive national level data to understand the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on teaching activities of public school teachers in the Kyrgyz Republic. The study is organized around the central research questions: “How did Covid-19 pandemic affect teaching practices, experiences and attitudes among teaching of primary and secondary schools in the Kyrgyz republic? What are lessons learned and prospects for future?”. It employs an exploratory sequential mixed methods design with three phases of data collection (QUAL-QUANT-QUAL). In the first phase, the primary qualitative data was collected through the teachers' diaries, which provided inductive dominant and specific themes that were further used as a framework for developing the primary quantitative data collection instrument in the second phase. The latter involves collecting data through an online survey tool, which has an objective to test predetermined assumptions via a set of closed questions and investigate particular issues or topic areas via open-ended questions. In the third phase of data collection, selected participants will be invited to participate in expert interviews to better understand and explore details of the survey results.

Currently, the study is in its second phase (collecting quantitative data through an online survey). While analyzing the data from the first phase of data collection, the research group became increasingly aware of how systematic and multi-faceted the problem of teaching in public schools during the pandemic actually is, and that teachers, as the primary knowledge facilitators, are basically left alone to muddle through and manage this critical situation without appropriate methodological, technical, financial, and administrative support.