Using the internet, it is possible to replace part or all of your face-to-face class with pre-recorded educational materials. In other words, it is possible for teachers to upload a pre-recorded version of their class and lecture materials onto the internet for students to access at any time. In these cases, teachers can also have students turn in assignments after watching class videos and have discussions with students on class messaging boards (available on ELMS).
On the Hokkaido University Education and Learning Management System (ELMS), there are functions available to look at student learning history and progress, stream contents, and assign quizzes to students. At Hokkaido University, we are using Moodle to help teachers manage their classrooms.
Because learning progress is recorded on ELMS, it is possible to manage classes with even a large number of students. In addition to streaming classes, you can provide feedback on student assignments (and quizzes) and establish a class forum (discussion board) to help improve mutual communication between student and teacher in class.
Moodle is on a server constantly connected to the internet and is available for use online at any time. Students can access Moodle on campus, at home, or on their commute. Using Moodle, students can view course materials to prepare for/review class or take quizzes. Additionally, teachers can use Moodle to analyze and grade tests/assignments or as to facilitate class discussion.
There are many different materials you can provide students with: lecture materials, textbooks, lecture videos, and voice recordings.
When citing a textbook, make sure to provide a URL and page number so students can access the material as well.
By assigning quizzes and reports to students, it is possible to confirm how well they have understood the course material.
By leaving individual comments and observing class-wide tendencies and averages on assignments, you can create positive interactions with students.
Teachers can create class groups according to students’ level of understanding and help provide educational resources for review, thus stimulating students’ desire to learn.
Students can use the forum function to perform group-work together and make class more active.
By encouraging student-teacher interaction (or student-student interaction!) it is possible to improve communication in class.
Follow these 5 steps in order to set your class up "On-Demand"
Resources used in class can be uploaded to ELMS. Students will then be able to download these resources at any time.
It is likely that many students will use their smartphones to participate in class. For this reason, we suggest that you make your slides and audio recordings on the assumptions that students will be watching from their smart phones. In order to avoid having overly crowded slides, we suggest that you only write necessary information in your presentation. By working to replace written text with diagrams and graphs, it is possible to create more “visual” slides. Additionally, when recording the audio narration for your class, we suggest that you speak at a slightly lower speed than usual.
The information and services you need to manage your class online can all be found on ELMS. Once you log in to ELMS, the “groups” for the courses you are teaching will be on display. Establishing your class-settings here can help you make your course “On-Demand.”
Notifications are not sent to students automatically when you establish new topics and activities in ELMS. Thus, particularly when dealing with students who are not used to On-Demand classes, we suggest that you send out regular notifications on ELMS.
You can confirm whether students have watched the class resources or not using the “log” data. However, it is not possible to confirm whether students have actually participated in class using just log data. We thus recommend that you assign students assignments and establish class-discussions in order to confirm student participation.
You can evaluate student understanding with quizzes and reports.
Additionally, it is possible to evaluate students by looking at what they say in class-discussions with other students.
For those who want to try creating your own contents but don’t know where to start, we’ve provided tips and tricks for getting started with On-Demand Learning.
A guide for those creating On-Demand classes for the first time.
Please reference the ELMS System Manual (for faculty) as well.
A list of the functions and simple manual for ELMS is available here.
A collection of resources that can help you get started with online classes.