Felician University Alumni Host Remote Learning and Networking Event!

Felician Alumni & Friends continued their free virtual networking series Thursday, June 25 with “Educating Remotely,” a chance for Felician University alumni, many of whom are educators themselves to share and reflect on their experiences of teaching remotely in the age of COVID-19. The theme of the ZOOM event had wide appeal as teachers across New Jersey had just wrapped up several months of virtual teaching after being forced online by the global pandemic. The networking event was a safe place where they could share ideas about how to best teach in an online environment.

The evening’s keynote was given by Dr. Stephanie McGowan, Dean of Felician’s School of Education who called education the most generous of the helping professions. “We have asked this profession, to rise above any preparation that we could have ever thought about in advance. What we did see was this flexibility that many of us in the profession believe is really at the heart of what makes a dynamic and incredible educator and something that we take quite seriously. Dr. McGowan believes so strongly in the importance of teacher preparation that she led the way for the School of Ed to relaunch all teacher preparation at the undergraduate level for dual licensure meaning, “Everybody who comes to Felician leaves with the ability to work with all children, and I consider that the greatest pedagogical practice that’s out there.” Dr. McGowan rarely uses the term special needs instead preferring the term uniquely abled. Shortly after the COVID outbreak the School of Education joined forces with the South Bergen Jointure Commission, a professional development school partner to create hundreds of much needed face shields for health care workers with the help of uniquely abled students and their families using phone and video tutorials. “And this is what we learned added Dr. McGowan, “The only thing that was going to stop their ability to grow and develop and be productive members of the community were the caps that we were putting on them.”

The themes of equity and fairness ran throughout the virtual event. Charity Dacey, Associate Dean of Felician School of Education and Lavina Sequeira, Assistant Professor and Director of the Honor’s Program met in 2018 sharing interests focusing on best teaching practices, specifically how as educators they could provide a student community with empowering learning experiences. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit it quickly became apparent to the pair that many students were engaging very differently in virtual classrooms. Professor Sequeira said, “We noticed many students just checked out and completely disengaged. We found out that many of the same disengaged students did not have proper access to the internet. Some had just one computer at home that was shared between many family members.” Dr. Dacey told participants that Felician has been talking with other educators, both at Felician University teaching college students, but also those who are teaching K-12 students. “Hearing their experiences really made it clear to us that this crossroads we are faced with at this current time is a crossroads for teaching and learning. We don’t believe that education is ever going to be the same.”

The evening was moderated by Chris Chiera, Principal of the Indiana Avenue School # 18 in Woodbridge who said he would constantly try to remotely inspire teachers to stay positive realizing that, “Parents and students weren’t the only ones struggling during this time, but that teachers had lives and families at home and they were struggling during these times too.” 90% of the teachers at Chiera’s school told him they were working more remotely than they were when they were in the school building.

James Castillo, Director of Lodi’s Enrichment Afterschool Program for Middle Schoolers said virtual summer school will mean both students and teachers will have to move out of their comfort zones. “Understanding that some students might not turn on the camera and we might just get a black screen. That’s within the confines of their comfort and we have to be okay with that, and hopefully slowly but surely we get them on camera and we can start having some engaging discussions.”

The Felician Alumni free virtual networking series is growing in popular as it connects Felician alums with friends and colleagues, while discussing current topics, and sharing ideas all from the comfort of home. Diane Sedlmeir, Director of Alumni Engagement at Felician welcomes ideas for future networking events at SedlmeirD@felician.edu.

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About Felician University

Felician University engages over 2,300 undergraduate, graduate, and adult students through programs in Arts & Sciences, Business, Nursing, and Education. Universal Franciscan values of social justice, compassion, and respect for human dignity serve as an inclusive foundation for transforming the lives of tomorrow’s leaders. Felician University’s education is ranked 3rd best return on investment for private colleges in New Jersey 2018 by the PayScale.com College ROI Report and is ranked #1 safest college campus in the state by niche.com.