Suppose, hypothetically, that you suddenly have to teach from home for several weeks. Or rather, several students are suddenly quarantined at home and cannot attend class. It's relatively easy to make the shift to remote teaching if you know a few tips and best practices. In fact, you might even find that teaching remotely has some pedagogies that are near impossible to adopt in a F2F classroom. Our CEO, Maria Andersen, has been using remote teaching and synchronous online teaching for a decade, and will share some tips and best practices for making your remote classes run smoothly.
3. REMOTE
is not
ONLINE
REMOTE CLASSES
Mostly synchronous
Meets at scheduled times
Primarily utilizes virtual
meetings
Can be used anytime
ONLINE CLASSES
Mostly asynchronous
Rarely meets at
scheduled times
Primarily utilizes an LMS
(Canvas, Brightspace,
Moodle, Blackboard)
Requires careful
curriculum and
instructional design
4. The glass is half-empty because
you drank the first half already.
The glass is half-full because this
is an opportunity to learn and try
something new and for once your
administration won’t tell you no!
8. Remote
Teaching is
Similar to F2F
Teaching
You can see your students and they can see you
You can have discussions
You can "write on the board"
Students can work in small groups
You can use active learning techniques
11. Virtual
Meeting
Rooms -
Preparation
• Make sure you know how video and
audio mute work
• Make sure you know how to share
your browser or desktop
• Make sure you know how to stop
sharing your browser or desktop
• Find where the chat window is –
private chat vs public chat
• Clean up your desktop, browser tabs,
and bookmark folders
• Try features like “Raising Hands” or
answering “Yes/No” questions from
the teacher and student side
12. Practice
sending a chat
message
Send a private chat to me:
What school do you teach for?
Then send a public chat to all:
What is the strangest thing
you’ve seen this week?
13. Virtual
Meeting
Rooms -
Logistics
Record
Set meeting to auto-record
(because you’ll forget)
Mute Set students for “Mute on
Entry” (to minimize noise)
Waiting
Set for waiting room or enter
before host
Notes
Keep a paper class list by your
computer to take notes
Scene Check the scene behind you
14. Virtual
Meeting
Rooms –
First Session
• Setting expectations for all your
sessions
• Suggest (but don’t demand) students
be on video
• Set policies around getting full
attention – “Stretch and watch”
• Practice “Raising Hands” (if that is an
option)
• Practice unmuting to answer a
question – “Where are you learning
from today?” Goal: Everyone tries by
the end of the session.
15. The chat panel has
pedagogical
superpowers ... if you
know how to use it.
17. What gaffes have
you experienced
in a remote
meeting? (select
all that apply)
A) Someone taking another call
B) Someone using the bathroom
C) Someone wearing “business mullet”
D) Someone sending an obviously private
chat to the whole group
3-2-1-GO
TYPE YOUR ANSWER BUT DO NOT
PRESS ENTER UNTIL I TELL YOU TO.
PRACTICE
18. What is your
biggest worry
about remote
teaching?
Answer in the chat window.
3-2-1-GO
TYPE YOUR ANSWER BUT DO NOT
PRESS ENTER UNTIL I TELL YOU TO.
LET’S TRY AGAIN!
19. What makes the
3-2-1-GO chat
discussion better
than F2F
discussion?
Answer in the chat window.
3-2-1-GO
TYPE YOUR ANSWER BUT DO NOT
PRESS ENTER UNTIL I TELL YOU TO.
THE REALIZATION ...
21. What is Think-Pair-Share (TPS)?
THINK – Pose a question or
problem for students to think
about, jot down notes about, or
solve on their own for 1-3 minutes.
PAIR – Place students in small
groups or pairs to discuss the
similarities and differences in their
answers and reach a consensus.
SHARE – Ask selected groups or
pairs to share with the class.
23. Students can work together, you can move between
groups, and students can ask for help
24. THINK: How will
students be
affected by the
COVID-19 virus?
ANOTHER OPTION: SYNCHRONOUS DOCUMENTS
Jot down your own thoughts.
You have 1 minute.
25. PAIR: How will
students be
affected by the
COVID-19 virus?
ANOTHER OPTION: SYNCHRONOUS DOCUMENTS
Go to the designated Google Doc
and work with your group to make
a consolidated list with more
detail.
See Chat Window for Links:
Last names A-F
Last names G-M
Last names N-S
Last names T-Z
26. SHARE: How will
students be
affected by the
COVID-19 virus?
ANOTHER OPTION: SYNCHRONOUS DOCUMENTS
Exit slides and share browser
with documents in tabs.
28. You can write “on the
board” in real time
I tried a LOT of options. USB tablets, PC
tablets, iPads, synchronous smartphone
apps.
The simplest solution is to make a $99
investment in an IPEVO Ultra High
Definition USB Document Camera.
https://amzn.to/2U1VbbA
LET ME DEMONSTRATE
29. Logistics for a
Doc Camera
1. SHARE YOUR FULL
SCREEN
2. GO TO THE DOC
CAMERA APP AND MAKE
IT FULL SCREEN
30. With a
Document
Camera
You can show problems in a book
Walk through completing a worksheet
Share handwritten solutions
Demonstrate experiments
Use math manipulatives
31. How will students share
handwritten work in
discussions?
• They will talk about what they
wrote (isn’t that a win?)
• They can hold a paper up to the
camera to show classmates their
work or a diagram
33. LMS tools for facilitating
“what you do in the classroom”
• Discussion Forums
• Peer Review
Assignments
• Video Discussion
Tools (add-ons)
GET HELP FROM
AN EXPERT OR
THE PEDAGOGY
AND EXECUTION
WILL BE POOR
35. Students need a way to
turn in work just like
they would in class.
Many apps turn your
phone into a scanner
and convert photos to
PDFs.
36. Students will need to
have a low-stakes
practice run (or two)
Uploading Docs Using the CamScanner App
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KQ-ySs03Wo&t=22s
37. Proctoring
Strategies
Time-boxed: From download to
submission is a set time.
Consider open notebook assessments
(anything they can write down will be
allowed)
Remember students might not be able
to print (they will have to see their
screen)
Students handwrite and sign a short
academic integrity statement at the
beginning of their exam.
42. Assessment
Transformation
GOOGLEABLE
What are the symptoms
of COVID-19?
NOT SO GOOGLEABLE
Given these symptoms
..., is a patient more
likely to have a cold, the
flu, or COVID-19?
Explain your reasoning.
46. Alternative Assessments
• Make a 5-minute, 20-slide
presentation
• Draft a blog post for a chosen
audience
• Write a memo to persuade
• Design an infographic
• Make a TikTok to inform
• Do a teaching demo for a topic
Give the students some
agency in choosing the topic
or format.
Provide a clear rubric for
grading.
47. Recording
Videos
Drop any expectations that you’re going to somehow
record all your lectures.
Record short help videos where needed.
Sound is very important
It’s easier to cut than to splice
Free TechSmith SnagIt through June
https://discover.techsmith.com/remote-techsmith/
There are good reasons you already wanted to know how to teach remotely.
You probably already needed a way to bring students into class when they are away for sports events, at home because a car is broken down, ill and trying to keep others from getting sick, suffering from anxiety etc. Now is the time to finally take the time to learn to support all those students that miss classes when you are teaching F2F.
When was the last time you really thought deeply about assessment strategy. Many of you are worried about proctored tests. Does EVERYTHING need to be tested? We live in a world where computing technology and Smartphones has completely transformed the availability of information. Do you REALLY need to test EVERYTHING the same way?
Probably some of this was already on your list to think about, but we’re all so damned busy. You know as well as I do that we only get to the changes that we HAVE to do. Now is the time! You’re going to do it!
Guess what, many weren’t paying attention already.
Notes: It’s difficult to keep your own digital notes during a virtual session
These tools require additional training. We use them a lot in online classes, but don’t dive in unless you’ve learned some pedagogy.
You should already be doing this!
We live in a time when there is more information accessible at our fingertips than ever before.