In the second week of training for the Academic Technology Scholars program, we looked at the ways professors can add content and student engagement to their online classes. This topic segues nicely from last week’s look at overall course design.
A big part of module two was considering what tool is best for achieving a given learning outcome. The tools available in Canvas are fairly impressive, although they still have a long way to go to make the user experience seamless. I predict there will be a lot of professor frustration while trying to use certain tool. My job will be to help avoid this frustration, but it will be challenging. I wrote a Canvas tip as a part of this week’s assignments, and tool that I am excited about still took eight steps to explain how to use. Very little is truly intuitive.
Yet, I will still need to be able to help professors in a short couple of weeks. In online discussions with my fellow scholars, I have started to settle on what that might look like. First, I will show how to import the class template. Not only is the template a very helpful launch point, but the more classes that use the template, the more that students will know what to expect and where to look for information.
Next, I think I would try to help a professor translate their first week of work into the first module. How will the professor deliver lessons? How will students interact with the material and each other? These are the tough but essential questions that must be pondered. If video lessons seem like the way to go, I will strongly encourage video quizzes, which were the subject of my aforementioned tip. I know that having periodic questions that I have to answer while watching a video would help me focus, and I do not think I am alone. I believe that short formative assessments should be used often throughout a module.
Moving forward, I have a big, looming question: Should professors be designing the classes to be online classes, hybrid classes, or in-person classes with strong online components? I know that we might not know at this point, but the university has stated they are planning on in-person instruction in the fall. If that is the case, I cannot recommend that professors have video lessons, for example, since that would be an onerous duplication of work. I am hoping for more guidance around this issue. Will we simply be teaching online practice just in case we have to go to all-online again?