Teaching remotely is more than just replicating your face-to-face classroom activities in the online environment. It involves deliberate adaptation and modification of how you deliver in-class activities and utilize informal feedback. Here are some things you can try:
1. Adapt in-class activities using appropriate mediums
When considering how to engage students with content in an online setting, it may be helpful to think about activities that will allow students to practice and develop their skills as well as ones that will develop critical thinking by making connections between theories and content.
Tools
- Zoom
- eClass Discussion Forums
- eClass Wikis
- Microsoft Teams
- Emergency Remote Instruction Checklist (Guiding Students and Their Learning section)
Resources
- Zoom
- eClass Discussion Forums
- eClass Wikis
- Microsoft Teams
- Teaching and Learning Activities
- Video Production
- Creating Workable and Engaging Online Lectures (Professor Carolyn Podruchny)
- Teaching Commons Webinar: Engaging Students Online Through Short Videos and Instagram (Professor Michael Longford)
Best practices
- Choose tools you are comfortable with
- Test the tools out yourself first, and be prepared to walk your students through their use
- Mitigate the fact that not all students have equal access to technology by ensuring your course and activities are accessible.
2. Provide informal feedback to aid learning
In the face-to-face environment we may take for granted the amount of informal feedback we provide to students in class. Examples include responding to points made by students in discussions, answering questions and clarifying what students say, taking up solutions to problems posed in class, offering options for responses to scenarios or case studies, etc. Consider how you will do this in a remote environment.
Tools
- For feedback on real-time activities facilitated in Zoom or Microsoft Teams
- eClass Discussion Forums eClass quizzes can offer immediate feedback when they are self-grading.
- eClass journals allow students to write entries for the instructor to comment on.
- eClass assignments, Turnitin, and Crowdmark allow students to submit files that members of the teaching team can provide feedback on.
Resources
- Resources for Zoom
- Resources for Microsoft Teams
- Resources for eClass Chat
- Resources for eClass Discussion Forums
- Resources for eClass Quizzes
- Resources for eClass Assignments
- Resources for Turnitin Assignments in eClass
- Resources for Crowdmark Assignments in eClass
- Resources for Asynchronous Peer Feedback on Student Skill Videos
Best practices
- Quality, timely feedback helps establish your presence in the course
- You can try different modes of feedback delivery, including written, audio/video, and automated (e.g. self-grading quizzes)
- Feedback can also be delivered at the individual or group level, for example leaving feedback on weekly discussion posts
3. Finding Alternatives for STEAM - Labs & Experiential Activities
With the shift to online teaching and learning, many traditional face-to-face activities such as labs and experiential education opportunities need to be reconsidered. This is especially true for those whose discipline is in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics).
Tools
Smartphone Accommodation Resource Toolbox (SmART): An online platform developed at York to support teaching and learning through the use of smartphone video production and interactive feedback tools
Publicly Available Datasets: Can be used for students to interpret experimental data. For example, Nature Research Journal, or Statistics Canada
Resources
Keepteaching.ca: curated resources for teaching and assessing online
- See “Experiential Learning (Including Labs, Internships)” for both general and discipline specific examples, including but not limited to:
- Co-operative Education and Work-Integrated Learning Canada (CEWIL) COVID-19 Resources and Professional Development Opportunities
- Online Science lab options (Google Doc - see the Science section)
- Alternatives for labs
- Additional resources specific to: Geology; more Geology; Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Ecological Sciences; Physics; Business; Nursing; First Responders, Public Safety & Emergency Response (and more)
Online Resources for Science Laboratories Remote Teaching Spreadsheet
Merlot – Collection of virtual labs
eCampusOntario H5P Studio: Interactive HTML5 content
Virtual/Telemedicine for Health Care Practitioners
- Teaching Commons Webinar: Flipping a Lab Course to Virtual Learning (Professor Brenda Orazietti & Professor Sarah Evans)
Best practices
- Think about the intention of your labs. Are they meant for interpreting experimental data, project-based research, or lab techniques and application to specific experimental situations? This may help you narrow your choices for selecting an appropriate learning activity.
- Be aware of issues surrounding student access to technology, as not all students will have equal access to the internet, computers, smart phones, physical space, etc.
- Under certain conditions of your own research protocols, you may be able to use human participant data that you collected for your own research purposes as an opportunity for your students to anaylze and interpret as part of an academic assignment. This is entirely dependent on the conditions of your approved ethics protocol, including but not limited to the clear articulation in your consent form that the data may be used in a variety of ways and is already in anonymized form. To avoid any ethical breaches, you are strongly encouraged to reach out to the Office of Research Ethics (ore@yorku.ca) for clarification regarding your specific protocol.
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