As we’ve learned this past year, building community is an important part of an online course. An aspect of building community is projecting care and support. A quick way to do this is to build in opportunities for students to have deadline extensions without having to ask you permission for them. Build in “oops tokens”… Read more »
Need a quick ice breaker for your summer class? Consider using images to which students can relate. Create a PowerPoint slide showing six different images, with a mixture of happier and darker pictures. Ask your students, “which picture best exemplifies how your weekend went?” Or “What picture best exemplifies how you feel about the upcoming… Read more »
Part 5. Recordings of Class Sessions and Course Content One aspect of online learning appreciated by many students is the recorded lectures created by instructors and posted to Canvas. When returning to in-person teaching, instructors may want to continue to provide some recorded lectures rather than using valuable class time to lecture on the material…. Read more »
Part 4. Breakout Rooms for Collaborative Learning During the pandemic, instructors teaching in Zoom have learned to take advantage of its “breakout room” feature to encourage student engagement and collaborative learning. After the return to in-person teaching, some classes may remain hybrid, with face-to-face and virtual students in the same classroom simultaneously. Group work in… Read more »
Part 3. Back Channels for Informal Communication For many instructors, teaching during the pandemic has meant holding classes in Zoom. The “chat” feature in Zoom provides a way for students to communicate informally with instructors, using text as well as emojis. This “back channel” communication can give instructors immediate feedback on the clarity of course… Read more »
Part 2. Undergraduate Teaching Assistants Many instructors who have taught online for the past year have relied on undergraduate teaching assistants, or UTAs, to help with various aspects of teaching and learning, including supporting students working in breakout rooms, holding virtual office hours, monitoring the chat in synchronous class sessions, and helping students with technology… Read more »
