This message was sent to faculty from Mary J. Osirim, Provost and Professor of Sociology, on Thursday, April 9, 2020.
Dear Faculty,
I hope this message finds you and your family healthy and safe.
Following up on my letter of Tuesday, below please find a list of ideas/practices that faculty have shared with us that have assisted them in their remote reaching. As promised we are sharing this list with you.
Hoping you have a very good day. All the best,
Mary
Mary J. Osirim
Provost and Professor of Sociology Bryn Mawr College
101 N. Merion Avenue
Bryn Mawr, PA 19010 610-526-5168
mosirim@brynmawr.edu
Microsoft Teams:
- Using a smart pen on a tablet for an equation while having a student with an iPad project their screen for the group to see as we work through the problem. Can use own tablet to project if no one has iPad. Helpful for students to actually see equation and how it’s manipulated vs poor text‐based version of an equation. Also helpful in sharing sketches, graphs, etc.
Zoom:
- “Chat” feature in zoom for students to share brief report outs; pose questions, puzzle or activity for students on chat while waiting for all students to log on. Feature also helps continue discussion in class.
- Synchronous lectures and capability to record lectures for any student who is unable to join the class time.
- One on one meetings with students
- Creating “virtual hallway” by ending lecture 15 minutes early and leaving the meeting so students can stay on and connect with each other in an informal setting
- Prerecorded lectures to shorten time students need to be online
- Breakout room function to have small group discussions during class
Moodle:
- Podcast feature helpful for languages and speaking homework.
- Submitting homework, uploading assignments and problem solutions
Panopto:
- Recording lectures and uploading on Moodle for students
Other tips:
- Recording lectures with PowerPoint and screencastify
- Faculty engaged in thoughtful review of assignments and course content which might be too stressful during these circumstances (e.g. death/dying)
- Grading alternating assignments. Alternating assignments where one set of assignments is graded and then the next one is assessed by the students themselves using solutions that are posted on Moodle. Students feel less stressed and are learning the concepts collectively.
- Using comment function in online platform called Padlet, to recreate the experience of all writing on the chalkboard and having a collaborative silent discussion in response to a handful of questions.
- Start class by asking how students are doing, asking them to share something that has given them joy recently
- Asking students what they are doing in other classes, discussion formats or type of assignments to see if it can be incorporated in own class
- Staying in touch with students via moodle, email, etc.
- Presentations uploaded to Voice Thread (available through Haverford College Moodle)
- Online platform allows ready access to guest speakers