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Virtual ISW Written Feedback Using Microsoft Forms from Lynn Clark

To facilitate written feedback for a virtual ISW workshop delivery, consider using Microsoft forms.  If you would like information on how we successfully implemented the forms in our virtual ISW (May-June 2021), please contact me, lynn.clarke@keyano.ca (anyone with these hyperlinks can duplicate the templates).

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Written Feedback Microsoft Forms links 2022

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Essential Components for Issuing ISW Certificates January 2021 

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Essential Components for Issuing ISW Certificates January 2021 

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(Replaced ISW Minimum Requirements Checklist discussed in Recording of Event)

Please check requirements that ISW versions must meet.

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Essential components for issuing ISW certificates Final

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Tips and Suggestions

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Example Schedule Asynch Large Group Theme Session

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Example Schedule Asynch Large Group Theme Session

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Courtesy of Faubert

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ISW Example Schedule - Asyncronous Large Group Theme Session and Syncronous Lessons_Faubert

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Courtesy of Faubert

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ISW Example Schedule - Mixed Asyncronous-Syncronous _Faubert

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Courtesy of MacLeod

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Courtesy of Jens Vent-Schmidt

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ISW Sample Agenda Online ISW - UBC Faculty ISW_Jens Vent-Schmidt

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Courtesy of Horianopolous, Topornychy

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Courtesy of Wenona Partridge

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Demo Mini-lesson Get SWOTing! by Wenona Partridge

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Lesson Plan

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Courtesy of Nancy Thompson

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Lesson Plan

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Courtesy of Alice Cassidy

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Demo Mini-lesson What is That Bird? by Alice Cassidy

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Courtesy of Yas Mills

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Courtesy of Wenona Partridge

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Courtesy of Yas Mills

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Courtesy of Nancy Thompson

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Giving and Receiving Feedback by Nancy Thompson

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Courtesy of Martha Robinson

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Courtesy of Martha Robinson

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Active Learning Techniques by Martha Robinson

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Courtesy of Jaywant Michael

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Join the ISW Facebook page to share resources and ideas.

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Join the ISW Facebook page to share resources and ideas.

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ISW Work Bee June 2020
June 07, 2020 to Jun 10, 2020

Edenvale Retreat and Conference Centre, British Columbia

The The ISW Work Bee June 7-10, 2020 will be held at the Edenvale Centre in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada. ISW website home page has photos of Edenvale Center.

For 2020, this ISW Work Bee will replace the ISW Spring Institute. The Work Bee will provide opportunities for Local Representatives and other ISW Facilitators and FDW Trainers working (or willing to work) on ISW Network tasks to contribute to current and future ISW Network projects. Registration information, including start & end times and fees, will be posted on the website later in January.

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ISW Work Bee June 2020 June 07, 2020 to Jun 10, 2020 Edenvale Retreat and Conference Centre, British Columbia The The ISW Work Bee June 7-10, 2020 will be held at the Edenvale Centre in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada. ISW website home page has photos of Edenvale Center.

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Queen's University has modules on many teaching and learning topics, including tips for doing so online:

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Queen's University has modules on many teaching and learning topics, including tips for doing so online:

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https://www.queensu.ca/teachingandlearning/modules/home.html

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Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

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Understanding your students as learners - with their unique goals, motivations, beliefs and learning practices - will help you be a better teacher.

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Bring technology through the use of technology, to support teaching and learning. For example when facilitating a pretest or post test experience, use Kahoots! It is fun and participatory. To find out more go to: https://kahoot.com/schools/how-it-works/

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Kahoot! for schools: how it works | Feature overview

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From assessment to instruction and presentations, Kahoot! makes it easy to create, share and play fun learning games in minutes. Here’s how.

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Lesson planning and examples for each element (USask)

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BOPPPS is one of many lesson planning models instructors can use to organize classes, sessions, and workshops.

BOPPPS is an acronym representing the various components of an active learning lesson plan:
bridge-in, outcomes (or objectives), pre-assessment, participatory learning, post-assessment, and s ummary.

Queen's University Teaching Support Centre provides a great visual summary for the BOPPPS Model for Lesson Planning (CC By-NC-SA)

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Research Guides: Instructional Support: BOPPPS Model: Introduction to Lesson Planning with BOPPPS

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Research Guides: Instructional Support: BOPPPS Model: Introduction to Lesson Planning with BOPPPS

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Good humoured advice for all

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Video, audio, image and texts: communication and sharing

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We express ourselves in different ways. On Flip, you can use our simple and fun built-in camera to record your thoughts, add effects and share within your Flip group as video, audio only or text in your web browser or mobile app.

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Flip is a video discussion and sharing app, free from Microsoft.

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Flip (formerly Flipgrid) is a video discussion and video sharing app, free from Microsoft, built for classrooms and beyond. Learn more.

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Collaborate and share documents, presentations and spreadsheets

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Have you thought about teaching an online course or simply supplementing your face-to-face course with an online component? Whether you're considering sharing your expertise via a completely online course or creating a hybrid, you now have a universe of options available for online teaching platforms to you. Here are some of the best online learning sites available. Educators will want to explore these platforms and all of the features they offer.

This is a massive online teaching platform with over 2 million students worldwide and 13,000 courses. It lets instructors design robust classes including video lectures, PowerPoint files, screencast videos, documents, audio files, text, and mashup videos. The platform is completely free for instructors to create their courses which they may offer either for free or for a fee. If there is a fee involved, Udemy takes a percentage of that. This is a very professional-looking platform that has a lot to offer.

One of several online learning platforms, RCampus can be used to create courses, student assignments, keep grades, hold class discussions, and post many types of educational content such as videos, links, images, etc. It can also be used as an ePortfolio management system in which both students and faculty can "build multiple, fully-functional presentation portfolios for demonstrating their skills and knowledge or for career development".

This free online learning platform enables instructors to design and offer courses consisting of a combination of videos, audio files, PowerPoint presentations, and documents such as PDF files, as well as tests consisting of multiple choice questions. Instructors can choose to make their courses freely available or charge a fee for them. Learnopia takes a percentage of all for-fee courses.

P2PU is a grassroots open education project that offers free university-level courses. It is run by volunteers. Instructors can create courses and offer curriculum in the form of slideshows, videos, documents, and discussion boards. Enrollment in courses is limited to provide the best experience for the learner, making it one of the best online learning platforms.

Rather than a place to teach students, this is a website where instructors can either sell or share freely their teaching materials. Teachers may post videos, learning kits, lesson plans, study guides, clip art, and much more that they can choose to give away or charge for. If there is a charge involved, teachers earn royalties on the money earned.

Thinkific is a mostly free online teaching platform that allows you to create and distribute online learning materials. Designed with a variety of different industries and needs in mind, the platform works on a freemium model, with the basic free subscription including the vast majority of the tools you need to offer and distribute online lessons. With support for online sales of lessons, student assessments and more, the Thinkific platform offers a robust set of features for students and teachers alike.

How to Get Started Teaching Online

Set Goals
The first thing you'll want to think about is what you're trying to achieve with this online course. Consider whether the entirety of the course will be on online teaching platforms, if it meant as a supplement to a course, or is meant as a prerequisite before joining a future course, e.g. an online course on basic math skills which might be required before taking an advanced live class, etc.

Create a Course Plan
Just like a face-to-face course, courses on online learning platforms need to have outlines or course plans for what you'll cover each week. If these are courses that you've previously offered live, you're one step ahead of the game. Your course plans will be your maps for what kinds of materials you will need to create for your lessons.

Gather Your Equipment
After you've considered what lessons you want to teach and what online learning platform you want to use, think about what types of equipment, software, and other tools you have at your disposal. Do you have a video camera or other device capable of capturing HD video? Do you have a screencasting software program? If not, sign up for a free trial of Camtasia Studio, or check out screencasting programs such as Screencast-O-Matic or Jing. Will you need to create PowerPoints? Do you have a microphone to capture audio? Once you figure out what your technological capabilities and limitations are, you'll know what kinds of content you'll want to create.

Set Aside Time for Creation and Editing
If you're going to create videos and screencasts for your lessons, consider not only the time it takes to record these, but also how long it takes to edit them, create title slides, render and upload them to online teaching platforms, etc.

Get Started!
Once you've completed all of that planning, jump right in and start building your online course. It's really only through experimenting on online learning platforms that you'll know what you're doing wrong and what's working. Ask for feedback from your friends and social networks and get started teaching online!

Teacher Resources

Looking for some free inspiration and teaching resources such as syllabi, class plans, learning materials, etc.? Get started with these online learning sites, which each offer free open educational resources.

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6 Free Online Teaching Platforms | Design Custom Courses

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Have you thought about teaching an online course or simply supplementing your face-to-face course with an online component? Whether you're considering sharing your expertise via a completely online course or creating a hybrid, you now have a universe of options available for online teaching platforms to you.

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A food-for-thought guide for those new to teaching virtually. Available as an e-book and paperback.

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PLAYFUL: The Art of Teaching Virtually eBook: Fedeles, Michal: Amazon.ca: Kindle Store

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10 Tips for a Successful Conference

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Create audio files to share and spark conversations

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This fall, Synth was shut down

Thank you for believing in the power of audio, from podcasting in the classroom to building relationships asynchronously.

We've turned our attention to Focusable, a new tool for students, teachers, and those seeking to improve their ability to focus.

If you need help getting access to your content please reach out at support@gosynth.com

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This fall, Synth was shut down Thank you for believing in the power of audio, from podcasting in the classroom to building relationships asynchronously. We've turned our attention to Focusable, a new tool for students, teachers, and those seeking to improve their ability to focus.

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OpenLearnCreate

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Quick start guide to create your course

As the course creator you retain ownership and are responsible for the content and copyright clearances. Be sure of the copyright restrictions of the content you are including in your space and remember to include acknowledgments.

We would ask that where possible all content is released under a Creative Commons licence, e.g. cc BY-NC-SA 4.0 UK (there is a licence chooser when you set up your course and there is also a licence chooser when images are uploaded).

You can keep your course in draft so that you can develop your open materials with your chosen collaborators, then publish your course when you are ready to share it.

Expert Guidance

For expert guidance and advice on creating an open online course, you can study the following free courses. You can dip into the relevant sections or you can choose to study the whole course.

These free resources have been developed by The Open University and associated projects and partners. They hang together well as a toolkit for anyone considering writing an open course, reusing open content, being a course facilitator or who is considering becoming an open educational practitioner (a user / developer of free content). Some have badges for successful completion of the course

You need to register and be signed into OpenLearn Create to create a course on this platform.

Create and Share. Learn together.

Create your free account to build and manage your free courses, hosted on OpenLearn Create. Share your open educational resources with the world of learning. Join now!

Provide your course information

Complete the metadata form to provide the essential information about your course. And start building!

Course builder guide

See this useful guide for step by step instructions on Moodle setup to build a great course in OpenLearn Create.

OpenLearn Create has a variety of tools and functions to support learners

Layout tools

You can use the following Moodle resource tools for layout:

Book (provides links between pages of the onscreen book)

Heading

Label

Page

Subpage

URL

Images, files, video and audio resources

You can upload the following resources:

File (for example Word document, PDF, Excel, PowerPoint)

Image (it is good practice to provide a long description for learners using screen readers)

Video (it is good practice to provide a transcript and captions/subtitles)

Audio (it is good practice to provide a transcript)

You can provide links to the following resources hosted elsewhere:

Video (it is good practice to provide a transcript and captions/subtitles)

Audio (it is good practice to provide a transcript)

Rating and Review

There is a rating and review tool which allows you to collect star ratings and written reviews of your course from learners and teachers.

Tags

You can add tags (keywords) to your course. These will display in the site tag cloud.

Accessibility

It is recommended that you:

use HTML tables which can be read by a screen reader rather than an image of a data table

provide an alternative version of animated materials which may be inaccessible to learners with visual impairment

provide long descriptions of images

provide downloadable versions of your materials which can be used offline on different devices

provide transcripts of video and audio files for users with visual or audio impairments (also used by learners who prefer text to video or audio material)

provide videos with captions or subtitles

Enrolment questions

You can ask up to three optional free text questions from learners when they enrol if you use the OpenLearn Enrol questions function. This is useful if you are carrying out research and need to know a bit more about the learners than you would get from the basic data held by the system on each person who enrols (name and email address), however you must take responsibility for designing your questions with research ethics in mind and provide clear information about why you are asking these questions to encourage people to complete them appropriately.

You need 'manager' permissions for your course (the default for those who have created a course is 'owner') so please email openlearncreate@open.ac.uk and remember to include the URL for your course in your message to request 'manager' role.

Blog

The blog activity module allows for creation of blogs within a course (these are separate from the core Moodle blog system). You can have course-wide blogs (everyone in the course posts to the same blog), group blogs, or individual blogs.

Choice

The choice activity module enables a teacher to ask a single question and offer a selection of possible responses.

Forum

ForumNG is a replacement for standard Moodle forum with most of the same features plus additional ones and a more dynamic user interface. NG stands for 'Next Generation'. A forum needs a moderator so if you want a forum you need to be prepared to moderate it.

Glossary

The glossary activity module enables participants to create and maintain a list of definitions, like a dictionary, or to collect and organise resources or information. When used interactively with learners it is used in time bound courses with a start and end date which are supported by teachers or tutors. A static glossary can also be set up which learners cannot amend.

Wiki

A wiki is a web-based system that lets users edit a set of linked pages. In Moodle, you would normally use a wiki when you want your students to create content. It is used in time bound courses with a start and end date which are supported by teachers or tutors.

Lesson

The lesson activity module enables a teacher to deliver content and/or practice activities in interesting and flexible ways. It is used in time bound courses with a start and end date which are supported by teachers or tutors. You need 'manager' permissions for your course (the default for those who have created a course is 'owner') so please email openlearncreate@open.ac.uk and remember to include the URL for your course in your message to request the 'manager' role.

Tracking learner progress

As a course owner or teacher you can see who has enrolled on your course and how they are progressing. You can see when they enrolled, grades they may have achieved for graded activities and badges they have earned. However you will not be able to see any other reports about them including whether they have completed the course. If you need this information you need to request 'manager' permissions for your course (the default for those who have created a course is 'owner') so please email openlearncreate@open.ac.uk and remember to include the URL for your course in your message to request 'manager' role.).

Activity and Course completion

Your course can have activity and course completion set up to track learners through the course, record their grades for activities such as quizzes and show when they have successfully completed all the required criteria.

To set up activity and completion tracking you need to request 'manager' permissions for your course (the default for those who have created a course is 'owner') so please email openlearncreate@open.ac.uk and remember to include the URL for your course in your message to request 'manager' role.

You will need to refer to the guidance for setting up activity and course completion tracking, badges and statement of participation.

Your course can have a digital badge or a series of digital badges (depending on your assessment requirements). These are issued automatically when the learner completes all the criteria for the badge. They are usually based on quiz completion and/or the learner visiting particular pages in the course which is set up via Activity and Course completion settings.

OU short courses hosted on OpenLearn Create can have a badge but they must not carry the OU logo because only the OU Badged Open Courses hosted on OpenLearn may include the OU logo. OU badges for courses hosted on OpenLearn Create can have 'The Open University' on the badge if approved by your faculty and Open Media & Informal Learning.

To set up activity and completion tracking and digital badges you need to request 'manager' permissions for your course (the default for those who have created a course is 'owner') so please email openlearncreate@open.ac.uk and remember to include the URL for your course in your message to request 'manager' role.

You will need to refer to the guidance for setting up activity and course completion tracking, badges and statement of participation. You may also find the Badge Setup form and Completion tracking and Statement of Participation setup form useful to capture the information you need before you get started on the setup.

You will need to arrange for your badge to be designed (220px x 220px).

For a streamlined navigation through a course, OU Structured content enables content to be uploaded to your course via an advanced editing system. Tagging of headings, paragraphs, tables, lists, images, video and activities is done before rendering the content to the appropriate section of your course. This provides the following useful features:

Clear navigational links between pages of a course

Section and sub section headings helps ensure that pages are not too long (so reducing scrolling)

Self-assessment questions including recording short essay responses

Hide / reveal activities such as asking the learner to respond to a question then allowing them to reveal a discussion

Allows the system to generate alternative formats of the course material which are displayed at the start of each section. Learners can download the alternative formats onto their device and use them offline. See 'How can I make use of ALT formats' for further information.

ALT formats include:

eBook and interactive eBook (epub)

IMS Common Cartridge

Kindle ebook

OU XML file and packages

RSS

Word document

HTML Zip file

PDF file

SCORM package (a package of the materials which can be rendered to another VLE platform)

OU Structured content is available for OU only projects and projects produced in collaboration between the OU and external organisations. There is a cost involved in setting up your course(s) using OU Structured content. If you want your course(s) to be created using OU Structured content, please complete the project request form.

Courses using OU Structured content will also use some Moodle tools, such as completion tracking, badges, statement of participation, quizzes, rating and review, tags, forums, course metadata, etc.

OpenLearn Create offers alternative versions of course material which has been rendered to the site using OU Structured content. On course pages, if the course has been rendered in this way, you will find links to access these materials for each section of the course (they are usually displayed at the bottom of the first page of each section).

If the course you are studying has been uploaded using OU structured content, you can download each section of the course to study offline. The alternative formats offered which will best support offline study include Word, PDF and eBook / Kindle versions of the materials. The other alternative formats (SCORM, RSS, IMS, HTML and XML) are useful to those who want to export the course to host on another learning management system.

Although you can use the alternative formats offline for your own convenience, you do need to work through the online version of the course for full functionality (such as accessing links, using the audio and video materials and completing the quizzes). Please use the downloads as convenient tools for studying the materials when away from the internet and return to the online version to ensure you can complete all activities which may lead to earning a badge or a Statement of Participation.

See ' How can I make use of ALT formats' for further information.

The guidance for setting up these activities and resources can be found in the course builder guide.

Before you publish your course you need to do some quality assurance checks to make sure that everything works as planned and that you are satisfied with the quality before you share it with everyone.

Ask your colleagues to collaborate and review your course for you when it is still in draft and feedback anything which needs amending. You can give them reviewer permissions so they can see the draft course as a learner.

Ensure you have checked all your sources of content and that the attribution and acknowledgements for third party materials is up to date.

If you have included quizzes in your course it is essential to check these are behaving the way you expect them to work, especially if they lead to a digital badge. You need to test them thoroughly including deliberately getting answers incorrect to see how the settings behave.

Set up the activity and completion tracking if you are including badges or Statement of Participation in your course.

Check your badge settings before you enable a badge and the Statement of
Participation setup

Making your course public

All OpenLearn Create courses should be made available to the public once complete. When published they will be visible to both registered and non-registered users, and via search engines. If your course requires a closed cohort (password access for specific learners only), please contact openlearncreate@open.ac.uk for advice on how to set this up.

Support your learners
You can support your learners and track their progress via the course administration menus (if you have requested and been given the enhanced role permissions. Please see Can I access learner data for my course on OpenLearn Create?).

You can see who has enrolled on your course via the Course administration OpenLearners menu.

If your course includes graded activities and you have the appropriate role (teacher or course manager) you can see what grades learners have achieved via the Course administration Grades menu.

For courses with fixed start and end dates which are supported by teachers (and if you have the appropriate role) you can manage groups, monitor forum, blog and glossary activities.

Update course content

You can update your course content once the course is live via the editing menus if you notice any errors in the content or if you need to include new content. Be careful about making substantial structural changes especially if you have set completion tracking to include visiting every page. You cannot update a badge's details once it has been enabled.

Manage course performance

With the course manager role you can manage the performance of your course using course data analysis via the various Moodle reports. The reports will enable you to monitor the progress of learners if you have set your course up to capture data about enrolled learners. You can reach these reports via the Manage my courses page and the Course administration menu. The most useful reports are:

You can reach reports about badges via the Course administration Badges menu.

Course creators, tell us about building your course

Please complete our online survey to help us improve OpenLearn Create
Take our survey

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As the course creator you retain ownership and are responsible for the content and copyright clearances. Be sure of the copyright restrictions of the content you are including in your space and remember to include acknowledgments. We would ask that where possible all content is released under a Creative Commons licence, e.g.

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How to use the new meeting tool embedded in Gmail - options for audio, video, phone

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1. Start a meeting from Gmail

1. Open Gmail and in the sidebar, click Start a meeting .

2. In the Meet window, do one of the following:

To join using your computer's camera for video and your computer's microphone for audio, click Join now.

To join using your phone for audio, click Join and use a phone for audio and then follow the on-screen prompts. If you join by phone, you can still use your computer for video. For details, see Use a phone for audio in a video meeting.

2. Invite participants

In the Add others box, do any of the following:

To share the meeting code with someone, click Copy joining info, then paste the info into a messaging app.

To invite someone by sending them an email, click Add people, enter names or email addresses, then click Send invite.

To invite someone to join the meeting by phone, click Add people, then click Call and enter a phone number.

3. Participants can join a meeting from Gmail

1. Open Gmail and in the sidebar, click Join a meeting .

2. Enter a meeting code, then click Join .

4. Customize video settings, interact with participants, or share your screen

How can we improve it?

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1. Start a meeting from Gmail Open Gmail and in the sidebar, click Start a meeting . In the Meet window, do one of the following: To join using your computer's camera for video and your computer's microphone for audio, click Join now.

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Facilitate and share online discussions

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Manage your classroom. Engage your students.

Safe. Simple. Free.
No image but click the grey box below to go there.

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The present crisis has brought rapid and dramatic changes to the world of work, and the world of teaching has been no exception. Teachers have suddenly been forced, by circumstances, to adapt their skills to working online in live virtual classrooms with little or no preparation or training.

Most schools and teachers have faced the challenge and, ready or not, teachers have launched their students into online classrooms using commonly used tools like Zoom or Skype. But now the initial panic is over, we can take a closer look at the kinds of technology available for the delivery of live online learning and the kinds of training teachers need to be able to use that technology effectively.

Oxford TEFL has for some time been offering courses in Teaching English Online and is now offering the 100% Online CELTA so that new teachers can gain a recognised qualification online and get started with their first experiences of virtual teaching.

As for virtual classroom platforms there are a lot of alternatives and the one you choose may well depend on your students access to technology, the model of delivery you want to use and whether you see this as a short or longer term situation.
Jitsi Meet
If you have been using Zoom and want something as similar as possible to ease the transition, then Jitsi Meeting may be the platform for you. It looks very similar to Zoom and has very similar features. Jitsi can also be used in the web-browser, though there are no breakout rooms.

Jitsi enables you to record the meeting and to get some useful speaker stats that show who was more active during the meeting. There is also a nice feature that allows you to share and watch YouTube videos together.

As well as working within the browser there is also a desktop version and a mobile app that can be used. The only restriction on class size is bandwidth and connectivity.

You can launch a meeting and invite students directly form the Jitsi Meeting website, but you can also download the code for the platform and install it on your own server, which might be wise if you are thinking of building a more long term online teaching business.

Like Zoom Jitsi has been built to optimise communication through the webcam, but you can also screen share materials and using free tools like https://cryptpad.fr/ you can do collaborative activities like peer document editing, brainstorming on a sticky note (Kanban) board and working on presentations and spreadsheets together. There is also a whiteboard that you can use together, so the combination of Jitsi and CryptPad can be quite awesome.

If your students are struggling with connectivity Jitsi does also allow you to reduce the image quality, which should save bandwidth.

There is also a background blur feature, but when I tried this it slowed down the image a lot, so I would avoid using this unless you really have to.

WebRoom
WebRoom is one of my favourite virtual classrooms and the one I use by choice. It was developed by a language school owner so an understanding of teaching and the needs of language learners has been baked into the design.

It's easy to create a free room, you just need to input your name and email address. When you join the room there is a technical onboarding process to make sure your sound is connected and functioning properly. This is really useful as it can cut down on the amount of technical support the teacher needs to offer at the beginning of the class. Once you are in the room you can share a link for the room or add students' email addresses to invite them in.

The room has a great range of features including whiteboard, presentation space and screen sharing. You can also share links to websites and see them open within the presentation space. One of my favouite features is that you can add links to Google documents and do collaborative writing work, or watch YouTube videos together as a group.

You can set up your workspace before the lesson and prepare any materials you are going to use, then just open the workspace you want students to work with. These workspaces and resources are also available from within the breakout rooms so you can have groups of students working on different materials in each room.

It's also easy to do listening activities as there is a tool for uploading mp3 files and then the teacher or the students can activate these to listen on their own computer.

If you want more of a conversational lesson you can switch to tile view and this arranges all of the webcams of participants into the main space and hides the workspace and whiteboard.

As well as voice and video there is also a text chat feature and to the right of the text chat, there is an area where students can take private notes.

At the end of each session after students leave they also get an email with all the resources and links used in the lesson and a copy of their notes.

WebRoom is the classroom and free part of the iTeach World virtual school and LMS. If you really want to get serious about creating a 100% online school then this is the tool to choose.

In addition to the classroom, there are a range of scheduling and admin features as well as a content and learning management system that enables you to build asynchronous online courses and schedule live classes into them.

All the courses you create can be sold directly online through your own online storefront and payment can be taken using PayPal or Stripe which enables a range of credit card and virtual payment types.

The platform works well on mobile and there is even a white-labelled mobile app which can be branded for your school.

Mozilla Hubs
If you are working with younger learners or you want something more playful than the normal flat whiteboard type environment, then it's worth checking out Mozilla's Hubs.

Hubs provides a choice of 3D virtual worlds to meet in with your class and chat using text or audio. There is a pen tool so users can write anywhere within the 3D environment and a camera tool which enables students to take photographs inside the environment. You can also share your webcam and do screen sharing of any materials you want to use.

Students have an avatar and they can move around the environment and explore it. The audio is proximity specific so if you ask pairs of students to go to different parts of the environment they will be able to do pair or group work without being heard or disturbed by other students.

There is a great range of different environments to choose from and you can use a different one each time you meet. You could even choose an environment to match the theme of your lesson. There's a wonderful pirate ship environment that would be great for storytelling or role play sessions.

Once you have chosen the room environment you want to use you just share a link to it with students and they can enter. Anyone with the link can enter the room, but you can add a password to make the environment safer.

Hubs runs in the web-browser on a desktop computer, but will also run in the mobile browser and can be accessed using a VR headset if you or your students want a more immersive experience. I tried it on my mobile phone in the browser and felt that it worked very well and was easy to navigate.

If you or your students are looking for a longer-term project you can even get them to create their own environment using Mozilla's Spoke, https://hubs.mozilla.com/spoke which is a little like MineCraft.

There are no limits on the number of participants, but connectivity will restrict how many people can work effectively within the environment.

BigBlueButton
BigBlueButton is another open-source project that has been around and developing for quite some time. It can be used for free as a plugin for Moodle, you can host it on your own server, or you can register for a service called GreenLight that you can access through the BigBlueButton site and host meetings there.

BigBlueButton has an impressive collection of features including; whiteboard (tutor controlled or shared), polls, screen sharing and breakout rooms as well as the standard chat, audio, webcam and emojis.

There's no restriction on the number of people in a room or session, but connectivity and bandwidth will limit how effective the room is with larger numbers. I have seen sessions running effectively with up to 15 participants though and this is easily enough for a tutor to handle in a single class.

At present, the length of sessions is being restricted to 60mins and you can not record the sessions (though prior to the COVID crisis this was possible). If you were using it as a plugin to your own Moodle environment, then these restrictions would be unlikely to apply.

The interface for BigBlueButton is very easy to use for both teachers and students and there should be too many surprises if you have used other virtual classrooms or webinar platforms. To my knowledge, there is no dedicated app for running BigBlueButton on mobile, but it should work within the mobile browser, though screen size may be an issue.

Whereby
This is the simplest of all the solutions here and a great free option if you only want to have small classes and one-to-one lessons.

Whereby opens in the web browser and you can very simply create a video-conferencing room and send the link to your students.

Better still if you register on the site for free you can create a named room that you can keep and lock when you are not there and open when you want to let your students in. Locking once they are in will stop any other intruders from entering.

Whereby enables screen sharing, text and video chat for up to 4 people on the free version. If you are willing to pay around $10 a month you can have 3 branded rooms and up to 12 students in each.

You can also share links through the text chat function. Whereby works well in the mobile browser, but there is also a free app you can download for it.

This is a great free and easy solution if you are just doing one-to-one or small classes.

GoBrunch
GoBrunch is a fantastic resource if you are thinking about large scale webinar type lessons as well as smaller classroom-type meetings. It's a free resource developed for the education community and has a few rather unique characteristics.

The interface is very simple to use but is based on a floor plan backdrop. You click on a seat and your profile image appears there. This makes it much easier to see who is in the sessions than the more traditional virtual platform.

When you open your webcam or screen share you can drag these windows around to any convenient space, so it's very fluid and nice to be able to share your screen and your webcam at the same time.

When you want to create a lesson you can either create a meeting which opens instantly, or you can schedule a webinar for a specific time.

Webinars can be recorded and the recordings can be made available to the GoBrunch community or to any of your students.

You can also go and find webinars that have been or are being presented by other people.

GoBrunch was created in Brazil so many of the webinars are in Portuguese, but they are becoming more international as the resource grows in popularity. This is a really versatile free platform for small scale classes or large scale (500+) lectures.

Others Remotehour
I haven't tried this with anyone yet, but I like the concept a lot. It's a video conferencing room that runs in the browser and you can make yourself available to chat.

Students can go to the room and leave you a message if you're not there and they can subscribe to get a notification of when you are available to answer questions, etc.

It might even be a nice way to support parents without committing too much time or raising the expectation that you are available 24/7.

Once you mark yourself available online they will get a notification or anyone who drops by can come in for a chat.

The room works very much like Whereby and has screen sharing video, audio and text chat and you can decide how long the session lasts for.

This is a nice way to offer support to your students and/or their parents but still maintain some control over how much time they take up and when you want to be available.

Remotehour works well in the mobile phone browser too.

You can see how it looks by clicking on my own room link here.

Callaba
Callaba is similar to Whereby. It's a very simple browser-based chat room that you can create instantly without registering.

It's very feature light and has text chant which you can use to share attachments.

There is no screen sharing, breakout rooms and no whiteboard, but it is very simple and quick to use so could be useful if you want to do one-to-one tutorials or deal with quick questions or problems.

Xroom
Xroom is also similar to Whereby. It has a few more features than Callaba.io and can enable screen sharing too.

One nice feature is that there is a streaming mode with means you can give lecture/webinar type presentations from the platform without the constraint of limited numbers and anyone you share the link with can watch your stream.

As you can see Zoom isn't the only option you have if you want to deliver live online learning. So be prepared to try out some alternatives and try to enjoy the learning experience.

If you are looking for a fully online, internationally-recognised TEFL qualification, find out more about the Oxford TEFL 100% Online CELTA course. Save €100 (€50 each) when enrolling with a friend.

If you are already a teacher and you would like to develop your skills by learning to teach English effectively online, find out more about the Oxford TEFL Teaching English Online course. Save €100 when enrolling before April 30th 2020.
Nik Peachey is a freelance writer, teacher trainer and consultant specialising in digital publishing, online course development and the development of digital resources for teachers. Since 1992 he has worked all over the world as a teacher, trainer and project manager. He was Global Head of Learning for Macmillan's online English school EnglishUp from 2014 to 2016. In 2016 he won his second British Council Award for Innovations (ELTon) and co-founded PeacheyPublications Ltd.

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9 Free Alternatives to Zoom for Getting your Classroom Online - Oxford TEFL

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The present crisis has brought rapid and dramatic changes to the world of work, and the world of teaching has been no exception. Teachers have suddenly been forced, by circumstances, to adapt their skills to working online in live virtual ... Continue reading →

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Modernize workflows with Zoom's trusted collaboration tools: including video meetings, team chat, VoIP phone, webinars, whiteboard, contact center, and events.

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Video conference calls

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​Want to be the hero on your next call? 🦸

Did you know Skype Bing mashup happened? Here are the results - a unique high-quality background images in your Skype calls! And that's not all, you can now kill time by searching up the image and exploring more about the beautiful scenery and places you see on your background!

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Skype | Stay connected with free video calls worldwide

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Keep in touch with free video chat, messaging & affordable international calls. Create instant online video calls with one click, no download required.

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Lesson Plan

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For those who work at a university that uses this

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Communication and connection channel for teams/groups

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Slack is a new way to communicate with your team. It's faster, better organized, and more secure than email.

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Of use for some large group sessions? See Resources by Topic with links, references and more. https://cassidyinview.wordpress.com/by-topic/ 

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Of use for some large group sessions? See Resources by Topic with links, references and more. https://cassidyinview.wordpress.com/by-topic/ 

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Check out this innovative Teaching and Learning 'Cookbook' of tips, including starters (with icebreakers and warmers) and more!

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Check out this innovative Teaching and Learning 'Cookbook' of tips, including starters (with icebreakers and warmers) and more!

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https://edudev-cookbook.info.yorku.ca/

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This is a collection of practical ideas offered for use by the educational development community. Based on the notion of a cook book put together by a community we offer Starters (ice breakers), Main Courses (ideas for workshops and events) and Desserts (ways to obtain feedback or evaluation).

Feel free to make use of the recipes and do share your own ideas. Send these to Celia Popovic (cpopovic@yorku.ca). Please use this template - recipe-template

If you try out an idea consider letting us know how it went in the comments box under each recipe.

Happy 'cooking'!

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This is a collection of practical ideas offered for use by the educational development community. Based on the notion of a cook book put together by a community we offer Starters (ice breakers), Main Courses (ideas for workshops and events) and Desserts (ways to obtain feedback or evaluation).

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When teaching online, both asynchronous and synchronous approaches to teaching can be used. There are advantages and drawbacks to the application of both approaches that need to be carefully considered by instructors before selecting when to choose the flexibility of asynchronous learning or the immediacy of real-time synchronous learning. In this topic, we provide guiding principles to apply when considering the role of synchronous instruction in your online course.

For quick reference, download this one-page summary of the Guiding Principles for Synchronous Online Delivery.

What do I need to consider when deciding how to apply asynchronous and/or synchronous instruction in my online course?

Asynchronous online learning allows learners to engage with materials at their own pace whenever it is convenient for them.

Asynchronous approaches allow students to access materials (i.e. posted videos, readings, lecture recordings, discussion posts, etc.) during the time of the week that works most effectively for them. Asynchronous approaches are generally respectful of students' time and supportive of students in their efforts to balance their studies with work and personal responsibilities.

Asynchronous online learning approaches can be effectively utilized to engage your students in a variety of ways.

Instructors can make great use of multiple forms of media and deploy a range of interactive learning of interactive learning tools available within the learning management system to engage students in individual and group work. Instructors can also utilize asynchronous online learning approaches to immerse students in course content, provide mechanisms for student demonstrations of learning, and support interactions with instructors, exports and peers.

Asynchronous online learning is able to accommodate diverse student learning needs and allows instructors to meet accessibility requirements proactively.

Such approaches are sensitive to differences in access to web-enabled technologies and internet connectivity and enable students to learn at their own pace by working through readings, examples, practice materials, and revisiting content when needed. Asynchronous delivery is conducive to letting students take the time that is needed to process ideas offered by others and compose their own thoughts before contributing to class discussions.

Synchronous online delivery provides an immediacy in teaching and learning that asynchronous delivery does not.

Synchronous online learning happens in real-time (i.e. live webinars or lectures, virtual office hours, live student presentations). Synchronous approaches are effective when the instructor has determined that direct sharing of content or information, with opportunities for students to ask questions or respond dynamically and quickly to prompts, is best. For this reason, instructors may choose to hold synchronous office hours or use synchronous instruction to complement asynchronous learning opportunities.

Synchronous learning opportunities can be helpful in developing social connections among students and instructors.

There is some evidence that connections built using synchronous learning opportunities can contribute to the creation of peer learning networks. Synchronous engagements can also help students to feel like participants rather than recipients of learning, but only when students are able to attend during the scheduled time and are equipped and properly accommodated in their learning.

When not all students can participate or learn with appropriate supports, the decision to rely on synchronous online instruction presents barriers to equity and inclusion.

For students who do not have reliable access to suitable web-enabled technologies and internet connectivity, or are situated in different time zones, participating in scheduled synchronous sessions may be impossible. Similarly, for students who require specific learning accommodations, the synchronous learning environment may pose significant challenges. For a great list of pedagogical, logistical and ethical questions you might ask yourself before deciding to use synchronous instruction in your course, scroll to the bottom of this article, An Affinity for Synchronous Instruction.

The Centre for Academic Excellence recommends that faculty refrain from relying on synchronous learning as a primary form of instruction because many of our students will encounter barriers when accessing their learning in this format.

For instance, students may not be able to participate in synchronous online sessions for a variety of reasons including illness, inconsistent access to the internet or web-enabled devices, and unpredictable work or family commitments. These issues are currently exacerbated because of physical distancing restrictions and the ongoing impact of COVID-19. Our students may also be studying from locations across Canada and internationally, making their participation in scheduled sessions potentially difficult.

The perceived benefits of synchronous instruction should be weighed against the potential inequities in student access to instruction that synchronous online teaching can create.

When applied, synchronous instruction should be used judiciously and in concert with asynchronous teaching strategies to support all students in their efforts to participate in and contribute meaningfully to their learning.

What are some principles I might follow when using synchronous instructional approaches in my online course?

For quick reference, download this one-page summary of the Guiding Principles for Synchronous Online Delivery.

Synchronous learning opportunities are best carried out by using institutionally supported technology.

Niagara College faculty, students, and staff have access to robust, enterprise-level software that allows for interactive web-conferencing, screen sharing, file sharing, and recording. The web-conferencing platform Collaborate Ultra is integrated into each Blackboard course site. Collaborate Ultra sessions can quickly be created allowing students seamless access to both virtual rooms and session recordings which are automatically rendered to the course site once complete. Technical and pedagogical supports are available for our institutional web-conferencing tools and these tools have been thoroughly vetted and meet high standards for data privacy and security.
We recommend that you avoid using other web-conferencing platforms, such as Zoom, Google Hangouts, and GoToMeeting, for academic purposes because these platforms have not been institutionally vetted and may have inherent privacy and accessibility limitations that place both faculty and students at risk. In addition, there is no technical or teaching support available through the college for faculty who choose to make use of these tools.
Synchronous learning opportunities scheduled at regular times and consistent intervals are more predictable and will be more accessible to all students enrolled in the course.

Informing students of the date and time of any synchronous learning opportunities well in advance using multiple formal communication methods will assist them in coordinating their personal schedules and will increase the likelihood that they will be able to participate in your sessions. If you plan to host regular synchronous learning opportunities such as virtual office hours, meetings with students, help sessions or some lesson provision, we recommend that these sessions be scheduled at regular and consistent intervals and times. Some synchronous sessions, such as exam or test review sessions, may occur with less regularity. However, students should also be made aware of any such opportunities well in advance.

It is more equitable not to require students to attend synchronous sessions and to provide timely access to any course content delivered synchronously after delivery.

Students may not be available to attend synchronous online sessions for a variety of reasons, including illness, inconsistent access to the internet or web-enabled devices, and unpredictable work or family commitments. These issues are currently exacerbated because of physical distancing restrictions and the impact of COVID-19. To promote equitable and compassionate learning environments, students who are not able to attend synchronous online sessions should not be penalized or disadvantaged and the course content should be made available to them through the posting of session recordings and associated documents.

Remember to articulate clear learning outcomes for any synchronous lesson and communicate these well in advance along with any instructions for preparation students should complete prior to the lesson.

It is important that students understand both the purpose of any synchronous lesson and its intended outcomes. This will help them to focus their attention during the session and, should they be unavailable to attend, will help them to identify the most salient information when they review the session recording and other available resources. These outcomes should be communicated to all students in advance of the synchronous lesson. In addition, any instructions regarding advanced preparation for synchronous lessons should be shared with all students in a timely fashion.

Offering students opportunities to ask questions and build relationships with their instructor and peers during synchronous lessons promotes active student engagement and better learning.

Synchronous sessions can help to build rapport between faculty and students and can offer valuable opportunities for students to gauge their own understanding, ask critical questions, and seek feedback from their instructor and peers. To achieve these benefits, synchronous lessons must involve active learning. The presentation of lecture slides can be accomplished through a lecture recording. Synchronous lessons should include more than presentation of content. You may choose to make frequent use of interactive whiteboard features, chat functionality, polling, and break-out rooms as appropriate to ensure that students' have the opportunity to check their understanding and resolve misconceptions during synchronous lessons.

Be mindful that sustained student attention and effort is challenging so consider chunking your synchronous lessons into logical, cohesive segments.

To enable students to engage most effectively with synchronous lessons, it is important to limit the length of these sessions. Student attention and working memory are finite resources, particularly in our current situation where students are likely to be juggling multiple concerns, including worries about their health and the health of family members, limited or unpredictable internet and device access, and potential financial hardships.

An important concept in online learning is the notion of content 'chunking'. Content chunking is the strategy of breaking up information into shorter, bite-size pieces that are easier to comprehend, learn, and commit to memory. Cognitive psychologists have demonstrated that in the online environment, when students have fewer cues about the relative importance of various pieces of content, chunking becomes even more essential to supporting student learning. The same is true for synchronous sessions. We recommend limiting the length of synchronous sessions and focusing on essential lesson objectives and topics - particularly those that will be most difficult for students to absorb on their own and would benefit from in depth examples and additional conversation and questioning.

Consider establishing and communicating guidelines for appropriate and respectful online communication prior to or during your first synchronous lesson.

To ensure that online communication with and between students supports learning, it will be important to establish shared expectations and guidelines for respectful communication. You might generate your own list of expectations and share them with students or invite students to co-create an online code of conduct.

Niagara College's Student Rights and Responsibilities Office (SRRO) has generated a list of netiquette tips for online learning. These are available for download from the SRRO homepage at https://www.niagaracollege.ca/srro/. Additional online communication guideline recommendations are available from the University of Waterloo's Centre for Teaching Excellence at https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-resources/teaching-tips/teaching-tips-learning-activities/student-guidelines-communicating-online-professional.

To support class rapport and decorum, apply settings to limit student access to interactive synchronous communication tools as appropriate.

There have been unfortunate instances in which inappropriate, vulgar or hateful speech and imagery have been shared during synchronous sessions. When using a synchronous platform to communicate with students it is important to understand available communication features, including video functionality and private chatting, and it is critical to set appropriate limits on their use. For more information on establishing session settings for Blackboard Collaborate Ultra, visit https://help.blackboard.com/Collaborate/Ultra/Moderator/Schedule_Sessions/Session_Settings.

Given the complexities of synchronous online teaching and learning, it is best not to perceive or use participation in synchronous sessions as a measure of student involvement and engagement in an online course.

Some students' abilities to engage in synchronous learning will be impacted by circumstances beyond their immediate control, such as illness, limited or no access to web-enabled devices and stable internet connections, or the need to care for family members. For this reason, participation in synchronous learning sessions should not be counted as 'attendance' and caution should be applied when considering participation in synchronous sessions as a formal or informal measure of student engagement in any course.

Remember that synchronous lessons, like all of our methods of instruction, must adhere to AODA regulations and required accommodations, such as live captioning, must be made available for students.

NC students must be able to access course materials equitably and meaningfully contribute to their learning. Synchronous online lessons can pose inherent accessibility challenges, particularly for students with visual, hearing, and cognitive impairments. Faculty should be aware of these limitations when designing synchronous learning opportunities and should also become familiar with the accessibility tools and features available within the synchronous learning platform that they are using. If a faculty member receives a Letter of Accommodation and has concerns about whether synchronous instruction will pose a barrier for a specific student, they should connect with the assigned Accessibility Consultant as soon as possible to seek additional information and guidance.

If graded activities are conducted within synchronous sessions, it is recommended that an equitable alternative be made available for students who are unable to attend.

As mentioned previously, students' abilities to engage in synchronous learning are likely to be impacted by circumstances beyond their immediate control, such as illness, limited or no access to web-enabled devices and stable internet connections, or the need to care for family members. Therefore, it is recommended that you make asynchronous alternatives available for any graded activities that take place within a synchronous session.

Recording, captioning and posting synchronous lessons to Blackboard course sites supports persistent access to course resources for all students.

Providing access to recordings of lessons and review sessions intended for the entire class and delivered synchronously will enable students to return to these resources on an on-going basis to support their learning. To meet accessibility standards, recordings of synchronous sessions should be accurately closed-captioned.

For more information on recording Collaborate Ultra sessions and uploading them to Microsoft Stream for captioning and transcription, please visit the CAE How-To Videos page at https://www.niagaracollege.ca/cae/eddev/teaching-resources/basic-blackboard-how-to-videos/

Posting raw files shared during synchronous instruction to their Blackboard course sites (i.e. PowerPoint slides, documents, images) is conducive to supporting student learning.

In the interest of ensuring equity and inclusion for students, faculty may choose to load any files shared or screencast by the instructor during a synchronous lesson to the Blackboard course site in their original form. This can be especially helpful for students with accommodations so that they can review the documents using assistive technologies when necessary, changing font sizes and colours and other document features to support their understanding. In addition to students with formal accommodations, access to the raw files can be helpful for any students who would like to make additional notes or review information in a more detailed way.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Use this citation format: Design, Develop and Deliver: A Guide for Effective Online Teaching, Centre for Academic Excellence, Niagara College.

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Synchronous Online Teaching - A Guide for Effective Online Teaching | Niagara College

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When teaching online, both asynchronous and synchronous approaches to teaching can be used. There are advantages and drawbacks to the application of both approaches that need to be carefully considered by instructors before selecting when to choose the flexibility of asynchronous learning or the immediacy of real-time synchronous learning.

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Keep Teaching Resources from STLHE - shared ideas from STLHE and listserv members

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Keep Teaching Resources from STLHE - shared ideas from STLHE and listserv members

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https://keepteaching.ca/

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Every week there will be a webinar with a focus on an emerging topic.

Further webinars will be scheduled. We welcome suggestions for topics and facilitators (email edc_communications@stlhe.ca).

Tips to Test zoom audio.

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Every week there will be a webinar with a focus on an emerging topic. Further webinars will be scheduled. We welcome suggestions for topics and facilitators (email edc_communications@stlhe.ca ). Tips to Test zoom audio .

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Cornell U

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Icebreakers are fun activities designed to help people get to know one another. They can also be designed to allow students to become acquainted with course content and expectations.

Why Use Icebreakers?

Icebreakers have several benefits in the classroom. They can:

Help to create a relaxed environment where students share ideas and participate more fully in the class.

Encourage students to share ownership for the learning environment of the class.

Build rapport among students and foster a productive learning environment.

Prepare students for collaborative group work.

Considerations for Using Icebreakers

What do you want to achieve with an icebreaker? Do you want to set the tone for the learning community or lead into course content in engaging ways?

Think of your population in choosing or designing an activity. This includes group size, demographics, levels of knowledge, extent to which they know each other, reasons for being in your class, and more. For example, larger classes might need a simple activity and new classes may require a low-risk activity.

Think through the activity ahead of time and adapt it accordingly. Will the space you have suffice? Do you have all needed supplies? Would the activity lead to issues of confidentiality? Does the activity accommodate varying abilities?

Icebreakers do not always go exactly as planned. Flexibility and willingness to learn are part of building a positive and open learning community.

Getting Started with Icebreakers

Introduce the activity to the group and explain your justification for using it.

Establish a symbol for when the activity is over, such as ringing a bell, clapping, or turning off the lights.

Help students find a partner. Do not assume that everyone will match up easily as some students are shyer than others, some may be resistant, or there may simply be an odd number in the class. It is often easier to count off students.

Indicate who will start first. For example, the student with the longest hair or the student whose birthday is closest, etc.

Announce when the activity is halfway finished. That way if only one student talked, the other will have a chance to participate as well.

Debrief by asking a few pairs to share with the group what they learned about their partner, or one thing they discovered that they have in common with each other.

References

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Icebreakers are fun activities designed to help people get to know one another. They can also be designed to allow students to become acquainted with course content and expectations. Icebreakers have several benefits in the classroom. They can: Help to create a relaxed environment where students share ideas and participate more fully in the class.

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U Sask

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What is a bridge-in and why is it important?

A bridge-in, or ice-breaker, is a way to begin a session or workshop, set the tone, and introduce the content.

Bridge-in activities serve several purposes:

helps set the tone of the session and gain the participants' attention;

allows participants to feel comfortable and get settled before launching into the content;

helps to build motivation and community within the session;

allows the presenter to better understand the participants and their prior knowledge as well as allows the participants to learn more about the presenter. ​

Sample Ice Breaker Activities

Start Class with a Mind Warm-Up

Ask students to find the mistakes planted in material written on the board. (You can use this idea in any subject area.) But instead of asking them to work silently and alone, and then debrief in a classic question-and-answer session with one student at a time (while many sit inattentively), use a mix of collaboration and competition to eliminate what could potentially become dead time

Here's how: Organize teams of three students and ask them to work together (quietly) and raise their hands when they think they have found all the mistakes. After the first team signals it's done, give a bit more time and then have teams indicate with their fingers -- together on the count of three -- the number of mistakes they found in the work. The team that found the most describes its answers until another team disagrees politely or until they are finished" (source).

Sentence Stems

Form dyads (2) or triads (3) and have participants complete the rest of the sentence. This can be done by the instructor saying the sentence to all or have sheets of paper with these listed so that participants can take their own time in covering them. Here are some examples or think of your own and relate it directly to your content.

Before I came to UofS my main interests were...

The way I would describe my family is...

The thing I remember most about high school is...

My fondest memories of another person are...

My most unusual friend is...

My favorite pastimes are...

The things I value most are...

Where I hope to live five years from now ...

Some of the things that make me happy are...

The thing that concerns me most about school is...

The thing I would most like to accomplish this year...

Response Cards
Create a series of response cards to distribute to participants. Cards can be used to elicit responses such as agree/disagree (e.g. thumbs up / thumbs down), true/false, yes/no, and specific emotions (e.g., happy, sad, confused). These cards can be used as an icebreaker (e.g., "how is everyone feeling today?", "How many people have attended this workshop in the past?"), as well as throughout the session (e.g. "who agrees with the statement made by author x?")(source).

Note: the SLS office has a set of 12 small white board to borrow for activities such as this. Ask your coordinator for more information.

Stand Up If You ....
Ask the participants a series of questions; these questions can be general, such as "stand up if you speak more than one language" or can be related to the content of the session, e.g., "stand up if you have taken a session on this topic in the past year".

Storytelling
Telling a personal story or anecdote is a powerful way of personalizing the topic, humanizing learning and building community in the classroom; plus everyone loves a good story. Start the session with an interesting story about the topic or perhaps a short personal story about how the topic is related to your life ( source).

Birthday Partner
Have participants mingle in the group and identify the person whose birth date (not year - just month and date) is closest to their own. Find out two things they have in common.

Where Were You?
Pick a year or date before the meeting and then give each person a chance to tell what they were doing on that date (e.g. January 1999 or Summer 2012).

Other ideas:

Show a relevant video

Relate material to current events or interesting trivia / fun facts

Ask a hypothetical question, e.g., "Have you ever wondered ..."

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Research Guides: Instructional Support: BOPPPS Model: Bridge-in / Ice-Breakers

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A bridge-in, or ice-breaker, is a way to begin a session or workshop, set the tone, and introduce the content.

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Humber College

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The Centre for Teaching & Learning | Icebreakers

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International English Language Testing System (IELTS)

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Ryerson U

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Delivering High-Quality Instruction Online in Response to COVID-19 is a faculty-focused playbook on course design, teaching, and learning in online environments. Developed by Online Learning Consortium, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and more.

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Delivering High-Quality Instruction in Response to COVID-19 - Faculty Playbook

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The Faculty Playbook provides a path for continuous improvement of instruction along a quality-oriented continuum.

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Blackboard, Brightspace, Canvas...there are many

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Chances are that by now, you're already ensconced in a file-sharing/syncing service. If so, there may be no need to switch, especially given how similar many of these services have become in terms of features.

However, if you're dissatisfied and ready for change, Dropbox is my top choice. I've been a user since 2008 and never had an issue. The service is supported by a large ecosystem of apps, it's easy to use and share files with others, and it continues to evolve in positive ways. Though some dislike its revamped Dropbox desktop app, I appreciate the extra features it puts within reach, such as the ability to quickly create G Suite files. That said, Box, Google Drive, and Microsoft OneDrive are all great choices for most users, depending upon your needs and budget.

Of the 10 services I checked out, I'm not impressed with Amazon Drive at all and only marginally impressed with SugarSync. Amazon Drive feels like a sorely neglected, slow, overpriced offering from a company too busy trying to rule the world to bother. SugarSync is fine; I like the fact you don't have to use a dedicated folder for syncing, as you do with Dropbox. But there doesn't appear to be much feature development going on with SugarSync, either.
This article was originally published in March 2018 and updated in September 2019.

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Top 10 file-sharing options: Dropbox, Box, Google Drive, OneDrive and more

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Chances are that by now, you're already ensconced in a file-sharing/syncing service. If so, there may be no need to switch, especially given how similar many of these services have become in terms of features. However, if you're dissatisfied and ready for change, Dropbox is my top choice.

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The following topics have resounded with faculty in recent times. An ISW can be a chance for people to explore needed change in education.
1. Black Lives Matter and Anti-Black Racism
2. Microaggressions in the classroom
3. Online meeting fatigue and the student experience
4. Teaching students who are physically remote from you and each other
5. BOPPPS in a remote lesson - ensuring participation
6. Decolonizing a lesson

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1. The Three Ps: Place learners in breakout rooms of 2-3 for 5 minutes and have each share something professional, something personal and something peculiar about themselves. Bring them back and have each group share one surprise.
2. Inside, outside and invited in: Open up a whiteboard or have the facilitator use a blank slide. Each person shares one personal thing they love to have/do as they learn on the inside and one thing they don't usually do but that they think would stretch them on the outside that others can help them to try. For example, I might say, "Please put partner work on the inside for me and full group sharing on the outside. It is a stretch for me to contribute with everyone listening."
3. I-Thou-It: Each person shares something they want to get from the ISW, something they can give to the honoured others gathered, and an area of knowledge, skills to attitude they hope to see covered in the content shared (the it).
4. Expanding ISW drawing: Each day people draw a picture of what they think the ISW will be . They can draw or write a collection of words. One or two people may hold their picture to the web cam to share. The next day they add to it and then one more time.

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The University of Saskatchewan has great online resources, including for field-based, practicum and related:  https://teaching.usask.ca/

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The University of Saskatchewan has great online resources, including for field-based, practicum and related:  https://teaching.usask.ca/

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Remote teaching support

Supports are available to instructors as USask moves to teaching remotely.

Visit the pages on Remote Teaching for important considerations, planning supports, and technical tools.

Popular topics

Find out more about creating an intentional, culturally sensitive and appropriate approach to adding Indigenous ideas, concepts, and practices into your curricula, when and where it is appropriate

Find out how this tool can enhance your teaching by gauging successes, opportunities for improvement, and means for fulfillment

Important information, forms, and policies for your exam and grading preparations.

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Supports are available to instructors as USask moves to teaching remotely. Visit the pages on Remote Teaching for important considerations, planning supports, and technical tools.

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Active learning while physically distancing -   

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Active learning while physically distancing -   

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Initiated by Dr. Jennifer Baumgartner of Louisiana State University: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15ZtTu2pmQRU_eC3gMccVhVwDR57PDs4uxlMB7Bs1os8/edit

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Active Learning while Physically Distancing

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From Lakehead U

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The image above is also a hotlink to the Zoom Help Center.
A. "Key Moves for Online Interactivity" (post; doc) details "tips and strategies to apply the same principles we care about in our classroom teaching (interactivity, inclusion, efficiency and organization) to our teaching on Zoom."

"[W]ays to increase interactivity and inclusion in your Zoom classroom ... [are part of] the 'grammar' for our new 'language' of teaching online."

1. This post contains the following sections:

Some Teaching Challenges of Working in Zoom

General Strategies & Tips for Interactivity

10 Active Learning Strategies Adapted for Zoom (how each works & how to adapt it for Zoom)

Brainstorm

Concept Map

Gallery Walk

Graffiti Board

Practice Problems in Small Groups

Jigsaw

Minute Paper or Quick Write

Responsive Lecture

Statement Correction or Intentional Mistakes

Strip Sequence or Sequence Reconstruction

2. For other active-learning activities to adapt to Zoom and online learning generally, see the following:
B. Some Teaching Challenges of Working in Zoom 1. Community

"[S]trive to mitigate the isolation we are all feeling ... by welcoming students into an intellectual and engaging community."
2. Participation

"[T]eaching through Zoom may make students less willing to participate."

"Speaking in front of a large group of muted people can be particularly intimidating."

"[W]e lose some of the social cues from verbal and nonverbal feedback we are used to when we speak up in front of many muted (and sometimes faceless) people."
C. General Strategies & Tips for Interactivity
Each of the these strategies and its corresponding tips is developed fully in the post (and doc).

Cold Calling and Warm Calling

Group Discussions and Breakout Rooms

Screensharing and Videoconferencing from Home
D. 10 Active Learning Strategies Adapted for Zoom 1. Brainstorm a. How It Works

"Multiple students call out answers to an open-ended, creative, or reflective question for which many potential correct answers exist."

"Open-ended questions are by definition those which have multiple possible responses, such that inviting answers from a large group can yield more than an expected set of responses."
b. How to Use It on Zoom

"In Zoom, try brainstorms by asking students a question and asking them all to submit their brainstorming via chat."

"[U]se gallery view of all your students and do a 'whip around,' in which you ask a question that each student needs to answer in sequence."

"As you go from student to student, getting each student's answer, students can also 'pass' if they don't have an answer they want to share with everyone at that moment.

2. Concept Map a. How It Works

"[S]tudents working in groups are provided with a list of terms."

"They ... arrange the terms on paper and draw arrows between related concepts, labeling each arrow to verbally explain the precise relationship between the two terms connected by the arrow."

"Concept maps are particularly useful to help students make connections between seemingly abstract concepts or concepts learned at different times during the semester."
b. How to Use It on Zoom

"In Zoom, you can ask students to make concept maps by providing them with a list of terms and then breaking the class into breakout rooms."

"Ask the students in each breakout room to share a whiteboard and collectively make a concept map that describes how all the terms you've provided are related."

"When the students are done, ask them to take a snapshot or a screen capture of their white board, which they can either use to study later and/or submit for credit."

Or, "ask them to make [a concept map] using Google Slides, in which they can write the terms in text boxes and draw lines with arrows connecting each term and use text boxes to describe the relationship between the connected terms."

3. Gallery Walk a. How It Works

"The instructor writes several different questions or prompts on large pieces of paper at different locations around the room."

"Groups of students write down responses to a particular question, then rotate to the next question and add responses."

"At the end of the activity, each group summarizes and shares the responses to their last question."
b. How to Use It on Zoom

"Rather than write multiple questions on different pieces of paper organized around a room, write your questions as [ mycourselink/D2L] discussion board questions."

"[A]sk students to rotate through each discussion question and respond."

"Ask them to spend 1-2 minutes at each discussion forum before moving to the next."

4. Graffiti Board a. How It Works

"Using pictures, words, or phrases, groups of students respond to prompts that the instructor wrote on large pieces of paper."
"Instructor prompts might be to approve or critique an experimental approach or a math proof or to find the error in a computer code."

"Students might rotate to new 'graffiti boards' and contribute additional responses."

"Provide enough time for students to each rotate to multiple graffiti boards, so that each prompt receives multiple student replies."
b. How to Use It on Zoom

"[U]pload files or images that you want students to respond to rather than responding to a verbal question [as in a gallery walk]."

"Ask students to rotate through each discussion post image and respond."

"Ask them to spend 1-2 minutes at each discussion forum before moving to the next."

5. Practice Problems in Small Groups
a. How It Works

"After teaching students about a particular skill or concept, ask them to spend 3-5 minutes working to solve a practice problem, or a question from last year's problem set, in groups of two-three students."

"Students can work at their tables or up at blackboards, and you can collect their answers through a multiple-choice poll or by asking for a volunteer to be ready to share the answers from each group."

"Assigning student roles in a group, such as a reporter, or a skeptic tasked with asking critical questions, and rotating these roles can encourage participation from more students."
b. How to Use it On Zoom
"Breaking students into groups to work on practice problems is easily done in Zoom."

"Provide students with a worksheet (either a PDF linked to from your [ mycoureslink/D2L] page or by sending them a link to a Google doc that has the instructions and problems they are to work on)."

"[B]reak them into breakout out rooms ... of 4-6 students."

"[H]osts and co-hosts and shuttle between the breakout rooms to monitor student progress and answer questions."

6. Jigsaw a. How It Works

"Small groups of students each discuss different, but related topics."

"Students are then shuffled such that new groups are comprised of one student from each of the original groups."

"In these new groups, each student is responsible for sharing key aspects of their original discussion."

"The second group must synthesize and use all of the ideas from the first set of discussions in order to complete a new or more advanced task."

"A nice feature of a jigsaw is that every student in the original group (their 'focus group') must fully understand the key ideas so that they can teach their classmates in the second group (their 'task group').
b. How to Use It on Zoom

"[R]earrange the breakout groups so that the Breakout rooms in round 2 have a member from each of the round 1 breakout rooms."

7. Minute Paper or Quick Write

"The simplest technique we can [use] while teaching over Zoom."
a. How It Works

"All students are asked to spend a minute quietly writing a short answer in response to a question or prompt during class."

This "requir[es] students to articulate their knowledge or apply it to a new situation."

"This act of writing itself may even lead students to discover points of confusion or key insights and can help them build the confidence necessary to raise their hands in a subsequent group discussion."

b. How to Use It on Zoom

"Before asking students to answer a question in front of the whole class, give everyone a minute to collect their thoughts by writing for a minute before asking for volunteers to share their answers with everyone."

"One minute papers at the end of class can also be useful, for example through a Google form."

8. Responsive Lecture.
a. How It Works

"Students work in groups to generate, and rank, questions based on course material (perhaps from lecture, a reading, or an out-of-class activity) for the instructor to answer."

"Each group submits their questions."

"After class, the instructor reviews and organizes the questions, and then responds to the top-ranked question at the next class."
b. How to Use It on Zoom

Students in breakout groups can compile a list of questions in a shared Google doc that the instructor has access to.

Ask your students to spend the last minute of class each submitting a question they have to the chat channel (either publicly to everyone, or privately just to you)

9. Statement Correction or Intentional Mistakes
a. How It Works

"The instructor provides statements, readings, proofs, or other material that contains errors."

"The students are charged with finding and correcting the errors."

"Concepts that students commonly misunderstand are well suited for this activity."
b. How to Use It on Zoom

"[P]rovide students with a statement via a shared screen or a document you place on their [ mycourselink/D2L] page or as a shared Google doc with a link provided over chat."

"Ask your students to hit their Yes button if they think the statement is true, and the No button if they think it is false."

"Ask for volunteers to defend both positions before confirming the answer."

10. Strip Sequence or Sequence (Re)construction
a. How It Works

"The goal of this activity is for students to order a set of item that have a logical order, such as steps in a biological process, a series of historical events, or logical steps in an argument."

"[T]he instructor provides students with a list of items written on strips of paper for the students to sort."

"An instructor can also leave one step 'blank' and require that students fill it in."

"Removable labels with printed items also work well for this activity."
b. How to Use It on Zoom

"Sequence (re)constructions can be easily adapted to multiple choice questions."

"Provide students with 4 or 5 labeled steps, and make the choices of the multiple choice question different arrangements of those steps."

In the mycourselink/D2L Quiz tool, ordering questions can also be used for his exercise.

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Zoom: Interactivity & Active Learning Strategies

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The image above is also a hotlink to the Zoom Help Center. A. "Key Moves for Online Interactivity" (post; doc) details "tips and strategies to apply the same principles we care about in our classroom teaching (interactivity, inclusion, efficiency and organization) to our teaching on Zoom."

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Communicating and Working with Participants

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Communicating and Working with Participants

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Communicating and working with participants - a checklist

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Responses to Questions posted in the Chat by Cheri McLeod, one of the Nov. 18 Session Facilitators

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Responses to Questions posted in the Chat by Cheri McLeod, one of the Nov. 18 Session Facilitators