The pandemic is really turning things upside down. It's changed the way we are living in ways we could not have expected. Sometimes it's a silver lining; for example, my daughter with one more year of college spent six unplanned weeks with us after spring break taking her online classes from her childhood bedroom.
Now it's time to prepare classes for fall, and everyone needs to have some facility with online instruction. We've all gotten better at using Zoom for meetings, but that's not the same as teaching. Although MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) have been around for years, many people are having to bone up on how to use technology for teaching and expand their skills...fast. Yet, the classes don't have to be lectures in the traditional sense with the professor talking and students note-taking. Instead, teaching online can embody active learning where students engage with the content, build their own understanding, and reflect on what they're learning. Columbia's Center for Teaching and Learning put together strategies that faculty can use to keep the learning active, such as breakout rooms in Zoom to allow small groups of students to address a question and bring it back to the larger group (e.g., "Think-Pair-Share"). Similarly, faculty can have students write a "Minute Paper" using Zoom or similar platforms to reflect on the lesson's content or as an informal assessment of student understanding. Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (CIRTL) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has recorded webinars and resources to help faculty get up to speed quickly with online learning. I'm curious about what you have found that is helpful in putting together online instruction that begins with active learning Drop me a line and let me know.
