Since many of us have to do this, it is worth discussing the particular difficulties.
My online teaching is with students who signed up for online teaching.
Now we need to teach students online who didn't sign up for it. Some of them are also having to move out of their dorms to back home, during the transition time. They are going to be especially distracted.
What particular steps will you take to deal with this?
I keep on seeing suggestions for faculty to use Zoom for their online classes. Since I've never particularly seen the attraction of doing that for regular online classes, is there any more reason to use Zoom for these transitioned classes?
Our admin pushed us to use Zoom before actually checking to see if we had faculty accounts. We don't, and so we're winging it.
I will use our LMS screencapture function and give two half-hour lectures covering core content the students were to learn this week. I've nixed the discussion component, but have told them that I will hold them responsible for doing the assigned readings on our Final Exam.
Quote from: downer on March 10, 2020, 09:40:50 AM
[. . .]
I keep on seeing suggestions for faculty to use Zoom for their online classes.
[. . . ]
This is based on several very faulty assumptions, like:
- Students will attentively watch a badly-lit talking head stationed in front of a podium or at a desk for 50 minutes to 2 hours when the average YouTube video is less than 4minutes.
- That faculty have and know how to properly use equipment that produces video and audio of sufficient quality.
- That faculty can quickly caption their self-made videos.
- That video content of better quality doesn't already exist elsewhere. (I dare anyone to try to independently produce something that matches the quality of John Green's Crash Course World History.)
- That video is the only or even best way of getting students to learn when classrooms aren't available.
An inverted classroom approach can be effective for an online format. Assign readings from the textbook and then whip up some targeted assessments. Follow up with feedback on the online discussion board.
But this model won't work all that great if students don't have a nice, professionally written and illustrated book to read.
Quote from: spork on March 10, 2020, 10:16:30 AM
Quote from: downer on March 10, 2020, 09:40:50 AM
[. . .]
I keep on seeing suggestions for faculty to use Zoom for their online classes.
[. . . ]
This is based on several very faulty assumptions, like:
- Students will attentively watch a badly-lit talking head stationed in front of a podium or at a desk for 50 minutes to 2 hours when the average YouTube video is less than 4minutes.
- That faculty have and know how to properly use equipment that produces video and audio of sufficient quality.
- That faculty can quickly caption their self-made videos.
- That video content of better quality doesn't already exist elsewhere. (I dare anyone to try to independently produce something that matches the quality of John Green's Crash Course World History.)
- That video is the only or even best way of getting students to learn when classrooms aren't available.
I'm sure that is all true, but the issue is that this is the middle of the semester. For my intro courses, lectures are the key way I deliver the content and context. The readings fit into this. I can't totally redesign three different courses in the middle of the semester. I agree with you that Zoom or recording lectures wouldn't be ideal, but it would allow me to keep the same basic structure for the course without dramatic changes to assessment methods.
Hi Caracal,
Can you see this Facebook post? It's a friend of a friend so I don't want to copy it all directly here, without her permission:
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10114994989572570&id=7952462
For me, one of the most helpful things she wrote was that we don't have to do everything perfectly. This is NOT business as usual - this is a temporary crisis response.
The free version of Zoom only allows 40 minute meetings. So I will be adjusting my classtime to that format. I have a great textbook so will take Aster's comments to heart and do more inverted exercises. I have Facebook pages for two of my classes so students are already accustomed to online interactions and commenting on each other's posts.
For the upper level specialized class I teach, the last four weeks were supposed to be student presentations on a topic of their choice (relevant to the subject matter) then peer-reviewing each other with our department's standardized presentation rubric. I'm going to give them options - YouTube a video or a paper.
Haven't decided what to do about the final yet. I might just cancel it. Most of the students in this class are seniors and are so freaked out anyways, that they won't mind. Neither will I!
Quote from: no1capybara on March 11, 2020, 08:54:29 AM
[. . .]
For the upper level specialized class I teach, the last four weeks were supposed to be student presentations on a topic of their choice (relevant to the subject matter) then peer-reviewing each other with our department's standardized presentation rubric. I'm going to give them options - YouTube a video or a paper.
[. . . ]
There are also the options of PowerPoint presentations with audio narration built in, screencast video capture (also often with audio narration capability), and Prezi. But students should also provide a written transcript if the audio isn't captioned.
Quote from: spork on March 11, 2020, 09:01:37 AM
Quote from: no1capybara on March 11, 2020, 08:54:29 AM
[. . .]
For the upper level specialized class I teach, the last four weeks were supposed to be student presentations on a topic of their choice (relevant to the subject matter) then peer-reviewing each other with our department's standardized presentation rubric. I'm going to give them options - YouTube a video or a paper.
[. . . ]
There are also the options of PowerPoint presentations with audio narration built in, screencast video capture (also often with audio narration capability), and Prezi. But students should also provide a written transcript if the audio isn't captioned.
Thanks so much, Spork! I'll give them to these as an option as well.
The other thing I do in this class is they have to give me three final exam questions based on their presentations. I usually have to modify them but it makes them pay attention to each other's work. I use them for about 25% of the final exam points, as they can be pretty simple questions. The students seem to enjoy the process of learning to link learning outcomes to their presentations.
We had a field trip to Florida cancelled, so we planned local field trips; now cancelled. I guess I can go and videotape what I was gonna show the students....
My university has given in to peer pressure and is moving online and sending the students home as of the end of next week, but they are allowed to leave sooner so I'm moving online starting tomorrow. It's a seminar, so not ideal, but we'll make do with Zoom-- I use it all the time for meetings with far flung collaborators, and I've used it on snow days before-- it really works pretty well.
The bigger problem for us is we'll have to stop collecting data for ongoing (human) studies, which will set the grad and honors thesis students back (and me, but I'm more worried about them). Here's hoping this doesn't last too long!
Quote from: FishProf on March 11, 2020, 01:44:21 PM
We had a field trip to Florida cancelled, so we planned local field trips; now cancelled. I guess I can go and videotape what I was gonna show the students....
Where will the students get the fish to study if they don't go on the field trip?
I use Zoom a lot in my classes, for discussions. I wouldn't lecture via Zoom (I teach fully online anyway and there are better ways to deliver content). So we use Zoom for me to clarify readings, assignments, and to discuss upcoming assignments and to discuss topics. It works really well for that. I keep the sessions short, like you would a discussion in the classroom (I don't need a premium account because I never go over 40 minutes), and I record them with student permission (just a note, I only post audio not video, because it just was distracting to watch the full video).
One issue I've faced though is that in my fully online courses, I can require students to have a webcam and microphone (zoom also works fine with a cell phone so students can use that), but some students just hate that technology, or can't get it to work easily. So you might do a quick test run with a friend before you use this with your classes.
I also toggle between the gallery and the active speaker view depending on how many students I'm interacting with - I find the active speaker view gets really distracting above 5-7 people.
Quote from: backatit on March 11, 2020, 04:53:11 PM
I use Zoom a lot in my classes, for discussions. I wouldn't lecture via Zoom (I teach fully online anyway and there are better ways to deliver content). So we use Zoom for me to clarify readings, assignments, and to discuss upcoming assignments and to discuss topics. It works really well for that. I keep the sessions short, like you would a discussion in the classroom (I don't need a premium account because I never go over 40 minutes), and I record them with student permission and post them later (just a note, I only post audio not video, because it just was distracting to watch the full video). I have students who can't attend the discussion do something else for credit, and they can listen to and respond to the discussion to get their talking points for what they have to do for the asynchronous option if they can't attend (I make it more onerous to encourage attendance and it usually takes them once or twice to figure out that it's a lot better to just come to a meeting).
One issue I've faced though is that in my fully online courses, I can require students to have a webcam and microphone (zoom also works fine with a cell phone so students can use that), but some students just hate that technology, or can't get it to work easily. So you might do a quick test run with a friend before you use this with your classes.
I also toggle between the gallery and the active speaker view depending on how many students I'm interacting with - I find the active speaker view gets really distracting above 5-7 people.
I teach a discussion based class. Apparently it is "flipped" since content is provided through reading and study notes/questions that are posted on the CMS. They do the reading at home, with a study guide in hand. In class, they start with a "scribble" (a quick essay question about the material) to get them thinking, then I break the class into small groups. Each group work through a set of questions together, come up with answers, while I circulate around the classroom, listening and asking questions. Then they present their responses group by group, then we have a full class discussion.
We are going online after Friday. Today I asked my students, what aspect of this class is most valuable to your learning? and they all said, "The discussions!" Well OBVIOUSLY, that's when they "use" the material, so that's when they actually learn it.
And also, "it's personal, in discussions, we get to hear other questions that we might not have thought of on our own and we hear other perspectives on the material."
I want to cry, but there is no time for that.
Instead: is there any good option for this sort of structure, little groups within big groups and then big group? Size: 5 groups x 4 students for one course; 3 groups x 4 students for the other.
Most important, how do I keep them engaged, when I suspect that a a good part of what keeps them engaged is not the intellectually stimulating and compelling nature of the material, but the fact that they are all in the same physical space with peers working on the same problems together?
How do I keep track of them all? I can see when Amy is checked out or when George is textingtextingtexting or when this group is starting to talk about Martha's boyfriend and when I'm directing a discussion I re-direct or re-focus, but obviously I can't do that online.
Also, not a question but I guess sort of a lament. I will miss my students, even if it is just a couple of weeks. My classes just "gelled" this week, the students are now comfortable with each other, opening up, and working together as a team. I came home after teaching Monday and I was thrilled. And now this?
Quote from: hungry_ghost on March 11, 2020, 06:12:07 PM
Instead: is there any good option for this sort of structure, little groups within big groups and then big group? Size: 5 groups x 4 students for one course; 3 groups x 4 students for the other.
You can do this in Zoom: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/206476093-Getting-Started-with-Breakout-Rooms
https://www.chronicle.com/article/Going-Online-in-a-Hurry-What/248207
Various of my professional associations hold committee meetings via Zoom. I have yet to attend a Zoom meeting where we did not spend the first 20 minutes going "I can't hear you. There's a bad echo. Your camera is not on." And after 45 minutes the session dies Zoom kicks us all off and we all log in again and repeat the process.
And since Artem U does not support Zoom we've been advised "you're on your own" if we try to move to online using non uni supported software.
Quote from: secundem_artem on March 11, 2020, 08:15:43 PM
Various of my professional associations hold committee meetings via Zoom. I have yet to attend a Zoom meeting where we did not spend the first 20 minutes going "I can't hear you. There's a bad echo. Your camera is not on." And after 45 minutes the session dies Zoom kicks us all off and we all log in again and repeat the process.
And since Artem U does not support Zoom we've been advised "you're on your own" if we try to move to online using non uni supported software.
I was told "Use zoom, it's what our university supports. But it will crash, so you can't actually use it, but it's the approved platform."
I wish I were joking.
This just showed up in my Twitter feed: https://sites.google.com/view/idernetwork/home
FWIW, I have a Zoom teleconference every month and it's fine with the under 10 of us.
Quote from: Hibush on March 11, 2020, 04:49:41 PM
Quote from: FishProf on March 11, 2020, 01:44:21 PM
We had a field trip to Florida cancelled, so we planned local field trips; now cancelled. I guess I can go and videotape what I was gonna show the students....
Where will the students get the fish to study if they don't go on the field trip?
There's a pond on campus......
I'm picturing knotted string, bent pins, and angular tree branches a la 《The Little Rascals》fishing expeditions...
;--}
M.
Quote from: mamselle on March 12, 2020, 07:15:42 AM
I'm picturing knotted string, bent pins, and angular tree branches a la 《The Little Rascals》fishing expeditions...
;--}
M.
We'll do noodling. That's hands-on.
I had to look it up, but it is what I thought it was....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noodling
Ewwwww!!!!!
M.
P.S., it's illegal in all but 14 states, most of which are in the south and a few in the midwest....
Quote from: mamselle on March 12, 2020, 10:34:47 AM
I had to look it up, but it is what I thought it was....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noodling
Ewwwww!!!!!
M.
P.S., it's illegal in all but 14 states, most of which are in the south and a few in the midwest....
It's legal here, but I don't get the impression too many people actually try it. Catfish are well-known to be something you don't want to touch with your bare hands. Plus people know that there are other things lurking around down there.
First online seminar class today-- worked pretty well, though less discussion than in person unsurprisingly. All but 2 students showed up, students presented, everyone was patient and a good sport about things.
I let them share/vent for a while in the beginning. They mostly seem OK just stressed and the seniors are pretty sad about losing their last semester with friends here, and probably commencement.
The parent of one of my students is her (large) school's go-to person for online learning.
She's been up every night until midnight just answering emails....
M.
https://medium.com/@contact.josecc/how-to-move-your-course-online-and-be-successful-6098b4a0823d
https://www.chronicle.com/article/How-to-Make-Your-Online-Pivot/248239
http://activelearningps.com/2020/03/12/tips-for-moving-instruction-online/ (http://activelearningps.com/2020/03/12/tips-for-moving-instruction-online/)
Quote from: mamselle on March 12, 2020, 10:34:47 AM
I had to look it up, but it is what I thought it was....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noodling
Ewwwww!!!!!
M.
P.S., it's illegal in all but 14 states, most of which are in the south and a few in the midwest....
That they had to ban it tells you people actually do it. The thought of sticking my hand into a cave in Southern waters gives me the absolute creeps.
Teaching in the context of covid-19 shared Google doc
(https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yBE1cCqJ_4M-JZ62K4CefmYsZugqAWkGmZmdwESt0IM/edit#)
Thanks Polly, that will be very useful.
Quote from: spork on March 10, 2020, 10:16:30 AM
Quote from: downer on March 10, 2020, 09:40:50 AM
[. . .]
I keep on seeing suggestions for faculty to use Zoom for their online classes.
[. . . ]
This is based on several very faulty assumptions, like:
- Students will attentively watch a badly-lit talking head stationed in front of a podium or at a desk for 50 minutes to 2 hours when the average YouTube video is less than 4minutes.
- That faculty have and know how to properly use equipment that produces video and audio of sufficient quality.
- That faculty can quickly caption their self-made videos.
- That video content of better quality doesn't already exist elsewhere. (I dare anyone to try to independently produce something that matches the quality of John Green's Crash Course World History.)
- That video is the only or even best way of getting students to learn when classrooms aren't available.
Don't reinvent the wheel. Our job is to make sure learning outcomes are met. We can do that with content made by others. It's going to be better quality for survey classes and covers much of what we would already.
Quote from: Mobius on March 15, 2020, 10:39:56 PM
Quote from: spork on March 10, 2020, 10:16:30 AM
Quote from: downer on March 10, 2020, 09:40:50 AM
[. . .]
I keep on seeing suggestions for faculty to use Zoom for their online classes.
[. . . ]
This is based on several very faulty assumptions, like:
- Students will attentively watch a badly-lit talking head stationed in front of a podium or at a desk for 50 minutes to 2 hours when the average YouTube video is less than 4minutes.
- That faculty have and know how to properly use equipment that produces video and audio of sufficient quality.
- That faculty can quickly caption their self-made videos.
- That video content of better quality doesn't already exist elsewhere. (I dare anyone to try to independently produce something that matches the quality of John Green's Crash Course World History.)
- That video is the only or even best way of getting students to learn when classrooms aren't available.
Don't reinvent the wheel. Our job is to make sure learning outcomes are met. We can do that with content made by others. It's going to be better quality for survey classes and covers much of what we would already.
I agree with this for lecture courses, but for seminars Zoom, while not perfect, seems like the best way forward.
Another reason to do it is that I don't think class is just about learning objectives right now-- it's also about helping students keep a sense of normalcy and social connection at a time when they are feeling displaced, uncertain, anxious and isolated. Watching mass produced videos alone in your room can't do that. Some safe real human interaction and learning together twice a week may help a little. If that doesn't work for your course that's fine, but perhaps think about other ways to build community and connection, like a check-in forum.
Some sort of human interaction does make sense for small online classes, and I guess seminars are generally small.
My expectation is that a lot of students will just drop out. The world right now is just overwhelming, and for students now stuck at home, they may not be able to motivate themselves to working in an online class.
Other students may really put a lot of work into their online classes because they are stuck at home, they can't see their friends, they have lost their job, and they have nothing else to do.
Quote from: downer on March 16, 2020, 06:33:27 AM
Some sort of human interaction does make sense for small online classes, and I guess seminars are generally small.
My expectation is that a lot of students will just drop out. The world right now is just overwhelming, and for students now stuck at home, they may not be able to motivate themselves to working in an online class.
Other students may really put a lot of work into their online classes because they are stuck at home, they can't see their friends, they have lost their job, and they have nothing else to do.
This is my fear, too.
I just got an email from my Chair that I had to let students know the plan. In the past week, I've had about a 50% logon rate for my courses, and these have all been blended from the start (assignments and grades run through it), so I know that they know how to log on. If they don't do it, and if they don't receive/open/respond to my emails, I cannot go and hunt them down. There's an evacuation of the dorms going on, and I'd treat my courses as low priority, too.
I'm reconciled to submitting a huge number of incompletes, and dealing with them over the summer. Assuming that they come back at all.
dc
I'd say if your courses have been blended from the start, and you've only had a 50% log in rate recently, I'd say an F is an F if a student doesn't complete the course.
We now have a two-week spring break. During this time faculty are supposed to spin up fully-online versions of all their courses that will run at least through Easter. The university says it will make a decision during that time span about whether on-campus will resume after Easter. Well, that's not going to happen. Students aren't going to come back to campus for three weeks of classes to finish out the semester.
Quote from: spork on March 16, 2020, 09:16:20 AM
We now have a two-week spring break. During this time faculty are supposed to spin up fully-online versions of all their courses that will run at least through Easter. The university says it will make a decision during that time span about whether on-campus will resume after Easter. Well, that's not going to happen. Students aren't going to come back to campus for three weeks of classes to finish out the semester.
This dithering is bad for all sorts of reasons. Just psychologically, people do not do well with uncertainty, and there is enough uncertainty without universities adding to it. Practically, maybe this works if all your students are basically local, but how are students supposed to make travel plans if they may or may not be coming back? Moving online through the rest of the semester now may seem drastic, but that's probably what's going to happen anyway so its better just to give everyone the certainty now and let everyone adjust. I'm grateful that my university went this route.
Quote from: Puget on March 16, 2020, 09:34:38 AM
Quote from: spork on March 16, 2020, 09:16:20 AM
We now have a two-week spring break. During this time faculty are supposed to spin up fully-online versions of all their courses that will run at least through Easter. The university says it will make a decision during that time span about whether on-campus will resume after Easter. Well, that's not going to happen. Students aren't going to come back to campus for three weeks of classes to finish out the semester.
This dithering is bad for all sorts of reasons. Just psychologically, people do not do well with uncertainty, and there is enough uncertainty without universities adding to it. Practically, maybe this works if all your students are basically local, but how are students supposed to make travel plans if they may or may not be coming back? Moving online through the rest of the semester now may seem drastic, but that's probably what's going to happen anyway so its better just to give everyone the certainty now and let everyone adjust. I'm grateful that my university went this route.
Some of my students are from places like Spain, Japan, Brazil, and Afghanistan. If they've left the USA, they are not going to fly back just for three weeks of classes.
If they can even get in.
M.
Quote from: spork on March 16, 2020, 09:16:20 AM
I'd say if your courses have been blended from the start, and you've only had a 50% log in rate recently, I'd say an F is an F if a student doesn't complete the course.
My students are currently being evicted from their dorms. Some are being deported. If they cannot log in, you'd fail them all?
My institution only conducts course evaluations in-person and on paper.
So... looks like I'll be conducting mine via Moodle this semester. Has anyone attempted this before? (I know that Moodle makes it possible to do this. I'm just wondering what unforseen hurdles I might face.)
Quote from: dr_codex on March 16, 2020, 01:27:14 PM
Quote from: spork on March 16, 2020, 09:16:20 AM
I'd say if your courses have been blended from the start, and you've only had a 50% log in rate recently, I'd say an F is an F if a student doesn't complete the course.
My students are currently being evicted from their dorms. Some are being deported. If they cannot log in, you'd fail them all?
Your courses are structured in a way that missing an assignment deadline results in an F? Or is this the university leadership pronouncing that no rescheduling/restructuring of course content is allowed?
Quote from: spork on March 16, 2020, 06:46:37 PM
Quote from: dr_codex on March 16, 2020, 01:27:14 PM
Quote from: spork on March 16, 2020, 09:16:20 AM
I'd say if your courses have been blended from the start, and you've only had a 50% log in rate recently, I'd say an F is an F if a student doesn't complete the course.
My students are currently being evicted from their dorms. Some are being deported. If they cannot log in, you'd fail them all?
Your courses are structured in a way that missing an assignment deadline results in an F? Or is this the university leadership pronouncing that no rescheduling/restructuring of course content is allowed?
My courses were structured to run in a way that is no longer possible.
I might not have been clear. Since we were encouraged to shift everything online, many of my students have not -- for reasons unclear to me -- been accessing the alternate mode of delivery. I guess I'm asking the hive mind if anybody else is in the same boat, and how all y'all are handling that.
The first person to bring up the subject of F's was you, Spork. Why did you think that was the best response?
Quote from: Puget on March 16, 2020, 09:34:38 AM
Quote from: spork on March 16, 2020, 09:16:20 AM
We now have a two-week spring break. During this time faculty are supposed to spin up fully-online versions of all their courses that will run at least through Easter. The university says it will make a decision during that time span about whether on-campus will resume after Easter. Well, that's not going to happen. Students aren't going to come back to campus for three weeks of classes to finish out the semester.
This dithering is bad for all sorts of reasons. Just psychologically, people do not do well with uncertainty, and there is enough uncertainty without universities adding to it. Practically, maybe this works if all your students are basically local, but how are students supposed to make travel plans if they may or may not be coming back? Moving online through the rest of the semester now may seem drastic, but that's probably what's going to happen anyway so its better just to give everyone the certainty now and let everyone adjust. I'm grateful that my university went this route.
Our local municipal government sent conflicting messages yesterday about whether City Hall was open for business. First they announced on their social media that the doors would be locked. They would only handle phone calls and drive-through utility bill submissions. When I called to check on them, I was told that they had decided to open the doors after all. But the social media post didn't change. I called to point that out, and suggest that everybody needed to be on the same page. The social media message apparently still hasn't changed. Since people ask us at the library about these sorts of things, we don't know what to say.
This arrived today in my email inbox. This is just one example as to why you just can't declare "we are moving everything online" at the drop of a hat.
Temporary customer support changes
We're writing to alert you that our partners who deliver Pearson customer support — both technical and order management support — are experiencing significant changes. Their call centers are responding in real-time to a mandatory, government-ordered shift to work from home. As a result, phone support, email support, and live support delivered through our website is now temporarily unavailable.
Our automated self-service tools on our website are your strongest option for problem resolution during this outage. You can find these tools at
https://support.pearson.com/getsupport/s/
We are working closely with our partners to establish contingency support as quickly as possible. We will keep you posted as the situation evolves with updated information on revised support processes.
Thank you very much for your patience and flexibility during this difficult time of unprecedented disruption to the way we work.
Partners? Did they outsource this to the lowest bidder?
I hope it is OK to link to YouTube here. This awesome video has been floating around my faculty listserve for some humor as we all move online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCe5PaeAeew&feature=youtu.be (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCe5PaeAeew&feature=youtu.be)
Quote from: OneMoreYear on March 18, 2020, 10:41:59 AM
I hope it is OK to link to YouTube here. This awesome video has been floating around my faculty listserve for some humor as we all move online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCe5PaeAeew&feature=youtu.be (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCe5PaeAeew&feature=youtu.be)
Thanks, I needed that. A+
I hope he uses a different camera angle when lecturing.
Hello Fora folk, I've been a lurker for awhile but now registered. I suppose I should fill out a profile, but briefly, I'm a longterm prof at a small public uni. I have an interdisciplinary background in the social sciences, and I'm transitioning to online teaching with a good dose of curiousity/humility/skepticism. So, I can ask my faculty center, but it's swamped right now, so, does anyone know if one can retroactively narrate existing ppt slides?
TIA. And if you need to know about terrapins, please ask. I may know the answer...
Quote from: downer on March 10, 2020, 09:40:50 AM
I keep on seeing suggestions for faculty to use Zoom for their online classes. Since I've never particularly seen the attraction of doing that for regular online classes, is there any more reason to use Zoom for these transitioned classes?
No. And thank you for raising this point. My institution started recommending Zoom without even checking what good online teaching techniques or student internet access was like. Meantime we are running a charitable collection for students without laptops or internet at home ... while we have moved to online classes.
Not all students have time or space to check in online. Some have only cellphone data to access course material. Some are looking after family/siblings/children. Some are trying to get paid work. Some just got laid off and are hugely stressed out. Some are in different time zones. If Zoom works for you personally, fine, but since using it may well exclude some students, let's please not turn it into a panacea.
Quote from: dr_codex on March 16, 2020, 08:06:22 PM
I might not have been clear. Since we were encouraged to shift everything online, many of my students have not -- for reasons unclear to me -- been accessing the alternate mode of delivery. I guess I'm asking the hive mind if anybody else is in the same boat, and how all y'all are handling that.
What are your options on incompletes or progress-but-not-completions? Those seem like the humane options to me to deal with folks who were doing fine and now cannot access the content or have higher priorities at the moment than finishing a particular course.
Quote from: Porcupine on March 20, 2020, 02:51:27 AM
Quote from: downer on March 10, 2020, 09:40:50 AM
I keep on seeing suggestions for faculty to use Zoom for their online classes. Since I've never particularly seen the attraction of doing that for regular online classes, is there any more reason to use Zoom for these transitioned classes?
No. And thank you for raising this point. My institution started recommending Zoom without even checking what good online teaching techniques or student internet access was like. Meantime we are running a charitable collection for students without laptops or internet at home ... while we have moved to online classes.
Not all students have time or space to check in online. Some have only cellphone data to access course material. Some are looking after family/siblings/children. Some are trying to get paid work. Some just got laid off and are hugely stressed out. Some are in different time zones. If Zoom works for you personally, fine, but since using it may well exclude some students, let's please not turn it into a panacea.
I think this is very institution dependent. It is generally working fairly well for us, but we are a traditional age residential campus (or were residential until last week!), and were able to mobilize emergency funds to pay for laptops and internet for any students who didn't have them at home. Our students right now seem to be craving interaction, and video is the best we can do for them. We are recording and posting for anyone who has trouble connecting synchronously.
Quote from: Terrapinfan on March 20, 2020, 01:40:52 AM
Hello Fora folk, I've been a lurker for awhile but now registered. I suppose I should fill out a profile, but briefly, I'm a longterm prof at a small public uni. I have an interdisciplinary background in the social sciences, and I'm transitioning to online teaching with a good dose of curiousity/humility/skepticism. So, I can ask my faculty center, but it's swamped right now, so, does anyone know if one can retroactively narrate existing ppt slides?
TIA. And if you need to know about terrapins, please ask. I may know the answer...
Yes, it doesn't matter when the slides were created, you add the narration at the presenting phase (this can just be presenting to yourself). Go to Slide show--> Record slide show.
I didn't know until just now that one can use Zoom to have breakout rooms, much like groups in a classroom.
All the information I have is from reading the Twitter thread at https://twitter.com/ef_math/status/1240289696330051586 , but that looks promising for the types of classes that are reasonably small and were already accustomed to working in small groups.
Quote from: Terrapinfan on March 20, 2020, 01:40:52 AM
Hello Fora folk, I've been a lurker for awhile but now registered. I suppose I should fill out a profile, but briefly, I'm a longterm prof at a small public uni. I have an interdisciplinary background in the social sciences, and I'm transitioning to online teaching with a good dose of curiousity/humility/skepticism. So, I can ask my faculty center, but it's swamped right now, so, does anyone know if one can retroactively narrate existing ppt slides?
TIA. And if you need to know about terrapins, please ask. I may know the answer...
If your uni supports Panopto, this is quite easy to do.
Quote from: Puget on March 20, 2020, 06:36:01 AM
Quote from: Terrapinfan on March 20, 2020, 01:40:52 AM
Hello Fora folk, I've been a lurker for awhile but now registered. I suppose I should fill out a profile, but briefly, I'm a longterm prof at a small public uni. I have an interdisciplinary background in the social sciences, and I'm transitioning to online teaching with a good dose of curiousity/humility/skepticism. So, I can ask my faculty center, but it's swamped right now, so, does anyone know if one can retroactively narrate existing ppt slides?
TIA. And if you need to know about terrapins, please ask. I may know the answer...
Yes, it doesn't matter when the slides were created, you add the narration at the presenting phase (this can just be presenting to yourself). Go to Slide show--> Record slide show.
Yup, easy peasy. Plus to audio is synched with each slide, so that if students skip ahead in the slideshow, the audio starts at that slide instead.
Many thanks for the ppt narration answer. My uni doesn't have Panopto....
Speaking of Zoom, several recommended it for moving online, but even experienced Zoom-y colleagues have reported that it is not going well in student tryouts during spring break, so many of us are choosing NOT to Zoom - students are too stressed and as this thread notes, there is a digital divide.
For narrating PPt slides, you can also use Word Thread, if your school supports that.
M.
I knew from day one that for what I teach and my style that there is no feasible way to make a transition to a real online class. So, I turned my class into a self study correspondence course. I give them material to read and videos to watch. I noticed that one person out of ten actually answered my questions correctly about one video. From this I conclude that they think they can just search on Google for the answers and not watch the video. The video even comes with a transcript with the answers plainly visible.
I also got an email today from our president with some inspiring rally the troops message. She then said that they plan to resume normal operations on April 13th. There is no way that can happen. The dormitories are mostly empty and the departed students are not returning. We have yet to reach the peak of daily infections. A student can't even get a haircut or new clothing since those places are closed down.
Quote from: Hibush on March 18, 2020, 05:15:56 PM
Quote from: OneMoreYear on March 18, 2020, 10:41:59 AM
I hope it is OK to link to YouTube here. This awesome video has been floating around my faculty listserve for some humor as we all move online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCe5PaeAeew&feature=youtu.be (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCe5PaeAeew&feature=youtu.be)
Thanks, I needed that. A+
I hope he uses a different camera angle when lecturing.
Awesome.
This was next in the queue:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Kf-9kx_oSg
I just got word from On High that my summer courses (May-June) are all going to be online too.
On the one hand, that suits me fine, and will allow me to have more of a summer, since I won't have to go in four days a week (and it's a fairly long commute). On the other hand, it's gonna be hard to fight the urge to do a decent job from the get-go instead of half-assing it as I have been.
I just have to keep reminding myself that starting in May only gives me a week between the end of this semester and the start of the next to prep stuff, and that's not nearly enough time to do a good job of being online.
Quote from: Parasaurolophus on March 27, 2020, 02:35:24 PM
I just got word from On High that my summer courses (May-June) are all going to be online too.
On the one hand, that suits me fine, and will allow me to have more of a summer, since I won't have to go in four days a week (and it's a fairly long commute). On the other hand, it's gonna be hard to fight the urge to do a decent job from the get-go instead of half-assing it as I have been.
I just have to keep reminding myself that starting in May only gives me a week between the end of this semester and the start of the next to prep stuff, and that's not nearly enough time to do a good job of being online.
Right now this is my biggest concern. We have online classes but we are not an online school. I wish that those from Up On High would do the right thing and throw in the towel for the summer classes.
Quote from: Anselm on March 29, 2020, 10:10:31 AM
Quote from: Parasaurolophus on March 27, 2020, 02:35:24 PM
I just got word from On High that my summer courses (May-June) are all going to be online too.
On the one hand, that suits me fine, and will allow me to have more of a summer, since I won't have to go in four days a week (and it's a fairly long commute). On the other hand, it's gonna be hard to fight the urge to do a decent job from the get-go instead of half-assing it as I have been.
I just have to keep reminding myself that starting in May only gives me a week between the end of this semester and the start of the next to prep stuff, and that's not nearly enough time to do a good job of being online.
Right now this is my biggest concern. We have online classes but we are not an online school. I wish that those from Up On High would do the right thing and throw in the towel for the summer classes.
Do your students need those on-line classes? Do you faculty rely on summer money?
We will definitely not starve, but my wife and I were counting on a little extra income from summer teaching for some various . For some people summer income is a must.
Obviously your campus knows what it needs---just wondering.
Quote from: Parasaurolophus on March 27, 2020, 02:35:24 PM
I just got word from On High that my summer courses (May-June) are all going to be online too.
On the one hand, that suits me fine, and will allow me to have more of a summer, since I won't have to go in four days a week (and it's a fairly long commute). On the other hand, it's gonna be hard to fight the urge to do a decent job from the get-go instead of half-assing it as I have been.
I just have to keep reminding myself that starting in May only gives me a week between the end of this semester and the start of the next to prep stuff, and that's not nearly enough time to do a good job of being online.
I could have written almost the exact same post today. I just got word from TPIC that we are going online for the summer, at least for any course that begins in May. I am thankful that I now don't need to make the long commute 5 days per week, but I also need to start thinking about prepping now. I teach two intensive courses (6 hours per week for six weeks each course), and am really going to have the think about the best model for that online, particularly since one course involves a lot of in person role-plays/practice (health professions intervention course). I think I'm going to have to do some research on best practices for this type of course online.