Are you ready for fall 2020?
Regardless of what format/s your classes are in this upcoming semester, our "classroom" will look quite different! While every semester requires extensive planning, thoughtful course design, and triple-checking your syllabus for typos (we all know that students will point out any and all mistakes, gleefully, out loud, and in front of the entire room ;P).........the on-going COVID-19 pandemic means many of us are utilizing online/hybrid learning for Fall 2020.
So, how is online (or hybrid/hy-flex) learning, course design, and syllabus creation different from traditional face-to-face classes? That is a LONG blog post, webinar, entire online course for another day. However, I want to provide you with several core guidelines and easily implementable strategies to create the most successful online teaching environment for you AND your students.
Keep reading, there is a downloadable checklist at the end!
There are myriad ways to present content in online formats: recorded lectures, video clips, written lecture materials, and so on. The specific strategies that will work best will ultimately depend on who your student population is and what you are teaching; however, there are some general "best practices" that will ensure your content is accessible, understandable, and engaging for your students.
Before jumping in, please remember that even though many of our students are so-called "digital natives" (they have been exposed to Internet technologies throughout the life course), the degree of online expertise and access varies considerably among students. Much like with other content, do NOT assume that because you understand something related to the learning management system (LMS) or online interactions, that your students do as well. Detailing WHAT they need to do, WHEN they need to do it, and HOW they access it is extremely important to ensure that your classroom is accessible to all of your students!
Clear, Concise, Easy-to-Understand Language
Let's be real for a second: academics are not exactly known for speaking in short, easy-to-understand ways. Want proof? Take a peek at something you have written for an academic audience lately and count the number of words, commas, semi-colons, colons, and dashes in a single sentence.
Yeah............
While this is an unofficial standard practice of academic speak, it is not the best way to communicate information to students (especially undergraduate students). For many of us, we will not have the ability to answer their questions immediately as we would in a face-to-face classroom, as we may be interacting in a largely asynchronous, online format. Cutting down on the unnecessary, flowery language and getting straight to the point is good practice. When designing your syllabus, headings and subheadings (bolded, italicized, or underlined) are your friend! They help draw students' attention to these sections and visually break up text to make it easier to read.
How often do you explain the learning modalities used in the class in the syllabus? If you are like me, probably not often. However, having students know from the beginning (preferably on the front page of the syllabus) what learning modalities are a part of the course (lectures, readings, exams, papers, problem sets, projects, etc...) can be helpful as they try to determine course expectations.
Make sure that you are detailing what technology requirements that students will need (Zoom? Webex? Slack?) and don't skimp on your course policies. Especially when we are teaching online we might think that certain syllabus elements (like a discussion statement or classroom policies) are not needed. However, they are still an integral part of our course, but we need to reimagine them for an online or hybrid context. If you are going to require your students to log-in at a certain time- tell them! If they need to include citations of course material in a discussion board post- tell them! Without clear, detailed (but concise, of course) explanations of your expectations, students are left to interpret for themselves what they need to do. This can result in complaints of "unfair" grading, students not attending virtual lectures, or students falling behind in the course.
One of my goals is to provide students with the tools they need to take control over their education and learn how to navigate education for themselves. However, this does not mean that I should avoid explaining the basics of what they need to do to be successful in the course as well as my expectations of them as a student.
Create a Welcome Statement (or Video) in your LMS
When students log into the course page, a good practice is to make sure one of the first things they see (in other words, put it right at the top of the page) is a statement and/or video welcoming them to the course.
I generally create a written welcome statement which describes the course page in a bit more detail than what I include in the syllabus and a welcome video that also provides a quick narration of how to navigate the different tabs and folders in the course.
You might be saying, "But what if I have this in the syllabus?"
While a professor uttering the words, "It's in the syllabus," might be commonplace (and our initial reaction when students ask a question we know we answered in the syllabus), we also know that not every student reads the syllabus carefully. If, like me, you are also including additional information on course navigation, grading procedures, contact information course expectations, class/institutional policies........the course navigation information can get lost in a sea of headings. Creating an announcement and video (and perhaps even re-posting or double-posting it under a "Start Here" tab) makes this information easy for students to find and refer back to if needed.
Online Course Content
Since COVID-19 moved us to remote interactions, how many of you have sat through a 45 minute+ webinar, lecture, or meeting without any audience participation? Were you attentive the whole time? Or, were you checking email, reading the news, creating your to-do list, or playing with your cat instead of paying attention?
OK, then. If you cannot stay attentive and engaged in a particular context, you should assume your students cannot either.
While we may structure our face-to-face classes as lecture-based (and perhaps we should be rethinking the long-form traditional lecture, too, but that's a separate conversation for another day), this is not going to be as successful in online or hy-flex models, as students watching online are unlikely to hold attention the entire time. So, what can you do?
Online Modalities: If you are working in an entirely online format, try creating short (3-5 minute) videos broken up by written lectures, images, and graphs. Yes, I know, it is more work to create more lectures for a given week rather than one long lecture. However, shorter videos increase the likelihood that students are actually going to watch the entire thing and retain more of the information you present.
Remote, Hybrid, or Hy-flex Modalities: If you are teaching in a hybrid or hy-flex model (where some of your students are in the classroom and others are attending remotely), you can break the lecture up by stopping for classroom and video conferencing chat room questions. Or, you could stop for a clicker and/or Zoom poll. If you want to get really fancy (and you have the time), you can break your Zoom attendees into randomly-assigned breakout rooms to have them discuss a question, then come back as a larger group.
*By the way- same advice for 50-100 lecture slide presentations... JUST NO. Can you reimagine these are short videos? As graphics? As written lecture materials (spliced with images or graphics for visual appeal and ease of reading)?
There are a lot of possibilities- don't be afraid to try something out and see how it works. Students know that we are also learning how to teach in this new format. Being open and honest about how this is new to us too lets students know that we are all in this together and creates a space of open, honest engagement throughout the semester.
***Just like you would double-check a handout for errors before printing (or having your teaching assistant print if you are so lucky as to have one), make sure that you double check that your modules, announcements, and links are available and working. If you use time releases for announcements, assignments, or content, make sure that those are set to the correct dates/times as well!***
Online Course Accessibility
Remember that you likely have students in your class that may use assisted technologies (like screen readers), have hearing difficulties, be in a space where they cannot listen to lectures, not be technologically-savvy, or a host of other circumstances. Just as we seek to make our face-to-face classrooms accessible and welcoming to all students, we need to make sure we are doing this for our online content as well!
Headings, Subheadings, Paragraphs: In your LMS, when you edit/add content, there are options to utilize various formatting functions, such as "Heading," "Subheading 1/2," or "Paragraph." This can be difficult to remember to do at first, but this is important for students who are utilizing screen readers. Additionally, it creates spacing in the course content that makes for easier readability for all students consuming our content.
Image Captioning: Whenever you post an image, chart, or other visual aid, please make sure that you are providing an image caption. The easiest way to do this is to use the image captioning feature in your LMS (you should see this when you upload an image). However, you could also include [Image Description: describe image] below the picture. Best practices are short captions (1-2 sentences) for each image. If you want to provide more detail, for example for a chart, then you should provide this explanation after the image. Again, while this may be specifically designed for students who may have difficulty viewing images, describing charts or graphics can assist all students in the class!
Video captioning: Finally, make sure to provide captions through your institution (contact IT or your Center for Teaching and Learning to see if captioning services are available), by uploading captions yourself, or by utilizing automatic captioning services.
My recommendation is to start a YouTube channel (it's free). Then, you can record/trim/edit your videos, upload them to YouTube, use the automatic captioning, and link them the LMS. Remember- students do NOT expect you to be an influencer or content creator. If you are well-versed in video editing and recording- amazing! If not, a clear, well-lit webcam video or video filmed on your smartphone will suffice just fine.
Staying Engaged with your Students
Generally, when we see students face-to-face 1, 2, or even 3 times a week it allows us to get to know them, engage with them, and see if they have any questions. Additionally, when we hold in-person office hours (even though many of us know office hours are a ghost town until there is a major assignment or exam on the schedule), we get to know our students and provide one-on-one help. This can be more challenging in remote and online formats.
We can get creative in terms of how we interact with students. Those of you who are more technologically savvy can utilize Google voice to get a number where students can call/text you. Or, you could use Slack (or a similar app) for texting-style communication. Not your thing? Trying to maintain an actual work/life balance and personal boundaries that work for you? Totally fine. Probably do not use the aforementioned tips.
Vary your office hours to be reachable by email, general Zoom or Webex office hours, and by appointment (email or video conference) with students.
Are you having your students utilize online discussion boards? Don't be absent! Engaging in the discussion boards shows students that you are reading their posts and value their contributions. It sends the message that this is an important element of the course design and encourages them to engage with you and their classmates in this format.
Now, you may have a LOT of students in your classes and it is unreasonable that you would have the time to respond EVERY.SINGLE.STUDENT each week. Instead, pick 1-3 posts each week and respond to them. Point out what students are doing well or ask them follow-up questions. Also, try not to respond to the same one or two people each week! Create a spreadsheet in Excel with who you are responding to, in what week, in which class, to help make sure you are engaging with and providing personal attention to multiple students in the class.
Take it To-Go
Wow! So much for clear and concise, huh? Do as I say, not as I do, I guess. But, if you like the tips above, I have created a short checklist for preparing for the Fall Semester. Click to download my Fall 2020 Course Checklist linked below:
If you like this, please share!
And, if you wouldn't mind, provide me a bit of credit and send folks to the blog. I will be creating more informational posts and downloadable content to help you create your best classroom, inspire your students, and thrive in a changing higher education environment!
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