In this Issue: Connecting with Students Online
-
- How-To Best Communicate with your Class at a Distance
- Weekly WebEx Drop-In: Strategies for communicating remotely/online – Q&A
- Did you know… There are Online Activity Guides to help you nurture your Virtual Learning Community?
- Dig Deeper: Humanizing Online Teaching and Learning – Open Textbook
- DEU Support and Contact Information.
How-to best communicate with your class at a distance
Connecting with your students remotely or in a fully online course can be very different than your face to face class. Let us provide you with some tips and tricks to get your class talking and on it’s way to being a great Virtual Learning Community.
Click here for some ideas around remote and online communications.
Image: CC0 via https://commons.wikimedia.org
Weekly WebEx Drop-In: Strategies for Communicating Online – Q&A
Do you have questions about how best to communicate with students remotely through an online learning environment? Looking for better ways to use the discussion forums and web conferencing tools available at USask? Have a specific communication questions that hasn’t been answered? Connect with one of DEU’s Instructional Design Team members who’ve been there before in an informal, drop-in session Tuesday at 2pm. We’ll be on hand to answer questions about how to create an active virtual learning community and maintain a live presence in an online course. Ask the experts. With hundreds of online course developments under our belts, we’ve seen it all before.
| Tues. May 5th at 2pm-3pm | Strategies for Communicating Online -Q&A | WebEx Drop-In Session |
Did you know…?
There are online activity guides developed by DEU and GMCTE to help you develop and nurture your virtual learning community. Below we’ve provided some links to resources that will help you get the most out of some of the communications tools available at USask.
Synchronous ActivitiesSynchronous activities enable you as an instructor to connect live at the same time and dialogue with your learners virtually in real time, regardless of where you – and they – are located geographically. Learn the main technologies and approaches to synchronous learning that can be integrated into distributed and online courses.
|
Discussion ForumsDiscussion forums are foundational in online courses and, when implemented effectively, can provide a powerful learning experience for learners. The guide offers an overview of best practices and provides a variety of options for using online discussion in your course. |
Virtual Learning CommunityVisit a page with ideas and tips for creating a healthy virtual learning community.Students connecting to each other and the big ideas of a course is always important, but it is more important when people are physically isolated. Working hard to establish community in your class is an important part of prepared remote instruction. |
Dig Deeper: Humanizing Online Teaching and Learning
Humanizing Online Teaching and Learning is a companion guide to the HumanMOOC that might be useful during this time of remote teaching and learning. This book offers critical thinking about how to humanize your online course experiences and maintain a social presence as the course instructor. Helpful information on communicating effectively, using video and audio, social learning in online environments and much more can all help you make your course a more human experience and build your online learning community.