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Pivot your Teaching Adapting to New Modes for Flexible Teaching: Planning for a Remote Start

March 2020 turned out to be a sharp switchback for many instructors as they rushed to adapt their traditional in-person teaching to remote teaching. The Herculean efforts by so many instructors and instructional designers was incredible to observe. As instructors, we collectively breathed a sigh of relief as the spring semester grades were submitted, but rather than take a break, we immediately started looking for ideas and guidance for how to move forward to fall. Given the uncertainties of the future, now is the time to figure out how we can enhance what we are doing so we are flexible and ready to adapt for whatever the future will bring. This resource will share ideas for how you can prepare your course to be flexible to address the needs of students and instructors, while following health guidelines at the university. We will share ideas for how to introduce the instructor (e.g. send a pre-course announcement, use your webcam, etc., introduce the syllabus and the course, connect students to each other, and start students on learning the content (e.g. pre-assessments, assess prior knowledge, spark curiosity, start reading and discussing, etc.). In addition, we wrap up with what to avoid and provide some additional resources.

Planning for a remote launch of your course

Many of the well-grounded and established methods you use in your face-to-face classrooms translate into an online or blended learning environment. The major difference is the need to be more explicit and to be intentional about how you create and maintain the learning environment and the community. The first week of your class is setting the stage for everything else you will do in your course, regardless of your delivery mode. One way to have a more adaptable course is to plan for a remote start to your course. Just as you would plan for some class time to be set aside for a review of the syllabus and orienting students to you, each other, and the course materials in your face-to-face course, you should plan for these critical elements in a remote launch.

Introduce the instructor

Establishing your teaching presence will help students develop trust in you and the course, and will start to build their confidence in learning with you. Consider the following question. How are you supporting your students through a balance of learning activities, active engagement in learning, and direct feedback and instruction? Here are a few suggestions:

Send a pre-course announcement before the first week of class, including such information as:
  • A welcome message, including an acknowledgement of the challenges that students are facing with the current situation, the efforts that will be made to manage situations as they arise, and a call to rise to the occasion
  • Your expectations for class participation, including the opportunities for remote participation as needed
  • A public URL for the course syllabus with due dates for all assignments
  • Required and optional course materials that can be purchased or obtained in advance of the course start
  • Let students know how to adjust their notification settings, globally or per course
  • Outline expectations for in-person participation in the course, including policies about attendance, facial coverings, social distancing, and how the class community can work together to create a safe and healthy learning environment (let students know that they should not come to class when sick and how they can still fully participate in class activities remotely)
  • Share how you will deliver class materials (how is your course site organized, will videos be pre-recorded, will you use lecture capture, will you live stream, etc.)
Use your webcam (and screen if desired) to capture a welcome video message using VidGrid (or other webcam capture tool). You can connect the video to an assignment in Canvas using the VidGrid quizzing LTI as an external tool on the assignment

In VidGrid, there are some additional within video options, some of which include:

Once the video is an assignment, you can use the Canvas Message Students Who… tool to send an email to those who have not watched the video, giving them a reminder and personalized note to welcome them to the class. You can also set up Canvas Calendar Scheduler Appointment groups to allow students to set up a time to meet.

Introduce the syllabus and the course

Just as in your in-person class, the remote syllabus and course launch provide a map for students to orient themselves and figure out where they should go. Here are some ways that you can encourage students to engage with the syllabus and course materials:

  • Create a syllabus scavenger hunt
  • Create a syllabus quiz in Canvas (you can even require this in order for students to access the rest of the course)
  • Create a course tour video (screen capture in VidGrid)
  • Provide a high-level review of testing plans, course assignments, and projects; due dates and expectations
  • Create a video to review course policies (academic integrity, facial coverings, services for students)
  • Make sure all assignments (with dates) are in the Canvas calendar and the syllabus
  • Orient students to any course software
  • Include a Getting Started or orientation module for students to know how to launch into the course (see a sample or create your own)

Connect students to each other

Building the social presence of the learning environment is a critical element for student success and satisfaction. Consider the following questions. How are students interacting during their learning? Do they have opportunities to tie what they are learning to their experiences as “real people” and can they share what they are learning with others? The following are some potential ideas for facilitating this component of your course.

Use Yellowdig or Canvas discussions to have students introduce themselves

Sample icebreaker activities:

  • My secret superpower is...
  • Two truths and a wish polls
  • The most surprising thing about me is...
  • Where will you be in five years?
  • Use a Zoom background or post a picture in discussions/Yellowdig of somewhere interesting that they have been or would rather be

Some other methods for connecting students to each other include:

  • Create Canvas Groups and encourage students to use the group work areas
  • Include breakout groups in Zoom (one idea: create breakout rooms so that there are two people in each room, randomly assign students to a room for 2 minutes to meet each other then re-assign students to a new room, etc.)
  • Survey students to find out preferences or goals for group work
  • If students will be expected to work in teams, ask them to start discussing a team charter

Start students on content

The way in which you initiate students into learning opportunities in your course will establish cognitive presence. Consider these questions. How are students constructing meaning from the content they consume? Do they have opportunities for reflection and critical discourse? The following suggestions could help:

Conduct pre-assessments
Capture students' prior knowledge or skills
  • Start on a shared or individual Google Doc (KWL - Know, Want to Know, Learned) or mind map to document their learning in the course
  • Use a Canvas quiz and discuss the results
  • Ask students to record a performance video or share a portfolio of previous work
Spark curiosity in the course topic
  • Engage in a virtual scavenger hunt for the topic (take pictures, find articles, movie clips or TV segments, commercials, etc.)
  • Ask students to create an annotated list of articles for the topic (go find three popular articles on the course topic, write a summary and share with the class; respond to at least 2 peer annotations)
  • Assign students to interview friends and family to ask them what they know about the topic, report back with a summary
  • Assign students to put their questions on the topic into a shared Google Doc to be answered throughout the course
  • Ask students to share their predictions about what they will learn in the course
  • Post a poll or ask students questions and report back with the results
Start reading and discussing
  • Start on textbook and article readings for the course
  • Review lab manuals and provide orientation to software
  • Use Yellowdig or Canvas for introduction and content discussions
  • Hold Zoom live sessions, recorded for later viewing (consider creating as an assignment with a due date)

In summary

The assumptions with the suggestions provided here are that with a remote and early start to a course, the delivery mode should be asynchronous to support students who are in transit or completing internships or otherwise unable to participate synchronously. Instructors may offer synchronous options for students who need support, but these should not be required. It is strongly recommended that you include required activities where students earn points (with options for those who need alternatives) to keep students accountable, on track, and prepared for the rest of the semester. The timing of assignments and due dates during the week should be flexible to allow for late add students.

Avoid the following:
  • Experiences that do not engage students
  • Making students feel that they are isolated on an island
  • Meaningless activities that are just busywork
  • Students feeling that this remote start is an unimportant part of the class or unnecessary for their success
  • Overloading students with too many options or too much to do

Additional Resources

Content created by Tawnya Means and Ann Tschetter. Available for sharing and reuse under a CC BY 4.0 license. Content is also available as a Google Doc.

Created By
Tawnya Means
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Credits:

Created with images by Filip Mroz - "Caledon Turn" • Glenn Carstens-Peters - "If you have a little bit of time left, how about start writing your own bucket list" • oxana v - "my work space. I’m the founder of the company Arttravelling ( travel for artist)" • Allie - "Hi. Hello there. Yo." • Braden Collum - "Relay runner"

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