Teaching During a Pandemic: Tips And Tricks
Written By Ashley Ryder (Doctoral Candidate), Shea Brgoch (Doctoral Candidate), Evan Davis (Doctoral Candidate), and Derek Walton (Doctoral Student). All authors are from The Ohio State University Sport Management Program.
Teaching is a challenge. Teaching effectively is an art. Teaching during COVID-19 is… interesting, and we are all learning on the fly. Dealing with the loss of routine, a shift to online learning, and larger workloads has been tricky not only for us, but for students as well (Akyildiz, 2020). As instructors, we must empathize with students and help them succeed withinside the classroom. One way to help students is to make classrooms more inviting by utilizing online resources.
In the era of COVID-19, online learning has become the norm. Instructors can use online resources to promote student learning and engagement and help reduce stress. Whether teaching in-person, a mixture of in-person and online, or completely and especially online, there are several tools and strategies that can be implemented in your classroom to assist with student learning. We discuss some of them below.
Learning Management System
One common online resource that is overlooked and underutilized is the learning management system (LMS). Faculty should embrace the movement towards maximizing their use of communication through online software and technology such as Canvas by Infrastructure or Blackboard, to ensure consistency and ease of access. This can be as simple as using an LMS’s “homepage” as the focal point of communication that serves as a one-stop shop for accessing course information for a given week, for example, including a to-do list (see the images below). Individuals are spending increased time on smartphones and future trends are leaning towards mobile devices to guide learning (Docebo, 2018). Utilizing LMS platforms is advantageous because they are mobile accessible and allow students to quickly check course information without wireless internetat their own convenience (Bouchrika, 2020).
Additional Online Learning Tools
Beyond the provided LMS system from your university, Padlet is an interactive digital board that can be accessed by instructors and students. Its features include the ability to post images, links, videos, and documents. All responses can be anonymous or require a name. Additional features include likes, comments, and thumbs up/down.
Another digital tool option is Nearpod, a digital platform that allows instructors, in-person or virtual, to make their presentations interactive by incorporating features such as quizzes, polls, videos, and collaborate boards. The software is web-based and contains two modes: live mode (compatible with Zoom) or self-paced mode.
With the shift to virtual learning, many discussion-based activities that are traditionally used in in-person classes can be modified for the online environment. For example, a gallery walk (i.e., discussion technique facilitated through the rotation of stations with guiding statements or questions with a collective dialogue to follow) or jigsaw (i.e., team-based; each member becomes a subject matter expert in one of 4 areas selected from current course material and teaches it to others) can be done by directing students to complete their sections in OneNote or a Google Doc (Serc, 2018; Van Amburgh et al., 2007).
Time Management
Outside of online resources, it is important to be empathetic and flexible with students as they learn to manage their time better. For example, allowing students to select their own assignment due dates and/or extending assignment due dates can give students greater flexibility in managing their overall course workload. Another way to help students is to check-in with them and inquire about their wellbeing throughout the semester. These check-ins can help identify areas students are struggling with, so they may be provided with the necessary support to adjust and adapt as needed.
At the end of the day, nothing in COVID-19 is easy. Instructors and students are learning on the go and trying their best to simulate an in-person learning environment in a virtual world. During these challenging times, online resources can provide flexibility, and help ease the burden of teaching and learning in the COVID-19 environment.
References
Akyildiz, S. T. (2020) College students’ views on the pandemic distance education: A focus group discussion. International Journal of Technology in Education and Science, 4(4), 322-334.
Bouchrika, I. (2020). List of learning management systems for schools and universities. Retrieved from https://www.guide2research.com/research/list-of-learning-management-systems-for-schools-and-universities
Docebo. (2018). E-Learning Trends 2019. Retrieved from
https://kometa.edu.pl/uploads/publication/634/550a_A_Docebo-E-Learning-Trends-2019.pdf?v2.8.
Serc. (2018). What is gallery walk? Retrieved from https://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/gallerywalk/what.html
Van Amburgh, J.A.V., Devlin, J.W., Kirwin, J.L., & Qualters, D.M., (2007). A tool for measuring active learning in the classroom. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 71(5), 1–8.