Teaching online - Lessons learned
- 1. • Interactive tasks and apps: To replace traditional face-to-face activities and maintain student engagement, several interactive online activities were added using online tools such as H5P, Padlet walls, Kahoot, and Mentimeter. • Live sessions (Zoom): With both students and educators quickly acclimatising with using Zoom for teaching and learning, skills have been built in undertaking synchronous live sessions, and in the use of Zoom functions for engaging lessons. Many teachers now use Zoom break-out rooms for student discussions and have experimented with Zoom polls to encourage students to share opinions. TIPS FOR NEXT SESSION • Having a variety of apps helps with student engagement, but do not overwhelm them with trying to introduce too many new tech tools too quickly. • Break down topics into manageable bite-size tasks and annotate lecture slides to give students better guidance on topics. • Avoid Zoom fatigue. Limit the length of Zoom sessions to approximately one to two hours maximum and insert short 5-minute breaks when needed. LEARNING DESIGN
- 2. • Case studies, open-book exams and online quizzes with a large pool of question banks, replaced many in-class examinations. Students have been performing well and lower plagiarism cases have been reported. • Some teachers have experimented with exam invigilation through Zoom, with single-access and timed submissions. For example, for Engineering units, students were asked to write their answers on A4 paper while Zoom cameras were turned on, and when the exam was completed, to scan their papers with their mobile phones and upload to Moodle. • Reflective writing and video assignments have been successful in promoting critical thinking, creativity and problem solving. TIPS FOR NEXT SESSION • Set clear assessment requirements and establish expectations of students from the start of the Session. • Avoid heavily weighted final assessment tasks. • Give feedback on formative assessment throughout the session to help students track progress and target any areas that need more work. • Replace punitive approaches to plagiarism by providing guidance on how to avoid it. ONLINE ASSESSMENT
- 3. • Student online consultations: Teachers and Academic Coordinators were available for online consultations via Moodle chat and emails. Some teachers employed a booking system to confirm appointments. • Mid-trimester reports issued by some teachers helped student motivation and in getting some students back on track. • Data and analytics: A relatively new realm for many, with some teachers tracking student logs using Moodle analytics that was useful when identifying and following-up on students at risk. • College support services contact details were made available through Zoom links and WeChat (including reception, student learning advisors, counsellors, study support). TIPS FOR NEXT SESSION • Be proactive in contacting students to encourage participation, motivation, submission of required tasks and to provide additional support when needed. • Educate students about digital citizenship and establish a digital culture with clear expectations. STUDENT SUPPORT
- 4. • A virtual lunchroom was created in some Colleges to support staff and alleviate the sense of isolation. Aside from emphasising connection in a time of isolation, this led to brainstorming ideas to support students, innovating in our teaching and providing ideas for enhancing the online learning experience for students • The Learning and Teaching website and the Navitas Community have been invaluable to refer to for L&T ideas. The most relevant professional development opportunities and tips were often summarised by Academic Coordinators and emailed to directly to teachers. TIPS FOR NEXT SESSION • Ask teachers what support, training or professional development they need for the next Session. • Create an online space for all teachers to connect, collaborate and create together. TEACHER SUPPORT AND TRAINING