New assistant chancellor position at UNL will lead online education efforts

More than two years after the coronavirus moved classes exclusively onto Zoom, nearly 9 out of every 10 students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln continue to enroll in at least one online course.

The ease of accessing an online course and the utility of doing so has boosted the number of credit hours UNL students are taking each semester and helped push the four-year graduation rate to its highest level in a decade.

One of the biggest stages for TikTok is the classroom, and teachers are going viral. “#TeachersOfTikTok” has over 30.5 billion views on the platform. The classroom content includes room tours, teaching tips, “story times” about experiences working in education and videos about the “days in the life” of a teacher.”The era of the ‘TikTok Teacher’ started over quarantine when we all had too much free time,” said Lauran Woolley, elementary school teacher and TikTok creator. “I actually began as a bet against one of my students. I found out he really liked TikTok, and he was making TikToks on his own. So I bet him that I could get more followers than he could by the end of year.”With 5.2 million followers on TikTok, Woolley or @mrs.woolleyin5th won that bet. She makes videos about her classroom, like tips on flexible seating for students, “unboxing” videos of school supplies and “day in the life” vlogs about summer break. “It wasn’t like I had this master plan to become this major influencer or TikTok person,” Woolley said. “That was not the goal.”Woolley says her videos help her engage with her students more, especially since many of them are on TikTok.The platform also helps her learn from others working in education.”It’s cool seeing what other teachers have in their classrooms or go through over like their daily basis in different areas of the world, so it’s really cool to connect with other people too,” Woolley said.Others, like third grade teacher Sofia Bella, went viral on TikTok after sharing how she decorates her classroom and makes it a comfortable, safe space for students. She has 3.9 million followers on TikTok. “Since they’re so connected way more connected than I was when I was in third grade I know they’re aware of issues happening in the world,” Bella said. “I want them to feel like whatever is happening outside, you’re okay in here.”Beyond finding humor and lightness in the classroom, Bella and Woolley hope that viewers can learn more about the work that goes into teaching.”There are a lot of people that see things that teachers post online and are like, ‘Oh wow, I didn’t realize that’s what you actually have to do,’ and for some people, it really does kind of build more appreciation for the career itself,” Woolley said. “My goal was to inspire people,” Bella said. “I’m not only inspiring my kids, but I’m also inspiring kids all over the world to love school, and I’m inspiring people to become teachers, which is what we need. We need a lot of teachers who love what they do.”

UNL will aim to build on those successes by creating a new administrative position to work with faculty, staff and administrators to develop credit and non-credit programs, identify new market areas and grow enrollment.

The inaugural assistant vice chancellor for digital and online learning — a job description was posted last week — will also create opportunities for learners of all ages, said Katherine Ankerson, who started as UNL’s executive vice chancellor in January.

That means creating online courses for high school students seeking to earn college credit, ensuring the online course catalog is robust enough to meet the needs of UNL’s students seeking to earn credit over the summer, and developing offerings for individuals in the workforce seeking to acquire new skills, Ankerson added.

“I want to see somebody who is entrepreneurial and collaborative, who has a strong background in developing online programs and understands the needs of diverse students,” she said.