FAQ's

• Video with a resolution of 720p or higher is preferable. If you face the issue of the bigger file size due to high-quality videos then you can use an open-source software HandBrake to reduce the file size without compromising video quality.

• You can download it from here: https://handbrake.fr/

See how to use it at https://youtu.be/sDWqJQEbVlA

• You may prefer to buy licences of video editing software if you want to do more advanced or higher-end editing of videos.

• However, OpenShot (this works with most of the operating systems), which is an open-source software, actually does a pretty good job with basic to medium level of video editing.

• The Mac users and iPAD users can use the iMovie app by downloading it from the App store for video editing.

• Yes, it is possible. This can be used as an alternative to the hardware and software used for chalk and board writing while creating videos or conducting live sessions using slides. Take photos of the handwritten papers and insert them in the slides and finally present your work. But, you have to make sure that the handwriting is legible.

• However writing with chalk on board with a 1-hr lecture, recording it and uploading it is not recommended.

• Generally, handwriting during a live session or while creating videos requires some hardware and software tools to be connected to your device (Laptop or PC). If you are using a tablet, additional hardware is not required but only a specific software application may be installed.

• For Creating Videos:

  • If you are using a laptop or PC, you would need to have the hardware (such as Bamboo Wacom One) which works with different software applications such as OneNote, Word processors etc..

  • If you are using an IPAD, you can write in a Notebook, GoodNotes or Doceri app while recording a video lecture. It is very close to writing on a chalkboard.

If you are using Microsoft Surface, you can write in an OneNote or Microsoft Word application.

• For live sessions:

  • Some video conferencing tools (such as BigBlueButton, Webex, etc) have in-built whiteboards. As an instructor, you can write, annotate and highlight on the slides if you are using a stylus and associated hardware, whereas if you are using a mouse then you can only highlight some portion of the slides because it's difficult to write with the mouse.

  • Else, you can use Bamboo Wacom for capturing your writing similar to what you do with the chalk and board writing

  • If you possess an IPAD, you can write in a Notebook or GoodNotes app while giving a lecture. It is very close to writing on a chalkboard.

  • If you are using Microsoft Book 2 with Zoom, you can easily flip between slides annotated online, a Whiteboard and clips.

  • The chalk and board writing during live sessions requires the same hardware and software tools mentioned in the For Creating Videos section (Refer previous slide)

For details about how to handle Live interactions, visit: https://sites.google.com/view/iitb-teachonline/delivering-content/live-interactions

• The easiest way to start with is to identify natural pause points in the longer videos. For that you can think of the points where you usually take pauses during face-to-face instruction e.g. asking questions to students, giving examples, switching to new sub-topic or concept.

• Technology Tool: Use Openshot to cut a long video into pieces and save them on your system as separate small videos.

• Download it from: https://www.openshot.org/download/

This is how to use OpenShot: https://youtu.be/BQS2tmgD_Rk

• The duration of the chunk can be as small as 2 minutes and as big as 10-12 minutes. If you have a longer video, let’s say 15 min, you should consider adding 2 Reflection Spots in the video.

For more details about chunking and Reflection Spots, visit the link: https://sites.google.com/view/iitb-teachonline/preparing-content/chunking

• It’s better to answer the question within the same video itself because the students may not watch the videos in continuation.

  • If you want to put a question/activity at the beginning of the video, it can include questions to recall prior knowledge of what they know about the lesson, or establishing the motivation for the topic.

  • If you want to insert the question/activity at the end of the video then it could either direct them to additional resources to gain a deeper understanding of the concept or summarize the content that they have just learned through the video.

For more details about in-video activities (Reflection spots) in the video, please visit the link: https://sites.google.com/view/iitb-teachonline/preparing-content/creating-led-video

• Yes, you can use audio to help your students to assimilate the lessons you have prepared. Audio lessons are useful especially when giving general feedback to a large number of students using the same platform. Audio files have the advantage of low file size and work for weak connectivity situations for students.

• One way to use audio in your lessons is to record audio while presenting the content using slides and then providing the slides in PDF format and audio separately to students. This is actually what is meant by addressing low bandwidth issues that some of your students may be facing.

• You can use open-source software, Audacity, to easily and quickly record audio.

• This is where to download: https://www.audacityteam.org/download/

This is how to use it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gM12DIIwA0

• If you are planning to create a video and want to insert a reflection question or activity in it, then you can insert a simulated reflection spot.

  • The reflection spot can be a question or activity where you will ask learners to pause the video at a particular slide and write something in their notebooks as a response to a short answer question. You can also use a multiple choice question in the slides.

• If you have already created a video and want to insert some activities or questions such as a short answer question, a multiple choice question etc.

  • If your video is on Moodle, then you can use the H5P plugin available in Moodle to make your video interactive.

  • If you are not using Moodle then you can go to h5p.org and then upload your video (either as a YouTube link or a video from your local system - only up to 16 MB).

• There are many tools you can use to create and conduct online quizzes. This depends on the type of questions and the size of the class you have.

• Within Moodle, you can create quizzes, assignments and open ended questions. This link provides detailed tools and how to use the tools: https://sites.google.com/view/iitb-teachonline/assessments

• Creating different set of MCQs and randomizing it

• If you are afraid about copy-pasting or students talking to each other create open-ended assignments or exams which requires student collaboration and group work

• Create open-ended exams with variety of tasks or questions involved in it

Some ways of encouraging participation in online learning environment

• • Using discussion forum to facilitate the activity

  • Using muddy points

  • Conducting polls to know student’s opinions about an issue and address them

  • Providing feedback to students through discussion forum

Some ways to provide feedback on asynchronous activities in online environment:

• • Using different Moodle features such as Discussion Forums, Customized feedback embedded within MCQs, True/False questions etc.

  • Using Audio feedback Link: How to Record Audio in Google Slides

There are many ways to increase social presence in your online environment. You can try the following ways:

• • Create icebreaker activities for students to encourage students participation, to get to know each other and become comfortable working with their peers.

  • Include a discussion forum where participants will introduce themselves to others.

  • Send announcements to learners frequently

  • Include live interaction sessions from time to time (synchronous sessions) using tools such as Zoom, WebEx, Jitsi.

To use quizzes for large classrooms, you would need to have a variety of questions that you have prepared in the form of Multiple choice questions or True and False type. These questions can be set up in learning management systems such as Moodle. Moodle allows autograding of these questions.

• • Create question bank for the topics/modules

  • Use different set of questions along with reshuffling to avoid copying of answers

• To get a feel of what your learners have in terms of their connectivity, it is important that you create a survey to collect network details from your learners. When you are aware of the network access levels from the learners’ end, you can decide which technology tools to use so that you can be able to reach many or most of your students.

• Here is the link to the article which discusses different instructional technologies based on bandwidth as one of the key factors to make online teaching a better teaching-learning experience.

Link: https://www.iddblog.org/videoconferencing-alternatives-how-low-bandwidth-teaching-will-save-us-all/

• If the institute provides a large video storage space on Moodle server, then storing videos in the Moodle site is possible.

• Whereas, if the storage space is not available then you can upload all your videos on your YouTube channel and then share the links of the videos on your Moodle course for students to access.