Translate to multiple languages

Subscribe to my Email updates

https://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=helgeScherlundelearning
Enjoy what you've read, make sure you subscribe to my Email Updates

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Five tips for moving teaching online as COVID-19 takes hold | Career - Nature.com

Universities are closing worldwide, forcing instructors to turn to remote teaching. Here’s some expert advice on how to embrace the digital classroom, says Virginia Gewin, freelance writer in Portland, Oregon.

Academics face empty classrooms during the current coronavirus pandemic.
Photo: Matteo Corner/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
In early February, Leonardo Rolla had about two weeks to work out how to start teaching online. A mathematician at the National Scientific and Technical Research Council in Buenos Aires, Rolla also teaches maths for two terms each year at New York University (NYU) Shanghai in China. He had been visiting family when the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus forced universities in China to shut down, and he could not return to Shanghai.

For Rolla, who had never taught an online class, the transition required many hours of work and a great deal of patience. He had to learn the technology and identify the best teaching tactics for his advanced linear-algebra class of 33 students. Part of the problem was that his students are in a time zone 11 hours ahead of him.

With technological help from colleagues at NYU Shanghai, he developed a strategy for teaching remotely from the other side of the world. Each day, using a program called Voice-Thread, he records several short videos of himself explaining maths concepts, adding up to 15–30 minutes collectively...

Working together 
Rolla has one crucial tip: seek constant feedback from students. “I am the director of this movie,” he says, “but we are all in this together.” He asks his students precise questions to demonstrate what they have just learnt and how each concept builds on their existing base of knowledge. He also asks for feedback to improve the course. When students asked for more concrete examples of complex, abstract theorems to make sure they understood the concepts, he obliged. “The biggest risk is that you become a talking head explaining things that students are not following,” he says, “and they give up and just pretend.” His video-based approach has earned high praise from students and colleagues.
Read more...

Additional resources 
doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-00896-7

Source: Nature.com