Teaching with Zoom

2020: When Fully-Online Became Everything Online.

Some Important Definitions:

  • Synchronous: Students and Teachers meet together at set time and methodology (Face-to-face in a classroom or online)
  • Asynchronous: Activities that take place via an LMS. Students and teachers are not online at the same time.

During the pandemic crisis, the term “hybrid” took on a new meaning. Prior to March of 2020, a partial face-to-face class that substituted on-ground meetings (FTF) with online activities was called a “Hybrid”.  It was the combination of a synchronous meeting with students and the use of asynchronous time in an online format using an LMS (Canvas).

If we think of Zoom as that synchronous meeting format rather than what used to be done in the FTF classroom, we can consider the partial use of Zoom as a virtual or online hybrid. 

Excerpted From:  Download Hybrid Teaching Guide by Pat James

Information about teaching using zoom...

The OTD class prepares you to teach your whole class asynchronously in Canvas or any LMS, really.  But once you can get all of your materials into the asynchronous online format, you can do any of it in Zoom or in a regular on-ground classroom.  It may also be helpful while this crisis persists, to do some of the things in Zoom, that are too difficult to do when you first learn to teach online.  As a matter of a lot of successful fully asynchronous online teachers (can we please call the method AO for now) started teaching hybrid classes where they met for some hours in the classroom and replaced those hours with work in Canvas.  

Below are some tips for active learning in Zoom and a couple of good articles that we will likely add to over time!

Articles:

Ideas for teaching in Zoom:

  • Break up larger lectures into smaller chunks of no more than ten to thirty minutes. No one’s attention span lasts longer than that!
  • Have students take a quiz after the meeting but before the recording is posted.
  • Create a structured note-taking template to help students focus on your mini-lectures. Some students enjoy taking notes  in Padle , which is a bit more playful.
  • Ask students how they’re doing today. Tell them how you’re doing.
  • Answer Garden: Ask students how they’re doing today.  Have them use only one word.  Tell them how you’re doing.  
  • Punctuate your sessions with questions, and ask students to respond in polls or in the chat. You can have them do a 1-minute paper.
  • Facilitate breakout rooms to allow students to collaborate with peers in smaller groups. This is tricky.
  • Tell stories. Don’t forget that you know how to apply your discipline!
  • Have students collaborate in a shared Google doc during the session. Here are some  cool ideas for collaborative docs.
  • Let one or more students lead the class. 
  • Be willing to experiment. Let it be messy. The best stuff in life usually is. Here's a  great list of Zoom activities that might be messy and fun.
  • Prioritize care, compassion, and adaptability — today, tomorrow, and in the future. 
  • Ask students to reflect on what was covered that day and record their answers on a wiki page in Canvas. In settings, you can change a regular wiki page to be editable by everyone and they can add to a page. Ask questions like, “I was surprised that…” or “I was confused by…”

Netiquette for Zoom! 

This list is appropriate for use with students:

  • Be sure to mute your mic (lower-left corner of your screen) as soon as you sign on and whenever you are not speaking.
  • Consider muting your video (also on the lower left of the screen) if you are eating, scratching, talking with someone else in the room, or anything else that might be distracting to others.
  • Close unneeded applications on your computer to keep the video optimally functioning and to keep you focused.
  • Be mindful of your background lighting. If you are sitting in front of a window, you may be completely darkened by the light coming through the window. Your overhead light also might need to be turned off or dimmed as well.
  • Be sure that there is nothing visually distracting (cars or people going by) in the background too.  Avoid having open doors behind you, where people could inadvertently walk by.  The best place to set up is with a wall behind you.
  • Bonus item! Do not forget that clothing is not optional!

This list is available at  Psychology Today

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