No longer “Javits homeless”!

Instructional Design, Online Learning, , ,

 Linda UngerLinda Unger, Senior Instructional Designer

Dr. Sangeet HoneyCongratulations to Dr. Sangeet Honey who was recently honored at CELT’s Celebration of Teaching Awards, for development of BIO 315 Microbiology, online. This course, when taught face-to-face in Javits, enrolled about 600 students each term it was scheduled. With Javits going offline this month, Dr. Sangeet Honey, Research faculty in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, and undergraduate biology program director Dr. Peter Gergen collaborated with CELT to transition the course to fully asynchronous in Blackboard.

Quite a challenge–redesigning such a large course to a fully asynchronous delivery, but Sangeet’s commitment to his students and Peter’s administrative support made it both possible and, more importantly, effective. Beginning in August of 2019 (no, it didn’t take 2 years), Sangeet collaborated with two instructional designers, Linda Unger and Jennifer Jaiswal, at CELT to rethink how content could be provided, but more importantly, how interaction could be maintained with such a large group of students. Thanks to ample support from Peter in the form of grad and undergrad TAs, Sangeet and CELT were able to create an academically robust structure for students, while managing facilitation workload for Sangeet.

The first fully online version was taught in Summer of 2020 after the Spring course had hastily moved online mid-semester due to the pandemic. Since then it has had numerous tweaks each time to make it run more smoothly by maximizing effective learning activities and redesigning less effective strategies, especially with respect to assessment of students. This course has been taught in Spring 2021 with 400 students and is being taught this Summer 2021 semester with over 100 students.

Throughout these iterations, Sangeet’s “teaching presence” has been consistently excellent, as demonstrated through his recorded lectures; participation in discussion; Zoom office hours; and frequent announcements that provide guidance and general feedback. He also demonstrates compassion, flexibility and approachability with respect to his policies, especially his grading appeals policy.

Sangeet uses:

  •     VoiceThread for his recorded lectures,
  •     A variety of open source media to elaborate on lecture material,
  •     Bb student discussion groups (each led by a TA or himself) for clarifying concepts,
  •     Multiple, low-threshold assignments and quizzes,
  •     A large pool of questions and Respondus Monitor to safeguard exams.

A critical aspect of Sangeet’s success is his willingness to try new approaches and take risks with new teaching methods in order to engage students and promote learning using various modalities. He’s also worked hard (with CELT’s help) at making his materials accessible.

Peter’s commitment to sound pedagogy in large online courses, as demonstrated by allocation of numerous departmental grad and undergrad TAs, has enabled Sangeet to divide the >400-student class into “teams” of about 35–a critical factor that makes this course run smoothly by giving students a sense of community along with the individual attention they need.

In May, Sangeet received CELT’s annual award for Excellence in Teaching an Asynchronous Online Course at the 2021 Celebration of Teaching and CELT is delighted to have honored his work. Watch the video. 

Join us for a CELT Coffee Break!

Updates

Interested in learning more, but you don’t have time for a scheduled workshop? Join us for one of our CELT Coffee Breaks, short, self-paced modules for instructors that can be completed in one sitting. We currently have four modules:

  • Assessment
  • Engagement
  • Student Workload: Rationale
  • Student Workload: Strategies

These can be found in the course: CELT Coffee Break Modules in Blackboard. Log into Blackboard, go to your My Institution tab, and scroll down to the bottom. The course will be listed under: Courses where you are: Student.

Do you have any questions? Do you have a suggestion for a future Coffee Break? Let us know!

CELT Coffee Breaks

 

 

Federal Regulation Updates: Distance Education and Innovation

Online Learning,

In 2018, the US Department of Education began to discuss the federal regulations as it applies to distance learning today. Prior, the regulations were based on correspondence education and since then, the pedagogy and technology have changed significantly. What follows is a brief overview of the Distance Education and Innovation Regulations which go into effect on July 1, 2021.

These changes better define and clarify the pedagogical and technological options available in the 21st century and support the work SBU faculty already do pedagogically when developing and facilitating online courses. In order for students to receive federal financial aid, online courses must adhere to the federal regulation updates . 

Technology

Permitted technologies used for distance education have been updated to incorporate robust applications that can be accessed via the internet. Instructors should use the various tools available via the internet and supported on campus such as: Blackboard, Zoom, and VoiceThread, etc.

Substantive Interaction 

The Federal Regulations define as “engaging students in teaching, learning, and assessment, consistent with the content under discussion” (34 CFR 600.2). It also must include at least two different types of interaction. Some examples include: 

  • Synchronous lectures
  • Asynchronous video lectures 
  • Feedback and assessments
  • Video or text announcements and instructions
  • Answering questions over email and through discussion boards
  • Responding in a VoiceThread or discussion board

Regular Interaction 

Regular interaction must be “predictable and scheduled” (34 CFR 600.2). Timelines and expectations are critical and should be clearly noted in the syllabus and/or in Blackboard. Instructors should:

  • Meet with students on a weekly basis or provide content weekly, on the same day if possible. For example,  make new modules or new content available on Monday mornings of each week.
  • Provide clear due dates 
  • Respond to students in a short but defined period of time when urgent; and in a defined time after assignments are due 

In the syllabus and on Blackboard, due dates, expectations of response times, how long after an assignment is due students should expect grades/feedback, and office hours and contact information should all be stated. CELT has a syllabus template, and all of these pieces are addressed in that template.  

Regular interaction also includes monitoring the student’s academic engagement which can include: a synchronous class with instructor/student interaction, submitting an assignment or taking an exam, participating in an asynchronous interactive instruction, group discussion or group work, or discussing academic matters with an instructor. 

The class must be facilitated and when students request support, instructors respond in a timely fashion. 

Academic Honesty

Students signing up for the course, must be the ones that engage in the course. Much of that is supported through DoIT’s Appropriate Use of Information Technology policies which state that students are not allowed to share their login information, they should be creating difficult passwords, and they cannot disguise as another student.

In addition, if instructors would like to use a remote proctoring tool that requires a webcam or any additional resources, this must be stated upfront during registration.

In Closing

The Federal Regulations also state throughout that what we do is also in accordance with any applicable requirement of our accrediting agency and at some points, refer us to our accrediting agency for additional information.

Additional resources can be found on our site. Please join us for a Q&A session:

You can also contact us with any questions you may have.

 

 

Zoom is Going Where No App Has Gone Before!

Educational Technologies, Online Learning, ,

There have been many Zoom updates over the past few months and we wanted to address them in terms of how they can be used in your class(es)!

  • Being accountable! Faculty that set up Zoom polls for their class can now get student data as long as the student is logged in with their Stony Brook University account. After the class is over, log into Zoom and click on Reports > Meeting > radio button: Poll Report. A list of users, questions, and the response given can be downloaded. Review these formative assessments to see if there are students you should reach out to! 
  • What a great reaction! Participants have access to a large range of emojis under Reactions in the session. Utilize these emojis in icebreaker activities or as additional options when asking opinions or for reactions in class from your students. Emojis can be limited in your Zoom settings as well. 
  • Get immersed in the experience! Once you enable “immersive view” in settings, you and your participants can see each other embedded in various images. Have your students see each other in a classroom setting, or use the smaller immersive setups to record video with your TAs and/or other faculty. Students can also use it to record group presentations. 
  • Make sessions more accessible! Zoom has an auto-transcription feature so that there is a real-time computer generated automatic transcription available for students that need it once you enable it.

SBU Update! 

You recently received an email from DoIT about the retention of Zoom recordings:

Starting June 1st, 2021, Zoom cloud recordings older than 180 days will be automatically deleted and sent to a trash folder. This action will be on a rolling basis and recordings will be removed after they pass the 180 day mark. If you wish to keep your recordings, instructions are provided below.  Please note that Zoom recordings saved locally to your computer are not affected by this policy.

You can download and save your recordings and/or move your Zoom recordings directly into your Echo account. More information can be found on the Zoom Cloud Recording Retention page. 

As you are going through your recordings, think about what you want to keep! Do you want to reuse any content for future classes? According to Richard Mayer’s Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning, working memory has a limited capacity (Brame, 2015). Some questions to ask now that the videos are recorded: 

  • Segmenting: can you break the videos into manageable parts and keep videos short?
  • Signaling: Did you highlight important/key points?
  • Weeding: Do you have extraneous/irrelevant information or dated information in the video? 
  • How is the video quality? 
  • How is the sound quality?

Want to chat further? Contact us to set up a consultation! 

May the 4th be with you (Star Wars Day)
Ігор Пєтков, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

References: 

Brame, C.J. (2015). Effective educational videos. Retrieved April 2, 2021 from http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/effective-educational-videos/

CELT Celebration of Teaching Awards

Updates

Please join us on Thursday, May 6, at 1 p.m. ET for the 2021 CELT Celebration of Teaching Awards, a virtual event hosted by the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching.

awardsThe past year of the pandemic imposed significant disruptions to our teaching and learning practices, such as the move to remote instruction and an increased use of technology to create a sense of community. Additionally, we continue to feel the effects of socio-political upheaval, economic changes, and the loss of loved ones. All of these factors presented new challenges for both faculty and students. With this event, CELT seeks to acknowledge the efforts of Stony Brook educators who use exceptional teaching practices, dispositions, and proficiencies. Moreover, these instructors demonstrate outstanding passion for teaching; personal concern for students; and a devotion to inspire and nurture a learning desire in their students.

There are five award categories this year:

• Excellence in Teaching a Synchronous Online Course – Virginia Coletti, School of Nursing
• Excellence in Teaching an Asynchronous Online Course – Sangeet Honey, Undergraduate Biology
• Excellence in Assessment – Sue Ryan, School of Professional Development
• The David L. Ferguson Award for Inclusive Teaching – Joseph M. Pierce, Hispanic Languages & Literature
• 2020-2021 COVID Teaching Hero Award – Georges Fouron, Department of Africana Studies

In addition to the awards, we will hear from students as they Thank a Teacher who made a difference in their learning experience at SBU. We received more than 200 thank yous and will be sharing some of those messages.

The CELT Celebration of Teaching is open to all SBU faculty, staff, and students. Please register even if you can’t make it, but would like to receive the recording. Feel free to share this information with your colleagues, students, and staff. #CelebrateWithCELT @CELT_SBU

 

Inclusive Teaching and Supporting International Students

Updates

You are invited to join us for our last CELT panel of spring on Inclusive Pedagogy.

Inclusive Teaching and Supporting International Students
Thursday, April 29 at 1pm

In this session we discuss the unique needs of international students and focus on how faculty can support them. Among the topics we will explore: intercultural communication, equitable teaching strategies, grading, assessment, feedback, challenges related to writing in a second language, and helping students decode and master academic writing.

Please join us for this panel discussion hosted by SBU’s Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT). Our scheduled speakers are: Elizabeth Kotseas, Xicheng Zhou, El Mehdi Ainasse, Kimberly Bell, and Troy Priest.

You must register in advance to attend this Zoom meeting. Questions? Please email Senior Instructional Designer, Carol Hernandez, carol.hernandez@stonybrook.edu

Informational slide about the panel.

Engaging Students in Asynchronous Online Courses

Educational Technologies, Online Learning, , , ,

 Kimberly BellKimberly Bell, PhD., Postdoctoral Associate

Asynchronous courses, when designed and implemented according to evidence-based research and learning theory, can be just as engaging as in-person or synchronous online courses. If you have asked yourself the following questions, or are unsure of where to start overall, this guide will introduce you to research and tips for making your asynchronous online course engaging.

  • How can my students interact in an asynchronous course?
  • How can I help my students give better feedback to each other in discussion boards?
  • How can I give better feedback and engage students?
  • How can I use group work in an asynchronous course?
woman working on a computer
Image by chenspec from Pixabay

Getting Started

Presence, Community, Feedback, Technology

These resources will get you started with theory and practice for engaging your students in asynchronous courses. Review the Purdue University Guide to the Community of Inquiry framework, which will introduce you to the concept of “presence” in an asynchronous course. The, dive a bit deeper and read about developing presence and learning community online, including a research study on faculty perspectives. Then, last but not least, review the ways you can give effective feedback with technology. Timely and effective feedback is a critical component of engagement.

Learning Activities for Asynchronous Online Courses

Asynchronous, Interaction, Discussion

These three resources, activity guides from the Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching and the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at the University of Rochester and the FOLD Guide to Fostering Discussion will all spark ideas for engaging activities and effective discussions you can have in your asynchronous courses.

Learning Tools for Asynchronous  Online Courses

Tools, VoiceThread, Discussion, Interaction

Review the resources in this collection to find tools that will help you develop and deploy asynchronous learning activities. VoiceThread is a great tool for asynchronous discussion (even in groups!). The Vanderbilt guide from the Learning Activities collection is repeated here as well, it includes both activities and tools to keep your students engaged.

Additional Teaching Tips for Asynchronous Online Courses

Active Learning, Engagement, Inclusive, Tips, Asynchronous

This collection of resources will provide you with additional tips and tricks for creating engaging asynchronous online courses. Review the IDEA guide for actively engaging students, tips specifically for inclusive teaching from the Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning at Brown University, additional tips from Wiley, and a Faculty Focus article on fostering fun!

Accessibility Drop-In Sessions

Updates

Do you have a question about digital accessibility? Do you want to know how to make a document accessible? Do you have questions about closed captioning? Stop by a virtual accessibility drop-in session!

Join SASC, OEA, and CELT at any point during the drop-in to ask your question(s). If you would like a reminder, please register for the session. Can’t make it, or need a more timely response? Please submit your question using this online form.

Video Recording Tips! 

Educational Technologies, Online Learning, , ,

Rose Tirotta  Rose Tirotta, Ed.D., Associate Director of Teaching Excellence

Video has been a constant part of our lives for over a year now, and being on camera for many hours throughout the day can be stressful! Here are some tips for synchronous sessions or recorded mini-lectures to improve video quality without purchasing expensive equipment. 

Computer Tips:

  • Raise your webcam/laptop to eye level when recording. You can use books, an empty box, or anything else that gives it a little extra height. 
  • Keep your webcam/laptop about an arm’s length away from you when you record so you are not too close or too far from your camera. 
  • In Zoom, go to Preferences > Video and check off: HD (to improve video quality) and Touch up my appearance (to soften your video).

Your Surroundings:

  • Try to place yourself in front of a neat background that is not distracting. While you want to keep it neat, try not to use a blank white wall. 
  • If you prefer to use the Zoom background option, try to choose one that is static and not distracting. Zoom now has a blur option (try updating Zoom if you do not see it on your list of virtual backgrounds). 
  • Sit (or stand) with the light in front of you (not behind!) 
  • Try to use a room without (too much) ambient noise. 

Before the Session or Recording:

  • Test out everything! Record a segment so you can hear the audio as well. 

During the Session or Recording:

  • Look into the camera
  • Use a headphone (with a microphone if you have one!) 
  • Speak clearly and naturally
  • Don’t worry about small mistakes! 

A few other questions to keep in mind if you are recording mini-lectures:

  • Where do you want to segment your videos? Keep them short so students can easily find the topic they would like to rewatch.
  • Do you need to be on camera? If you are sharing your screen, think about whether or not you need to be on camera the whole time. 
  • Do you need a script? Scripts are helpful not only to plan what you need to say, but can also be used as transcripts afterwards. 
  • Sigh…I’m tired! Don’t record too much at one time! You want to have a good energy level for all videos so…take a break! 

Being on Zoom synchronously all day can be exhausting as well! Be sure to schedule breaks! Also, watching yourself can be emotionally draining! If you can’t turn your camera off, you can turn off your video on your own screen while still being visible to the other participants. 

Do you have any other tips? Leave a comment! Or, if you would like to chat further, email us to set up a consultation.

screen with play button
Image by Megan Rexazin from Pixabay

References

DailyCandy Video. (2012, November 15). How to Look Good on a Webcam. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMex-9FyljU&feature=youtu.be 

educause. (2020, July 24). Make Super Simple Videos for Teaching Online. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfhRpfUi9GY

LLmediaVideo. (2012, February 28). Video Tips: Using Your Webcam. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr5tHm040C4&feature=youtu.be

Putting Your Best Self Forward: 6 Keys For Filming Quality Videos. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2021, from https://er.educause.edu/blogs/2021/2/putting-your-best-self-forward-6-keys-for-filming-quality-videos