Tag Archives: asynchronous synchronous

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

 

Tools for Engagement in Online Courses

Instructional Design, Online Learning, ,

 Kimberly BellKimberly Bell, PhD., Postdoctoral Associate

Online engagement may look different from what you are used to in your face-to-face classes, and perhaps even different from your previous online courses. If you are teaching on Zoom to a sea of black boxes with names on them, it is impossible to see facial expressions or body language – those cues we may be used to looking for in a physical classroom. The same is true for asynchronous courses, where you may not have video interaction with students. To determine if students are engaged in your online courses, you might ask: Are they submitting their work on time? Are they posting thoughtful replies in the discussion forums? Do they ask questions? Do they reply to quick polls in Zoom? How are their weekly quiz and exam grades?

→ Asynchronous Engagement 

If you make your presence known in your asynchronous online course up front, it will be off to an engaging start. A welcome video shows your students who you are and lets you speak to them more directly about course expectations. Post announcements frequently in Blackboard, and give students timely feedback. You can record videos to the cloud in Zoom for quick and accessible summaries or feedback. A clear and detailed syllabus, a variety of activities, frequent formative assessments, open-ended questions for discussion, opportunities for group work, and a careful choice of tools all make for an engaging asynchronous course. 

→ Synchronous Engagement 

Use synchronous sessions for interactive lectures, office hours, recitations to follow up on asynchronous lecture material, review sessions (try a trivia game!), group projects, and other active learning activities. Make eye contact with the camera, allow time for your students to become familiar with engagement features, wait after you pose a question, plan structured breakout activities, and check in often making sure your students are engaging in your synchronous sessions. If time allows, you can start your Zoom sessions 10 minutes early and stay around 10 minutes after, so students can chat with each other and ask you questions, as they would before and after an in-person class.

*The pandemic is an ongoing challenge*

I mentioned teaching to a “sea of black boxes” above. Does that sound familiar? Teaching remotely can be challenging, but there are many engagement options in both the synchronous and asynchronous space. It may be tempting to convince yourself that none of your students are paying attention in Zoom and that you need to require a webcam. Or it may be easy to give up if students become disengaged in asynchronous discussion forums a few weeks into the semester. At this time, when it remains hard for many of us to stay engaged, remain flexible and understanding. Reach out to struggling students. We are all doing our best!

Tools and Tips for Engaging Students in Online Courses

VoiceThread

VoiceThread is an asynchronous discussion tool designed to enhance student engagement and foster presence in online courses. You can upload media in various formats and both you and your students can add comments (video, audio, text). Read our previous blog post about VoiceThread. Try using VoiceThread in the following ways: 

  • Assign a lecture to watch and allow students to comment using guiding questions 
  • Have students create their own VoiceThread presentations and comment on each other’s for peer feedback
  • Assign a group presentation – students can add individual comments and/or slides
  • Upload a case study or other document for students to comment on and ask questions about 
  • Have students critique or discuss creative works (audio, video, or text!)
  • Use in small asynchronous classes for introductions/ice breakers             

Blackboard Discussion Board

Discussion forums are commonly used in online courses. Questions that encourage critical thinking, forums for purposes other than homework, and clear expectations help to ensure your students stay engaged in the conversation. Try out the following forum ideas: 

  • General Question or “Water Cooler” forum: students can ask questions about course administration and help each other (fewer emails!)
  • Introduction forum: you and your students can get to know each other (fostering student connections is a key to success!)
  • Study Hall forum: to use prior to exams for specific questions (a TA can moderate!)
  • “Muddiest Point” (what is still unclear) forum: students can post questions after synchronous or asynchronous lectures 
  • Student Generated forum questions: to use for class discussions 
  • “Key Terms/Vocabulary” forum: generated by students 

Zoom Breakout Rooms 

Breakout rooms in Zooms can help you incorporate small group engagement in your courses. You can assign them randomly, manually, or let students choose (Zoom may need to be updated). You can assign TAs or student leaders co-host status to help manage your breakout rooms.

 Assign random pairs to breakout rooms for a quick think-pair-share. In large classes, combine with Google Docs or have only a few pairs share

  • Pre-assign small groups for a structured, 20-minute in class activity 
  • Utilize synchronous class time for groups to work together on a long-tern project

Polling & Quizzing 

In both synchronous and asynchronous learning environments, frequent quizzing and polling can help keep students engaged. Zoom polling is already built in!

  • Add multiple choice polls to your Zoom meetings Use other polling tools such as Kahoot or PollEverywhere (limited free usage)
  • Create weekly quizzes in Blackboard for asynchronous classes 
  • Use TurningTechnologies “clickers” remotely

Google Docs

Google Docs are a great way to foster collaboration in your courses. Think of creative ways to incorporate docs, sheets, slides, and other Google apps.

  • Have students produce work together such as an infographic or concept map
  • Ask your students to share their “muddiest point” at the end of class

Echo360 

Echo360 is a lecture streaming/capture/recording/active learning tool you can use to record lectures and foster student engagement.

  • Add a variety of quiz questions to your lecture
  • Students can indicate which parts are unclear with “flags”

What has worked well in your courses?

Contact CELT and request a consultation if you would like to discuss with us how you can best incorporate engagement tools and strategies. 

 

References

 

 

Remote and Blended and Flipped…Oh My!

Instructional Design, Online Learning, , , ,

Jennifer Jaiswal  Jennifer Jaiswal, Instructional Designer & Sr Instructional Technologist 

yellow brick road with grass and trees to each side
“follow the yellow brick road” by kinseikun is marked with CC0 1.0

With COVID-19 shaking up education, we struggle with the means to express what learning experiences we are creating for our students and identifying the type of learning

experience we are looking to create. Some of the terms have multiple meanings and may leave you feeling like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz lost in the Forest of Wild Beasts. Let’s start to identify some of these terms and find our way towards the Emerald City.

  • Distance learning/education is when learning takes place and the instructor and the students are not physically together. This can take place in many forms and the style of learning dates back to the 18th century where students would be sent packets of readings and send back completed tasks to be graded (Holmberg, 2005). These university correspondence courses were in extension programs as a way to engage students that were not near the campus. In modern times, distance learning and education is an overarching term that encompasses many different styles of learning and is a way of addressing the field as a whole.

 

  • Online Learning is when students interact with instructors and students through the use of online technologies including, but not limited to Blackboard, Echo360, VoiceThread and Zoom. Online learning is not a specific style of learning but describes that the students are not together and that the learning is taking place using online modalities. One of the key features of traditional online learning is that all content needs to be more planned, designed, and more fully developed prior to the start of term, especially in asynchronous courses. Having the course as a whole completed prior allows time to focus on delivery, creating engagement in the course, and addressing student concerns. The courses are built to follow a consistent format and layout so that students have an easier time finding where all the content is and navigating the course sites. Online learning breaks into two main styles, synchronous, where learning is focused around a set of scheduled meetings, and asynchronous, where learning takes place at the learner’s pace.

 

  • Synchronous courses are online courses where students and faculty meet at set times using a technology like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Google Meet to communicate with each other. Many synchronous classes provide students with the opportunity to ask questions of faculty and teaching assistants. They can also interact with their peers live in the chat or in breakout rooms. Synchronous gives the closest experience to a face-to-face class since it has scheduled dates and times, the instructor can present content from their computers, and there can be live discussions with the students during the session. Synchronous courses can also have asynchronous components where students are engaging with content outside of the active course time or participating in activities that take place over a period of time.

 

  • Asynchronous courses do not have required scheduled live meetings. All content is posted online through a technology like Blackboard and the students interact with content at their own pace with a weekly style schedule to encourage them to stay on pace together as a community. Typically, these courses are completely built prior to the course start to allow the instructor to focus on the delivery and student engagement while the course is running. In planning these courses faculty may use: readings, videos, and discussions to introduce topics and foster student engagement. Asynchronous courses can include synchronous components like optional live sessions where students can interact with students and the instructor and are recorded for students who are not able to attend.

 

  • Blended learning is a combination of face-to-face and online learning techniques. Blended courses have a specific set of days where the instructor and students are meeting in person to discuss topics related to the course. These in-person sessions may be less frequent then a traditional face-to-face course and may use online asynchronous activities during the weeks that course does not meet face-to-face. Blended learning can also be referred to as Hybrid. 

 

  • Hybrid learning can also be used to define learning where some students are in the classroom and some are connecting virtually. Since the start of the pandemic, many in person courses have turned into hybrid so that students can still attend class even if they are quarantined or remote.  

 

  • Flipped learning is an approach that can take place in face-to-face classes or online synchronous sessions. Traditional classes are framed so that the in-person class time is when students gain content and knowledge and the out of class time is when you work developing your proficiencies and applying the knowledge learned in class. Flipped uses the opposite model where students are provided with readings, videos, and content to help frame the learning activities that will take place during the in-person sessions. This gives the faculty the opportunity to engage with the students synchronously, either virtually or in-person, and students can learn problem solving and application skills. It allows the students to get immediate feedback from peers and faculty on their process and make changes early to how they are engaging with the content and applying it.

 

  • Remote Emergency Instruction or Emergency Remote Teaching is a term that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic. While Remote Emergency Instruction can take advantage of synchronous and asynchronous components, the main difference is the planning. Many courses are only partially complete, and the instructor is building the course while they are delivering it. This is not a recommended method for teaching as it can be difficult to build and deliver the course at the same time. Pre-pandemic, some faculty used the same strategies when campuses closed due to snow. 

Do you feel as though you have made it through the forest and see Oz in the distance? If you have questions please reach out to CELT and let us know how we can help with the delivery of your courses.

References

Holmberg B. (2005). The Evolution, Principles and Practices of Distance Education. Bibliotheks- und Informationssystem der Universität Oldenburg. 

Sener, J. (2015, August 17). E-Learning Definitions. Retrieved November 06, 2020, from https://onlinelearningconsortium.org/updated-e-learning-definitions-2/