Searching for "zoom"
https://www.facebook.com/groups/onlinelearningcollective/permalink/706123016685066/
Does your college/university have an official policy on webcams on/off during Zoom classes?
Do you, as faculty, have something written in the syllabus that addresses the issue?
I am a part of a college-wide sub committee, and we are looking for best practices. Personally, I feel uneasy teaching to black rectangles.
https://higheredpraxis.substack.com/p/tip-dont-require-cameras-on
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more on webcams in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=webcam
Our HyFlex Experiment: What’s Worked and What Hasn’t
Armed with a can-do spirit, faculty members leaped into hybrid teaching this fall. The results have been decidedly mixed.
By Kevin Gannon OCTOBER 26, 2020
https://www.chronicle.com/article/our-hyflex-experiment-whats-worked-and-what-hasnt
The flexibility afforded to students by HyFlex courses has been evident this semester, but the style of teaching required has proven more difficult to maintain than anticipated. Moreover, that same flexibility has been the proverbial double-edged sword when it comes to student success.
HyFlex courses are hard to build, and even harder to teach.
Designing effective online courses is hard work and differs significantly from in-person teaching. HyFlex courses essentially braid the two together. Moreover, the braiding is even more complicated because the online strand is further divided into synchronous and asynchronous paths.
What seems clear is that institutions using the HyFlex model need to find more and different ways to support faculty members than before. Hire work-study students to wrangle Zoom? Improve the integration and workflow of these various tools? At the very least, we have to acknowledge the significant burden now on classroom instructors, a burden for which very few of us were prepared.
HyFlex’s origin story matters. HyFlex courses were initially developed for graduate students in an educational-technology program.
we needed more in the way of introducing students to HyFlex — more clearly and specifically outlining how the courses work and how to navigate them most successfully.
HyFlex works better for some types of classes than others. It’s no coincidence that faculty members who are finding HyFlex a difficult fit are those whose classes are either completely or mostly discussion-based, perhaps even student-led.
We need to help students learn to become online learners.
Faculty members cannot hide from structural racism and economic inequality any more, because our students were never able to in the first place.
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more on hyflex in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=hyflex
https://www.facebook.com/groups/onlinelearningcollective/permalink/663427347621300/
Anyone being coerced by admin to do synchronous classes instead of asynchronous? I’m zoomed out.
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more on synch vs asynch in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=synchronous+vs+asynchronous
House of Cards: Can the American university be saved?
Daniel Bessner Sept 8, 2929
https://www.thenation.com/article/society/gig-academy-meritocracy-trap-universities-crisis/
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Your Classes Are on Zoom and Your Teaching Staff Is Being Cut
FRANCO PALAZZI
https://jacobinmag.com/2020/04/academia-uk-essex-university-layoffs-higher-education/
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On the Current Situation: Normal Violences, Pandemics, Emergencies, Necropolitics, Zombies, and Creepy Treehouses?Jeremy Hunsinger
https://fastcapitalism.journal.library.uta.edu/index.php/fastcapitalism/article/view/386
The Long Road Ahead: Thriving Through Fatigue
The Pandemic is not a financial recession: it is a fast-paced economic transformation. We’re transforming our companies into low-touch, high-safety businesses and we’re doing it a light speed.
We’re hyper-engaged digitally, yet highly stressed emotionally.
The most stressed part of the workforce is now young families, working mothers, and single employees working at home – and despite the online yoga classes and bread-baking videos, people are just tired.
Fatigue Management is what wins or loses wars.
- Reduce workload by clarifying goals.
- Create cadence and recovery cycles in the business.
- CEO-level focus is needed
- Take time off to rest, walk, and exercise every day. Stand up and walk around.
- Turn off the TV and stop watching Twitter.
- Take it slow. Don’t carry to heavy a load: you’ll get more done if you pace yourself over time.
- If you’re a manager, help show people what “not to do.” Help people find focus, and don’t waste their time.
- Turn off your Zoom camera and shorten meetings to 15 minutes if you can. Stop every meeting early.
- Tell your team to take a week off. And don’t email while they’re gone. Things will be fine when they come back, and work will resume better than ever.
- Be patient with your colleagues, peers, and yourself. People always want to do the best – right now it may just take a little more time.
- Have some empathy for leadership. They are tired too. Ask them how they’re doing and let them know you care.
15 Free Digital Tools to Boost Students’ Engagement Online
A review of digital tools and ideas for teachers to support formative assessment in online classrooms
https://medium.com/the-faculty/digital-tools-for-online-student-engagement-2faafbbd0b44
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more on engagement in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=engage
The ACRL Technical Interest Group invites you to join us virtually for two
presentations on
Date: Tuesday, June 23rd
Time: 12 PM (CDT)/1 PM (
Place: Zoom
The following will be 20 minute presentations with a 5 minute question
session:
Cataloging Virtual Reality programming: why and how
Joy DuBose, Assistant Professor, Special Collections Cataloger at Mississippi
State University Libraries
When video games really came to the forefront, there were arguments as to
whether these materials should be offered by libraries and whether or not they
should be cataloged. Now with the appearance of virtual reality (VR), which
has games and programming that are mostly in digital format, these arguments
are returning. Many libraries are questioning whether or not to add this
technology, and whether to catalog it.
While VR has taken off in many ways in the public arena, libraries are
somewhat slower to do so. The Mitchell Memorial Library at Mississippi State
University has embraced VR. Through the library students, faculty, and non-
university affiliates can experience VR on several different systems. However,
questions were soon raised on how exactly do we catalog VR programming? This
presentation examines the question of should these materials be cataloged, the
different questions that arose during the process, and the workflow that was
created to catalog these materials.
Register in advance for this webinar:
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing
information about joining the webinar.
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more on VR in libraries in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=virtual+reality+libraries
https://www.facebook.com/groups/onlinelearningcollective/permalink/591411374822898/
Hi colleagues, My provost just put out a set of expected guidelines for instructors in online classes that emphasize expectations around discussion forums (I pasted them below). These discussion forum expectations are very narrowly defined. I am needing group-think on references that might help me put together some “best practice” alternatives. If an article or other resource comes to mind, please share!
Online Faculty Expectations
Weekly Required (all weeks)
• Faculty will demonstrate their presence in the class 5 days per week
• Respond to all students’ (who post on-time) primary discussion post if you have 9 or fewer students (1/2 of students if you have 10 or more).
• Faculty with larger courses should take special care to post to different students each week.
• Faculty who provide a weekly zoom lecture need only post on the board two other times (on two different days for a total of two other posts).
• Provide individual feedback (posted in the feedback section of the gradebook) for all discussion grades within a reasonable timeframe for students to complete subsequent assignments.
responses:
Dayna Henry I balk at the admin trying to tell us what to do. At the same time, I am very angry with colleagues who did not actually offer anything in the way of virtual learning when we went online in spring. It’s hard to balance academic freedom with faculty who don’t care to learn/offer a new way of learning (for your institution). I also recognize the admin was not in their F2F courses either and likely the slacking was occurring there too. The problem is the students LOVE these folks for giving them an easy A/pass.
Cathy Curran For years I have said that administrators need to teach at least one each year or every other year. My Dean has been out of the classroom for over 20 years, the Provost for over 25 and the Chancellor has never taught. They have zero clue how to build or implement and online class. They keep making mandates that to those of us who do actually teach seem absurd. We know the “count and classify” nonsense never works but it is the same argument they use for numerical evaluations of teaching effectiveness: it is objective. The decisions they are making do not make instruction better they are all about power and control, they need us to “prove” that we are doing our job and somehow logging into the LMS five days a week does that. Sad really really sad. Well you know some do and other become administrators…
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more on online discussions in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=online+discussions
Free Nearpod webinar
Here are the details for the Nearpod workshop I will be hosting next Thursday, June 4, 2020 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm CST.
I will be doing a presentation-style workshop next Thursday on using Nearpod. You will get the opportunity to participate in the workshop as a student as I model a pull presentation similar to attending a conference session. With that, I am planning to extend the length of the workshop a little to allow time for questions, etc. The session will begin at 10:00 am and last until 12:00 pm.
Zoom: https://memphis.zoom.us/j/96567149618
As always, please feel free to share this information with anyone who may be interested. Feel free to post on social media as well.
Thank You!
Niki Bray, Ed.D.
Director of Academic Innovation & Student Success | Clinical Professor School of Health Studies
The University of Memphis
206 Elma Roane Field House
Memphis, TN 38152
901.678.3915 (O)
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more on Nearpod in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=nearpod
SoLAR Webinar “Learning analytics adoption in Higher Education: Reviewing six years of experience at Open University UK”
presented by Prof. Bart Rienties from the Open University, The United Kingdom.
To register, go to https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/learning-analytics-adoption-in-higher-education-reviewing-six-years-of-experience-at-open-registration-105611406560
Time and date: Thursday, Jun 11, 2020, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM Central European time
(11:00 AM–12:00 PM Eastern US time, 8:00 AM–9:00 AM Pacific US time, 4:00 PM–5:00 PM London, UK Time)
Location: Zoom (meeting URL provided in the registration email)
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more on learning analytics in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=learning+analytics