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Running your course at a distance
Running your course at a distance
Running your course at a distance doesn't need to be a scary prospect and in fact is easier than using technology in the classroom. You have as much time as you need to setup the systems to do what you want them to do, ask for help and information from others and even make mistakes without anyone watching (in the privacy of your own office/home).
So, let's get to exploring what is available to run your courses at a distance with visible student activity and student interaction for as many activities as possible without redesigning your course content.
Discussion forums
Discussion forums
One of the simplest additions to your course is the discussion forum.
Anywhere you had a "discussion" in class, copy those questions into the head of a forum conversation, contact the students that they are to add their thoughts and reply to others inside the forum and BAM! online discussion.
In ELF or Moodlinka (or other Moodle system), [Turn editing on] and inside your week or topic, "Add an activity or resource" and choose Forum.
This forum could run for the whole semester if you like with several discussions on various topics, or you could create a new forum for each topics. The choice is yours.
Inside the IS, there is a forum called "Discussion groups".
You can add a "New Thread" (meaning a new discussion) for a single class or the course as a whole.
When you click on "New Thread" (not pictured, after you select a class), simply add your usual discussion questions and any words of encouragement to get students 'discussing'.
Easy additions to the forum for more student engagement!
Easy additions to the forum for more student engagement!
There are many activities that you could "announce" as a discussion in the forum for students to find or research and add to the discussion in the forum.
Some simple ideas are:
- Asking students to find a YouTube video (in your language) about the topic you are discussing. Add a link to the video in the forum board. Then watch others videos and add comments, thoughts or questions for that student (or all students).
- Asking students to write (something related to their topic) such as a short story, legal precedent, discussion of a historical or theoretical case study/story, creation of a case study/story (such as a person, business or imaginary legal case), business SWOT analysis, create a lesson plan or ideas for teaching an activity or anything related to their field is a good candidate.
- Student can then read others and peer review, discuss the ideas (perhaps compared to their own ideas), question the other student, pair up for a future activity, rewrite a part (such as the ending) to be an alternative ending, add some details about one of the characters, etc.
- Point being the original task is added to and built on, changed and discussed to get more and more interrelated activities, student interaction and therefore student motivation to study and contribute.
- Asking students to record a short audio recording discussing or presenting anything you would have discussed or presented in class.
- Again, add follow on activities for students to record a response, change or discuss.
- Asking students to record a short video recording something you would have discussed or presented in class. For example, perhaps your lesson activity was to read or watch material, create a poster and present that poster to the class. They can still watch or read, create their poster on paper or electronically (Word, Slides, etc.) and record a video of their presentation. If this was a class activity, it's not too much to ask them to complete it at home with some guidance on the tools they can use.
Tools students can use at home
Tools students can use at home
Firstly, most students have a smart phone in which they are already using:
- the camera to take photos or videos
- a chat program (Messenger, WhatsApp, etc.)
- some use a Memo or voice recording app
- social media (which can be used for good educational purposes also)
Other mobile apps that are very easy to install and use:
Other mobile apps that are very easy to install and use:
- Quizlet app on the phone. Here's the Quizlet app for iPhone and the Quizlet app for Android on Google Play store.
- Flipgrid for very short selfie-videos with student video replies. Download Flipgrid from the App Store or Flipgrid from Google Play
- Skype for business or Google Hangouts to have a video chat with other students or the whole class! You could have your classes as they were at the same time of day with students joining in from their computers or mobile phones. Or use Skype for presentations, live discussions or consultation sessions.
- Gmail and Outlook apps for email on their phone.
- Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp for chats with other students or the whole class.
Systems on the desktop computer or laptop:
Systems on the desktop computer or laptop:
- Screencast-o-matic is extremely easy to use and great for students to use their slideshow presentation and create a video presentation (15 minutes per video for free).
- Vocaroo is the simplest tool for recording your voice from a computer (note: an external microphone is needed for a desktop, laptops usually have a built-in microphone).
- Online MS Office - o365.muni.cz all students and teachers have the entire MS Office suite online.
- Google drive - drive.google.com students often have their own Google account and one is available from muni.cz after they accept the GDPR and switch it on inside the IS.
Ending with a wonderful informal quote from Masaryk
Ending with a wonderful informal quote from Masaryk
“Good morning. A fine day after the fogs of the last week. And I see the new film. As yet, I didn’t see and hear it – a great invention of America. I am sure not the last one. If I observe the inventiveness of our modern scientists, I sometimes fancy a much greater invention – to see and hear in the distance without any wires. Just imagine: you could observe, from your place in the sitting room, the jungles of Africa and what the wild beasts are doing there. You could see and listen to the jungles of our human society. Every man then would be forced to be honest and there would be no secret plotting any more of all the wickedness. Wonderful….no?”
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