Remote Teaching (COVID-19 Update)
- TheGradStudent
- Mar 15, 2020
- 5 min read
It has been a while since I have had time to post on this blog, partly as I needed time to settle down after returning to the US, and partly because of my workload. Whenever I do post, I try to ensure that the material is relevant and useful for anyone who comes across it. With the rapidly evolving / dynamic situation surrounding coronavirus (COVID-19), many universities across the US and the globe have switch their medium of instruction for a majority of their courses online (at least till the end of the semester). Many universities like mine have given instructional staff a week to prepare for the transition. Although, I have my plan for the rest of the semester set, I felt the need to put this post together to highlight some of the many resources and strategies available for instructors in order to smoothen their transition to online instruction / remote teaching.
1. List of available remote teaching resources
A vast majority of universities have remote teaching resources and information available for universities to provide courses online. Many universities have experimented with many remote teaching platforms and provide alternative options for their instructors. The following link contains a comprehensive list of the universities and resources available:
This list was provided by Daniel Stanford from DePaul University in Chicago. The link contains links for multiple US universities (and one international university). If your own university has such a website, please contribute through the link in the spreadsheet, to ensure that our community has all the support it needs.
2. How do you choose your instructional method?
Before switching to remote teaching you’ll need to determine your needs. What are important things to keep in mind?
Size of your class – The size of your class may determine if you should have live sessions or pre-recorded lectures. Personally, I lean more towards pre-recorded lectures for classes that are larger, i.e., contain 100+ students (especially those with multiple sections for the same course), supplementing these with live sessions for office hours multiple times a week in order to clarify any doubts. Smaller classes, i.e., 25 students are less, where you know most of the students can be handled through live sessions, as lesser interruptions might disrupt the flow of the class.
Nature of the class and material to be covered – For more design-related classes, live sessions might be required, in order to immediately clarify any questions or doubts that may arise. Additionally, in certain liberal arts courses that require class participation live sessions might be a preferred option as well. For more technical and several STEM courses, pre-recorded lectures may be sufficient.
Additional things to keep in mind: Is a voice-over of your slides sufficient? Do you need to make notes on your slides as you instruct? Do you think it is best to provide your slides to your students ahead of time so that they are able prepare for a lesson ahead of time?
3. Assessment methods & frequency of assessment
Homework – Different options are available. Homework submission links can be created on websites such as e-campus, allowing students to scan and submit copies of their homework. Graders and TAs can either grade and re-uploaded graded homework assignments, or provide comments and feedback on e-campus itself. Alternatively, there is the option to create assessments using the tool itself, especially for multiple-choice questions. This gets rid of the requirement of a grader and could prove advantageous for larger classes. Once, again this is dependent on the nature of the course.
Exams – In addition to the points discussed with homework, there is the option for students to choose a proctor (of their choice – usually a trusted supervisor either at work, or someone at the local library who might be able to assist) to proctor exams. You may provide the student with 24 hours to complete the exam, but it is the responsibility of the proctor to ensure that the student only adheres to a window of time specified by you, e.g., 2 hours. Alternatively, exams can be constructed on e-campus as well.
Term projects – Multiple help sessions might be required in order to ensure that students are meeting their deadlines and are on track. Therefore, it might be essential to set intermediate goals to ensure that students are progressing as required.
Frequency of assessment – This can be determined once you have established your assessment methods. You’ll need ensure that your frequency does not overwhelm the student when remote teaching, but at the same time you need to ensure that they are keeping up with the course material.
4. Plan well, but prepare for disruptions
Plan well – This is applicable regardless of your instruction method. This is also applicable during the normal semester, where you prepare ahead of time for the whole semester to ensure what topics are covered, and how long you spend discussing a certain topic. This is no different when remote teaching. As many universities might have a week off to prepare for the switch to remote teaching, it is essential that you update your syllabus, and lower expectation for both yourself and your students. Your students do not expect the same quality of instruction that they are able to obtain in class, and at the same time, since many students might have to get used to the concept of remote teaching, it is important to keep this is mind when evaluating different assessments for the course.
Although you can try your best to have everything in order, you definitely have to be prepared to face technical issues, whether it is with the internet connection, or other audio/visual issues, factor in a few minutes every lecture session to ensure that you have time to figure out and solve these issues.
5. Be open to learning and adapting
There are two parts to this:
Learning and seeking feedback from those you have successfully deployed remote teaching methods for your course before. There are probably multiple instructors who have tried remote teaching your course at different universities. Some may even have their videos uploaded on YouTube. It important to seek advice from them if possible, in order to learn from their experiences, and adapt/change your course to as required.
Seeking feedback from students in your class – Not all students learn or pick up information the same way. Therefore, if possible, it’s important to seek feedback from your own students, and see if you can adapt your course as per their requirements as well.
Finally, keep in mind that everyone is learning to adapt to the new situation. So, don’t be too hard on yourself, or on others. Take care of you own health, too, and make sure you are getting the care you deserve!
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