Synchronous technologies have been impacting teaching for the past few years.

  • Zoom allowed for a quick and relatively easy move to online teaching
  • Problems for students working in isolation
  • Surge is synchronous learning
  • Synchronous teaching has improved over the past year
  • Some students prefer online learning – more in control, able to fit in work
  • Students are missing the f2f campus experience
  • Need to understand role and niche of online learning

What has to be done synchronously?

  • Look to learning outcomes for guidance
  • For example, what kind of communication is the skill you want your students to develop
  • Quick, on your feet thinking vs. a strong argument
  • Nature of the learning
  • Needs of the students
  • Cost, time, convenience for the instructor and for students

Live lecture should not be the predominant mode of delivery in the future 

  • Instructors are subject-matter experts
  • Existing online content – teach students how to find it, manage it, assess it
  • Instructor as guide
  • Guidance and feedback
  • Shift hard work to students
  • Enables students to become lifelong learners

First-year students need social on-campus experience

  • Stefan’s “Philisophical Quarter” – 15 minutes for students to chat at the start of classes, without the presence of the instructor
  • When online, we have to work harder at building community

Blended/hybrid learning introduces students to online work

  • Teaches them how to be good online learners
  • Flipped classroom model can fail because students don’t do the work before class
  • Teaches them the skill and confidence

SECTIONS

  • Originally ACTIONS model (didn’t include students)
  • The importance of each category changes over time
  • O – organizational support is one of the biggest factors

Engaging students with Zoom

  • 10-15 minutes max of presentation, then well-prepped, authentic breakout room activities
  • Size of class matters in the tech you choose
  • Zoom should just be one activity/tool to be used selectivity – LMS should be used for content delivery
  • Look to increase student participation during Zoom sessions
  • JP: Contact North video re: effective teaching with Zoom
  • Think about moving in-class group activities to Zoom rooms
  • “How to Create Active and Engaging Learning Experiences with Zoom Breakout Rooms” : recording of this webinarOther helpful videos re: Zoom: https://teachonline.ca/fr/node/101687 (Ron Owston)
  • Linda Harrison – a model for online discussion forums
  • Instructor sets standards, ensures LOs are met – would work for online Zoom discussions as well.

With flipped teaching

  • Set clear expectations
  • In-class activities should have students draw on what they did on their own time
  • What can in-person activities add to learning (something they can’t get online)

Is Teaching in a Digital Age a book or a course?

  • Tony wanted it to be more than a course
  • He wanted some coherence, not just a set of resources
  • But he concluded that Teaching in a Digital Age is a resource

Academic knowledge?

  • He believes academic knowledge is distinct from other types of knowledge and that it needs to be defended