Moving Education Online _ OpenEdInfluencers _ 2020

Moving Education Online Resources 2020 by OpenEdInfluencers at NMU is licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 4.0 International Licence
Explore some guides for taking your teaching and learning online, compiled
from recent Tweets from Open education practitioners around the world.
Explore more Open Education Resources using our website, and engage with
the potential of Open Textbooks, distance learning expertise and experiences, as
well as opportunities to consult about OER.
The #OpenEdInfluencers @MandelaUni 2020.
http://openedinfluencers.madela.ac.za

Moving Education Online
https://twitter.com/drtonybates/status/1237182210072969216?s=19
Professor Bates suggests 7 steps in the article referred to in his original Twitter post, as in the
screenshot above, available on https://www.tonybates.ca/2020/03/09/advice-to-those-about-
to-teach-online-because-of-the-corona-virus/:
1. Get professional advice and help before you start
2. Get the right technology
3. Get organised
4. Avoid long lectures
5. Watch the student workload
7. Do the best you can in the circumstances

8. Further resources
• Martin Weller’s The Covid-19 Online Pivot (which also includes a further
list of resources)
• Tannis Morgan’s How to teach online with only e-mail
• Teaching in a Digital Age (especially Chapter 12, on quality online
learning)
• Contact North’s The 10 Fundamentals of Teaching Online (37 pages)

Jess Perriam shares 10 tips for teaching online:
https://twitter.com/jessyp/status/1237633585475174400?s=19

John Hawks gives pointers and shares resources for moving education
online: https://twitter.com/johnhawks/status/1237569612998299652?s=19
• First, your students need to know that you also respect their time and individuality.
Even at mid-semester, it is a good idea to set up a discussion board or chat that allows
students to introduce themselves and share something new. It's an online icebreaker!
• Second, if at all possible, you should vary your environment for your students. If you
are on video, give yourself a different background. Sit outside sometimes. Use props.
These little touches actually help students follow and learn by breaking monotony.
• Yes, you can take course videos with your phone. Or any videocamera device you have.
You can use a webcam. You can drive it with software that integrates screencasting,
like Camtasia. Or you can put in photos/captions with video editing software...
• It doesn't matter how you do video or on-screen conferencing, but my advice is do what
you already feel natural doing. Trying to learn new software and processes now, just
for this purpose, is not the best use of your online time with students. Don't make this
a burden.
• If writing and text are the most natural for you, then by all means do those. Interact with
students by chat or message board. Use a social-like platform like Piazza if it's
available. If it's the easiest for you, use Slack. Interactions don't have to happen in the
CMS.
• Here is what you and your department will most likely forget in the urgency of the
moment. First: Accessibility. Video and online text is bad for many students' learning.
Some cannot follow it at all. You need to support these students from the beginning.
• If you have an accessibility office, they are likely overwhelmed. Take the lead in
providing *less* new content, ideally in multiple formats with accessibility designed in

from the beginning. If you show pictures, describe what they are. Describe where you
are sitting.
• Second: Rubrics. Online assignments will go vastly easier for your students and for you
if you provide a very clear rubric in advance to all students. Model what a good product
looks like. Without you in the classroom, students need information to fill in between
the lines.
• Third: Reset your own clock on cheating. Your colleagues may obsess over students
taking exams with their books open, or texting answers, or circumventing various anti-
cheating mechanisms. Guess what? They cheat easily because your colleagues are lazy.
• You can't stop cheating online. Effective online learning uses assessment instruments
where traditional cheating doesn't benefit student grades. Effective online learning
encourages students to use outside sources, trains them to evaluate them, and doesn't
rely on time limits.
• If you are transitioning to online mid-semester, you won't have time to redesign all
assessments. And so you'll be stuck with classroom-based exam, quiz, or paper
assignments that give students incentives to cheat. Live with it. Remind students that
you are in this together.
• Be transparent with students about the time you are spending to make your content
accessible to everyone in the class. Remind them of your learning goals, and why a
particular set of exam activities was designed. They will trust you, and you can trust
(almost all of) them.
• Best suggestion I can make: Each week, do a little anthropology. Skype or call a student
or two and ask how they are engaging with the course. Get them to share the best and
worst parts. Then share your conversation with the rest of the class. You'll learn and
generate good faith.

Penelope Moon:
https://twitter.com/penelope_a_moon/status/1235206834652213248?s=19
Amanda Grigg shares resources in a thread for those preparing to move
education online: https://twitter.com/grigg/status/1236282228201709568?s=19

Sean Michael Morris shares:
https://twitter.com/slamteacher/status/1236036921488367616?s=19
• Online doesn’t mean you need to change how you teach. You are still just as human,
and so are the students on the other side of your screen. Email, text messages, phone
calls—these are all ways to sustain a human connection.
• Be honest about what this transition means for you and for students. The rest of the
school year will not be the same. You will need to improvise and be patient. Students
will need to improvise and be patient.
• Rethink grading. Normal rules of rigor, attendance, participation need to be revisited.
Asynchronous work is harder than synchronous work (most people find working
remotely difficult). Assessment should reflect that.
• Human connection will always work better than technological connection. Don’t rely
on tools as a substitute for what you already do well. Edtech doesn’t teach, you do.
#digped
• Look for simple solutions. Don’t complicate distant learning suddenly with
unnecessary tools or expectations. Use reliable, familiar tools (email, text messages,
Zoom, etc.) so that teaching can remain the core of your work.

Sara Chatfield shares online teaching tip:
https://twitter.com/poliscisara/status/1237400446714535936?s=19

Melanie Stefan shares their experiences moving education online:
https://twitter.com/MelanieIStefan/status/1237274823694434304?s=19
• We record lectures ahead of time and post mp4 files online, rather than having to rely
on live conferencing software. This also works better for students without fast
continuous internet access.
• The university still insists on live streaming those recordings and demanding students
dial into those, but honestly I don’t see the point of that and it creates a lot of extra
admin work. But the recordings are also online for students to revisit later.
• I do a lot of “turn-and-talk” type activities in class, which can be awkward to do in
recordings. The way I do it now is break the recording into parts and have things like
“Here is a question. Please take a minute to think about it and move on to the next part
when you’re ready”
• Bonus is that each student can take as much time as they need/want to think before they
move on (whereas in an actual live lecture, you have to give everyone the same amount
of time)
• Splitting lecture recordings into parts also means you can make parts optional, for
instance for a derivation that’s not strictly in the learning objectives, but that some
students might be interested in.
• Splitting lecture recordings into multiple parts also makes them easier to upload and
download, and less daunting to record.
• I usually use screen capture software to record my slides and record my voice over it. I
have also on occasion used screen capture to record myself doing a bit of coding for a
bioinformatics class (zoom in a bit to make it easier to read)
• Our university provided each of us with a good set of headphones and provided a room
we could use for peaceful and quiet recording. Though oftentimes I just ended go
recording in the comfort of my own home

• Bit of tech: The university-preferred lecture capture software doesn’t work under
Linux, so I use vokoscreen to capture, and ffmpeg for some basic editing. (Mostly just
cutting beginning and end)
• Universities: If you want to truly make a difference, invest in some tech support. We
had to figure a lot of this out ourselves through trial, error, and helping each other. But
it would have been nice to have someone whose job that is.
• Lecturers, when you record your number one enemy is perfectionism! Also, loud noises
in the neighbourhood and pop-up notifications on your screen. But mainly,
perfectionism.
• It is so tempting to think, oh, I misspoke there, or that explanation wasn’t as clear as it
could be, I’ll just record that bit again. This will be your downfall. Repeat after me:
Done is better than perfect!
• So now, what about things other than lectures? A lot of our teaching revolves around
small-group discussions and practical work. For discussions and computer practicals,
we have used online discussion boards.
• These work best if students are given very concrete prompts (“Go through exercise XY,
and post your thoughts and questions on board Z. Help each other.”)
• Allow for anonymous posting as an option. This allows students to post questions
without the fear of seeming “stupid”. And here is a trick I learned from Kim Picozzi at
@EdinburghUni: Anonymous posting means you can pose as a student and ask a
“stupid” (but important) question
• Some students may not be used to using discussion forums, so have a kind of “ice-
breaker” thread where everybody posts something not course related. This also means
you can see who doesn’t post and may have problems accessing the internet.
• Universities: What measures are there to assist students with limited or no internet
access? What special circumstances or other procedures are in place for students who
have missed out on coursework? What about disabilities that may get in the way of
students participating?
• Universities, think about this now. Don’t let the burden fall on individual teaching staff,
who are already more than busy moving to online teaching. Communicate rules and
procedures clearly with both students and staff.
• More about discussion boards: They are great, but they have to be used right. Worth
going through a few ground rules with students: how to use threads, how to ask a good
question, how to treat each other with respect.
• Online discussion boards need to be monitored. If we encourage students to ask
questions there, we need to be prepared to answer them. Do not underestimate the time
that takes.

Sainath Appagoni shares the following link on remote working by Dan
Purvis:
https://twitter.com/SainathAppagoni/status/1238061062127157251
https://blog.marketo.com/2020/03/remote-working-101-survival-kit-remote-employees-need-to-
succeed.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Build Trust
Prioritize Security
Nurture Team Relationships
The key ways of ensuring you build a team that works and performs, include:
Regular Meetups
Create an Employee Social Media Culture
Group Video Calls
Celebrate Successes
Utilize Productivity Tools
Some of the most popular and useful productivity tools include:
Trello
Trello is usually described as a project management tool but it can be used in a wide range of different
ways. It is a very visual choice of tool and can be used as a kind of diary, a way of actioning tasks,
sharing out responsibilities or even as an editorial calendar.
Slack
Slack is the most popular communication tool used by businesses. It allows for quick instant messages
in the place of long email chains and is a much more reactive option for teams who need quick
responses or if you need to speak to a team publicly and collect their responses where everyone can
see. It’s much easier and much less annoying than multiple emails.
Google Drive / Dropbox
Google Drive and Dropbox are the forerunners when it comes to managing files in shared folders. The
added bonus many people find with Google Drive is that it’s so easily compatible with almost any
device and you have full access to the Google suite of software tools including Sheets and Docs.
Evernote
Evernote is like a handy notebook ensuring you never forget a single of your thoughts or notes. You
can organize your thoughts into notebooks, to-do lists and more to ensure you can find what you need
when you need it. There are also tagging options so any note can be found with ease. It is a very simple
app but perfect for brainstorming sessions, writing quick blog posts and keeping your thoughts in one
place to look back on when needed.

Jesse Stommel’s thread on online teaching practices:
https://twitter.com/Jessifer/status/1236336679197323264?s=19
• Teaching is about being human with humans. There’s no neat and tidy script for that.
• We also need to recognize the labor issues involved. If a teacher hasn’t been paid to
build an online course, they certainly shouldn’t be asked to retrofit one (to exacting
standards) at the last minute. Especially given most of the teachers in #highered are
adjuncts.
• The work starts with compassion and patience (for students and colleagues), not rubrics
or best practices.
• As someone directly involved with online learning, I’d love to see what such a rubric
looks like, because I’m 100% sure it’s problematic.

Kathleen Morris shares resources for online teaching:

Will Stoutamire shares online resources for online educators:
https://twitter.com/wstoutamire/status/1237383499889418241?s=19
Click here to view the list of resources

Anna Spargo-Ryan shares her experiences as an online educator:
https://twitter.com/annaspargoryan/status/1237536753864470528?s=19
• I teach up to 150 students at once each semester, and the biggest challenge is getting to
know students well enough to teach them when there are so many and I can't see or hear
them.
• So the very first thing I do is find other ways to familiarise myself with them. Avatars
(like twitter profile pics) are great for this, even if they're not a photo of the student.
They're a quick way to differentiate people in a text-heavy environment.
• Getting them to introduce themselves is the equivalent, I guess, of remembering where
they sit. Make associations with the specific details they give. So I'll be like, oh that's
Rebecca, she lives in the Adelaide Hills. Or, there's Priya, she has a Bernese Mountain
Dog.
• Obviously one of the challenges is isolation. We're all working remotely, often in
different cities, towns and remote locations. Teamwork is hard online, so these are
things I do:
▪ Break them into smaller groups. Not everyone will participate, despite your best
efforts, but MAX 8 people per group works for me.
▪ Give them dedicated group-work spaces. I create separate forums clearly marked
with group numbers.
▪ Clearly outline when you expect them to work as a class and when they should
break off into group work.
▪ Clearly describe what you expect them to do in their groups, e.g. "Give two
paragraphs of feedback to at least one other student."
▪ Give them reasons to interact *with each other*. If they feel a connection with each
other, they'll be more likely to participate.
▪ Online there's no "ask the person next to you about their pet and tell the class about
it" so I get them to share stories.

▪ It's much, much easier to get them to work in groups if the groups don't change. I
know it means they don't get to interact with as many people, but getting to know
people online is much harder, so limit what you demand of them.
▪ Similarly, if you're transferring your existing students to online, or you know them
already, make the effort to create groups with complementary skills and varied
ideas. It encourages much better/more discussion.
• Another big challenge is helping students understand what you need them to do over
the whole subject/unit/term/semester.
• In a mostly text-based environment, the important parts can get lost.
• This is also a useful consideration for accessibility.
• In a classroom, you will talk and discuss and lots of words will get used.
• Online, all of those extra words can clutter what you want them to learn and do. You
still want to use them, because otherwise the class is boring, but not at the expense of
clarity. So ...
▪ Give VERY CLEAR deliverables. No extra words. "Assessment task: write 1000
words + a bibliography." You can elaborate separately.
▪ GUIDE DISCUSSION. Ask leading questions. I add headings to my questions so
everyone knows what they relate to.
▪ Recap with takeaways. At the end of the discussion, I'll add dot points to highlight
the important points.
▪ Set clear expectations. "Please respond to 3-4 questions."
▪ Tell them HOW to deliver. "Upload as a Word doc or PDF at this link." "Respond
in this thread."
• I have a brilliant student whose accessibility need is no-frills, clear instruction. They
have taught me so much about only giving the information that's required to perform
the task. The extra flavour can be done elsewhere.
• Use formatting tools to organise and highlight important information! This helps screen
readers, too. Use your H1, H2, H3 and paragraph formats. Use bold text. Use bullet
points and/or ordered lists. Use alt text on images.
• All systems will be different, of course, but I try really hard to organise information in
a useful way.
▪ - Grouping similar tasks together
▪ - Distinguishing forums/chats/seminars with headings or sections
▪ - Creating a good folder structure for supporting info, worksheets, etc.
▪ - Having a clear overview (e.g. a Unit Guide) where all the pertinent info can be
found at a glance
▪ - An 'announcements' area so students know where to expect to find important
notices
▪ - A 'questions' area so you can contain student queries AND other students can see
the answers
• Then, the thing is to take advantage of the online space, right. So instead of thinking of
online teaching as a rotten inferior substitute, use the tools it offers. You have the ability
to embed video, audio, images, useful links, cross-linking between discussions
• Text-based learning can be hard, especially if you've never done it before. If you have
access, use video streaming to communicate the main ideas

• Let students ask questions during those sessions. Record and/or transcribe them for
connection or other accessibility requirements
• Try to let go of formal communication. In a classroom, you have the benefit of casual
conversation. Online, you have to bring that into the way you write.
• This is easier when you're a writer teaching writing. I guess my main advice is to try to
write the way you speak.
• Mostly, your students will all work in different ways, as they do in a regular classroom.
Teaching online requires pretty close attention – you can’t see if a student is engaged
or not, so you have to watch carefully and find ways to engage them.
• Most online teaching environments have stats about who’s logging in, posting, reading,
etc. so you can be a bit systematic about how you bring in the laggers.

Jacqueline Wernimont shares collected resources for moving education
online:
https://twitter.com/profwernimont/status/1237351856000700417?s=19
Click here to access the document above.

The Chronicle of Higher Education shares a link to help educators who are
going online in a hurry:
https://twitter.com/chronicle/status/1237528705691336704?s=19
Click here to follow the link

Gabbi Witthaus:
If anyone is wondering how to engage learners online, there is great advice to be found in an
article by Redmond et al (2018). They conducted a literature review and identified five different
kinds of online engagement: emotional, social, behavioural, cognitive and collaborative. It’s
easy to focus on cognitive engagement at the expense of the others, but the five are all
interconnected. So for example, we can help students to feel less isolated and more part of a
community (emotional and social engagement) by setting up discussion forums that encourage
social conversation and personal responses, while also inviting their thoughts on the course
content.
Reference follows – with a shout-out to the authors for making it open access
Redmond, P., Heffernan, A., Abawi, L., Brown, A., & Henderson, R. (2018). An Online
Engagement Framework for Higher Education. Online Learning, 22(1), 183–
204. https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v22i1.1175 [CC-BY]

Moving Education Online _ OpenEdInfluencers _ 2020

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