Transitioning a class to online midsemester

[downer]

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?

[nescafe]

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.

[spork]

[. . .]

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.

[Aster]

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.

[Caracal]

[. . .]

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.

[no1capybara]

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!

[spork]

[. . .]

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.

[no1capybara]

[. . .]

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. 

[FishProf]

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....

[Puget]

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!

[Hibush]

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?

[backatit]

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.

[backatit]

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.

[hungry_ghost]

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?

[Puget]

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