The School of Nursing (SON) provides technical support, training and development, for the faculty, staff, and students. Below are additional resources you may find helpful when designing your courses. If you need further assistance, please contact your ITC.
Resources for teaching Online & Hybrid
GETTING STARTED Sometimes instruction has to move from a physical classroom to online for an extended period of time with little to no notice. As you start to make instructional decisions, consider the following:
- Communicate with your students early and frequently to share your plans. Assure your students that you’re developing a plan so that everyone can meet the new expectations in the course. Survey students in Canvas to learn about their needs (opens in new window), create a forum in Canvas to let your students share their concerns about moving instruction online and start brainstorming solutions now (downloading Canvas App on their smartphones, finding a computer to use, online office hours, etc.). Communicate with your department early and frequently to share your plans, learn about possible resources and tools you can use from your unit’s Academic Instructional Technology Consultant (ITC), and collaborate when you can with your peers. If multiple instructors are teaching the same course, instructors can choose to share resources to streamline their efforts.
- Focus on realistic goals for the course. Focus first on your student learning outcomes for the course, and prioritize assignments that measure those outcomes. Review your course calendar and think about how the structure can stay in place and what needs to change. Teaching multiple courses and changing the delivery method can be a daunting task in a short period of time. Make your learning outcomes the priority, but realize how students get there may need to change.
- Be mindful of your student's individual circumstances during an emergency event. Some students may face challenging disruptions that prevent them from performing their daily duties to the extent that they cannot leave their home, do not have access to a computer, have limited or no Internet connectivity, or may not be able to complete course responsibilities as planned.
- Review your course syllabus. Specific policies and requirements may have to change due to the new format, such as attendance policies, assignment formats, and deadlines. Either republish your updated syllabus or create a brief addendum for students to review. Students need one place to review how the course is changing. Remember, all of their courses are changing, so provide a streamlined way for students to see your new expectations.
- Keep your plans as simple as possible. There are many great tools out there, but students (and perhaps you) can get overwhelmed if they have to learn lots of new tools in a short time. To ease them (and you) into the available options, start with Canvas. Visit Growing with Canvas(opens in new window) to get a handle on how it’s used at UNCG. Then explore the templates and tools in the Resources section to start building your course. Ensure you have sufficient equipment to teach your course online. Do a quick check of your hardware, your Internet capabilities, and a personal inventory of your technical skills.
Moving your courses Online
- Moving to Alternative Instructional Formats(opens in new window): This UNC System document is intended to support the use of technology to continue face-to-face classes during times when students and faculty cannot physically meet.
Liaison Librarians
- Liaison Librarians(opens in new window): contact your library liaison for assistance locating ebooks, articles, and/or streaming media to enhance your online class. Liaisons can also provide synchronous or asynchronous online information literacy instruction to undergraduate or graduate courses.
STRATEGIES
- Classroom lectures
- Classroom discussion
- Group work time
- Student Presentations
- Assignments
- Quizzes and Exams
- Final Assessments
- Lab activities
CLASSROOM LECTURES
If your in-class sessions consist primarily of lectures, think about ways to present your information online. Hearing your explanation of the course content will help students maintain that connection with you. Simply recording yourself lecturing for hours and moving it online is not ideal. Long videos are time-consuming for you to create. Instead, focus on what key information your students need you to review to meet the upcoming student learning outcomes. Then, create a brief (no more than 10 minutes) media clip—i.e., video, audio, narrated slides—and post that online. One classroom lecture may need multiple videos to help students learn the content. Think about using a variety of ways to present your course content:- Videos of you, 10 minutes or less, are a great approach to an abbreviated lecture. If you use lecture notes to create your video, upload your notes and place them near the video for students who want to review the text version.
- If you don’t want to be seen, just heard, create an audio file of yourself speaking directly to your students. If you use notes, upload your notes and place them near the audio file for students who want to review the text version.
- If you were planning to use a presentation in class, such as Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Slides, consider recording narration as you give your presentation(opens in new window) or record a screen capture to provide step-by-step instructions on a topic.
- The UNCG library has several media resources(opens in a new window) for you to use to supplement your course content.
CLASSROOM DISCUSSION
Students still need to discuss the course content with you and their peers to help them learn. Decide early on if students need to discuss the course content synchronously, asynchronously, or a combination of both. UNCG provides the tools for both synchronous and asynchronous conversations. Each approach has its own opportunities and challenges.Synchronous conversations
Technology: Zoom(opens in new window), Google Meet(opens in new window) Synchronous means that students meet online in real-time, instead of in the classroom, during their assigned in-class time. Students can ask immediate questions and hear from their classmates. These conversations work well for small groups but can become chaotic for large groups. Conduct synchronous meeting times at the same time as your campus class, since that time should already be available to your students. Facilitating synchronous conversations takes some preparation in advance and confidence with the technology. Set up your video conferencing space(opens in a new window). Plan to spend the beginning of your first session teaching the students how to use the interface. When possible, consider recording your synchronous meetings in the event students are unable to attend.Asynchronous conversations
Technology: Canvas Discussions(opens in new window), comments on Google documents(opens in new window), Canvas Studio(opens in new window), Canvas Collaborations(opens in new window) Asynchronous means that students access a forum, document or media clip over a period of time, and leave text or media clips in response to a question or prompt created by the instructor. Conversations over a period of time are easier to manage than synchronous conversations, but require faculty members to review all posts and replies to know what’s being said by everyone. Instructors create an asynchronous discussion with a prompt or questions for students to answer. To make it a conversation, you want students to post their answers and then reply to the posts of other students. To do this, ask students to post their answers by an earlier date in the week and reply a certain number of times by a later date, typically later in the week.GROUP WORK TIME
If your students are used to working in groups during class time, you can direct them to a specific online meeting technology such as Zoom(opens in new window) or Google Meet (opens in new window) to continue their work. Students can invite you to group meets so that you can monitor their discussions.STUDENT PRESENTATIONS
If students need to give a presentation in your course, you have a number of approaches to use. Online meeting spaces like Zoom(opens in new window) and Google Meet(opens in new window) allow students to present in real-time to their classmates. Plan to give students extra time to explore these tools and learn how to present using them before the scheduled presentation. If your students want to record a video of themselves presenting, remember that everyone with an @uncg.edu account has their own YouTube channel. Students can log in to their email and quickly upload their videos to YouTube. Students can also use Canvas Studio to record either themselves or their computer screens while in Canvas. Whatever method you recommend to your students, be sure to give them specific directions from start to finish. Consider creating your own screencast video to demonstrate the steps.ASSIGNMENTS
Canvas allows students to submit assignments (opens in new window) in a variety of formats: online text, documents, links to websites or Google documents, media files, images, etc. Keep in mind that some students may not have access to a computer to complete their work. Assignment submissions should require only common software for coursework. Remember that students may not be able to access our campus computer labs to use specific software. Avoid allowing students to email you attachments to submit assignments. Large numbers of students emailing you attachments can overwhelm your inbox and make it difficult to manage.QUIZZES AND EXAMS
Assessments can be administered via Canvas using the Quiz feature. Canvas quizzes (opens in new window) require students to review text, look at images, watch videos or listen to audio files, depending on how the instructor sets up the quiz. Quizzes can be set to be available only during specific dates and times so that students are taking the quiz during your assigned in-class meeting time. Address academic integrity concerns with online quizzing by using the following approaches:- Consider using question banks and randomize questions so that students are asked different questions.
- Shuffle questions during the quiz so that students see the questions in a different order.
- Consider using Respondus LockDown browser to prevent students from copying, printing, visiting another website, or opening other applications during the quiz.
- Delay feedback from quiz submissions to ensure that all students have completed the quiz before seeing the correct answers.
- Limit the number of attempts to a quiz. Use the timer function to minimize the time the student has to look up the possible answers. Set the quiz to display one question at a time.
FINAL ASSESSMENTS
When moving to remote instruction, you may need to modify your final assessments, especially multiple-choice exams. These are some key considerations as you ensure instructional continuity.- Evaluate and Re-evaluate Learning Objectives. Identify and review the core skills and concepts in your course and design your remaining assignments and interactions around these. Next, think through how students will demonstrate their mastery of learning objectives during remote instruction.
- Consider Equivalent Alternatives. Explore equivalent options for assignments that provide flexibility and creativity for yourself and your students. Can the mode of assessment be updated to better reflect the shift in instruction? Can students demonstrate mastery through lower-stakes assignments that will mitigate student stress and grader burden? Here are some final assessment ideas to get you started.
- Mitigate Student Anxiety. In times of crisis, your students may feel concerned about their ability to complete their final assessments successfully. To manage student anxiety, be sure to keep the line of communication open and be flexible with due dates, submission types, and deliverables. Direct students to resources. Look at the situation from their perspective.
- Use Rubrics to Manage Expectations. Develop clear rubrics for any non-traditional assessment tools. Rubrics should include the components being assessed, percentage-weighting of each component, and descriptions of A-work, B-work, C-work, etc. for each component. Share rubrics with students before they begin the exam. When students know the target they are supposed to hit, they do a lot better at hitting it. Besides, having a clear rubric will make an assessment of the work a lot more accurate and efficient for the instructor.
- Design with Academic Integrity in Mind. Create assignments that are specific to the course and your unique students. Break up large assignments into component parts to take the pressure off any single assignment. Let students practice the most important concepts/tasks and show them how to be successful. Make sure the students know you’re actively reviewing their work throughout the course. For more specific tips, read these Academic Integrity Guidelines(opens in new window).
- Check for Accessibility. As you transition your assessments online and require students to submit their work in certain formats, check materials for accessibility to ensure all students can participate. Consult accessibility.uncg.edu(opens in new window) for help.
- Review Final Exam Policies. Help students avoid conflicting exams by scheduling exams to occur during the designated time for your class in the Final Exam Schedules(opens in new window), coordinated by the University Registrar’s Office. For more details about when to schedule tests around the exam period, view the Final Exam Policy(opens in a new window).
LAB ACTIVITIES
The biggest challenge during moments of academic disruption is finding interactive ways to meet the learning outcomes during the lab portions of an on-campus class. Labs require specific equipment that our students don’t have at home. Please work with your department to discuss possible strategies for this important instructional time. Here are some things to consider:- Think about what part of the lab session you can recreate online. What are the non-physical practice portions of your lab experience that students can do at home, such as pre-and post-lab work? Save the physical practice portions for when lab access is restored.
- Create video recordings of the physical aspects of the lab experience, and ask students to explain what is happening as an assignment.
- Engage with students through Canvas Studio (opens in new window) by integrating video and audio with comments and insights that allow all to delve deeper into the learning experience.
- Use online resources such as Merlot (opens in new window), Khan Academy (opens in new window), textbook publisher resources or resources from professional academic organizations to provide content for online lab activities.
- Provide students with data for analysis. If students can’t come to the lab to generate their own data, provide access to data for analysis to practice specific course concepts, demonstrate their learning, and prepare for future in-class lab sessions.
Pedagogy - Articles and other Resources
What is Pedagogy? This section includes articles on what pedagogy is and strategies you can use in your classroom.- What educators need to know [Plus: 40+ Free Strategies to implement in your classroom]
- 9 Pedagogical Approaches-and how to use them in your course (Free eBook) - (sign up for ebook if you want to demo Top Hat)
- Toolkit sign-up for building hybrid courses to maximize engagement and retention - (sign up if you want to demo Top Hat)
- Article - Active learning and student-centered pedagogy improve student attitudes and performance in Introductory Biology
Below you will find a list of ideas for creative assessments, peer review, and rubrics. The list is by no means exhaustive but should give you some ideas to begin your exploration.
Creative Assessments
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Add audio/video to a question in a Canvas quiz.
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Give students different questions each time they take an assessment through question banks and question groups.
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Used timed assessments - great for spelling quizzes or vocabulary recall
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Ask students to create digital stories.
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Require students to post content on a wiki in Canvas
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Ask students to create infographics to illustrate complicated information
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Require students to create quizzes in Google Forms for other students to complete.
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Develop multi-step projects for summative assessment. Allow each step to be an assignment in Canvas with its own due date and grade. Include all the assignments in a single assignment group.
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Give students case-study scenarios via discussion boards to share their perspectives.
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Use video conferencing software (Zoom, Panopto, Google Meet) for oral foreign language or ASL exams.
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Have students blog about a topic and comment on other students' blogs
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Ask students to create a portfolio using Google Sites, Adobe Spark Page or other website creation tools (Wix, Weebly, etc.) that they might submit in a job interview or a project bid
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Create case studies in Google Docs that students work through
Feedback
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Use Peer Review features in Canvas to let students give each other feedback on submissions.
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Create audio/video feedback to assignments. Use a survey at the beginning of the course to see what method of feedback your students prefer.
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Ask students to post a part of their final document on a group discussion board for peer-to-peer feedback.
Rubrics
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Use the Canvas Rubric tool to streamline grading.
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Use Turnitin to give students feedback on originality.
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Consider a rubric that allows for non-document submissions such as media, infographics, etc.
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