We have been testing different strategies of online teaching this semester. We have found some success factors. 1. The students need some basic information on how each lesson is planned and some basic training on how the digital tools we are using work. 2. Short introductions of a topic from the professor/teacher. 30 minutes is a lot for many students. 3. Let the students work in groups with challenges that are complex and require collaboration, exploration and testing. 4. Assignments that are according to the students interests, needs and the situation they are in, generate more enthusiasm, motivation and hard work. Relevance is a key factor. 5. Development work generates positive work energy among the students ("How can you improve this?"). 6. The student groups are more active if they are visited by the professor/teacher during their collaboration ("How interesting." - "Can you explain this to me ..."). 7. The students like to present their work. Please share success factor from your online teaching. Many colleagues are struggling to make this work. What are the success factors of your online teaching during this COVID-19 semester? Please share so we all can get better.
I salute prof. Kjartan Skogly Kversøy or this valuable discussion. Via his discussions, he always thinks very deeply about how we can raise the level of humanity.
As I am an instructor for a large fraction of students and a father for five kids, three of them at the universities and two at the high school, and I haven't seen any positive side for this norm of education. At least, it is not suitable for poor countries who are looking for finding their food. How they can get computers and a suitable Internet if they haven't enough food!
By the way, I have a related discussion at this portal:
https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_is_your_opinion_about_standalone_e-learning_Has_it_succeeded_in_developing_countries_especially_at_Coronavirus_disease_covid-19
For next academic year, more likely there will be a mix of online-only and hybrid teaching methods.
The hybrid approach includes both online and face-to face to different ratios for the delivery of contents.
However, if things get really bad because of Covid-19 health crisis, then faculty and students can switch completely to the online-only method of delivery.
Best regards
Prof. Dr. Mazin A. M. Al Janabi
Full Professor of Finance & Banking and Financial Engineering
EGADE Business School, Tecnologico de Monterrey,
Santa Fe Campus, Mexico City, Mexico.
Hi Kjartan Skogly Kversøy
Online teaching has been part of my academic practice since 2010. I have written a number of articles outlining the use of Transactional Distance Theory to underpin how I use modifications to structure and dialogue to encourage student autonomy. Details of the articles are provided below.
Cheers, Kevin
Larkin K. (2017). The Use of Online Videos to Support Mathematics Education for Pre-service Educators: How Much “Face” Should I Show?. In: G. The & S. Choy (Eds.), Empowering 21st Century Learners Through Holistic and Enterprising Learning. Springer. DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-4241-6_17
Larkin, K. (2017). Student engagement in the context of blended learning in mathematics education courses: challenges and implications? in L. Rowan and P. Grootenboer. (Eds.), Student Engagement and Educational Rapport in Higher Education Contexts: p. 25-44. London. Springer.
Larkin, K. (2016). Developing Pre-service Teachers’ Mathematics Pedagogical Content Knowledge (MPCK): A Drama in Three Parts. International Journal of Mathematics Teaching and Learning (IJMTL). http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/journal/larkin.pdf
Larkin, K. & Jamieson-Proctor, R. (2015). Using Transactional Distance Theory to redesign an Online Mathematics Education Course for Pre-Service Primary Teachers. Mathematics Teacher Education and Development (MTED), 17(1), 44 - 61
Mazin A. M. Al Janabi Kevin Larkin Mina Karimi-Avargani Rabin Thapa Alaa Hussein Fadhil
Thank you all for sharing your experiences. My colleagues and me will discuss your input. We see there is so much to learn, so many alternatives and also the fear of being judged, as Mina Karimi Avargani mentiones. We expect to have to learn more for the upcoming challenging autumn.
I was good steps in the present ime, have advantages and disadvantages
Ali Abdulhassan Abbas Shno Mustafa Ali Thank you for your input.
Teaching is not only providing notes and literature...it is face to face eye contact phenomenon which is only possible in a classroom with so many supporting mediums....online teaching though everyone is performing well...but it can't replace classroom teaching...learning will be there but at a very slower rate...network problem; lack of voice clarity as well as lack of interest
as per students desk......
Teaching is totally psychological process...
But in this COVID pendemic, this is the only option left with us...
Thank you Kjartan Skogly Kversøy for your interesting question, as usual :)
In fact, I think the success factor in my case was to keep motivating students to learn , especially in the hard situauion of Covid-19. What I have learned from my online teaching during this crisis is that students need to be motivated much more than when classes are face-to-face. Keep interacting positively with students is really important and can get them involved in the learning process. Homework can help students understand better the lessons. I used to provide homework and provide the solution to it when I get back all the students solutions. I ask them to compare their solutions to my solution and provide me a report of that comparison as an assignment ; this helped them understand better. However, for big classe,s online teaching is really a challenge; it is not easy to interact with all the students separately !
Best,
Hayet Si Salah Thank you, as usual :) Thank you for sharing your experiences. We are experiencing similar things.
Having disscused the issue with my students, we came to conclusion that direct contact in the classroom is something we all miss, despite all the technology available.
Still it is a great experience. In this case, many things do not depend only on the teacher. Students need to be more serious, consistent and more prepared for this type of teaching. This is especially true for those interdisciplinary, more precise disciplines where there is not only theoretical elaboration, but also solving practical problems by applying software solutions. Opportunities for improvement are always present and welcomed by all parties.
One of our researches shows that the students prefer teaching to be on-line, and the examination to be traditional in the classroom.
Mirna Leko-Šimić Kosta Sotiroski Thank you for your input. My students miss face-to-face also.
The online teaching was started with lots of apprehensions and self-doubts. In the beginning, it was a very stressful experience to share the screen with so many learners. But the biggest help came in form of a complete audio-visual nature of learning. In my opinion, the biggest factor which has helped in the successful transition from offline to online is the audio-visual nature of the medium itself.
Preeti Oza Thank you for sharing. This was very interesting to read.
I think to include the 'uncertainty' factor in my class discussions as a reflection piece as opposed to as an avoidable 'stress' point approach, was important to share our views on this pandemic contextualized learning and ease the students' fears in a safe and supportive educational environment. I might say that 'uncertainty', to a certain extent, was a 'guest' in my class that we took the time to get know while exploring coping mechanisms to process our fears when necessary.
Daniela Fontenelle-Tereshchuk The ‘uncertainty’ ... I will reflect on this. Thank you. Meeting the students ‘where they are’, is always an exciting challenge.
I salute prof. Kjartan Skogly Kversøy or this valuable discussion. Via his discussions, he always thinks very deeply about how we can raise the level of humanity.
As I am an instructor for a large fraction of students and a father for five kids, three of them at the universities and two at the high school, and I haven't seen any positive side for this norm of education. At least, it is not suitable for poor countries who are looking for finding their food. How they can get computers and a suitable Internet if they haven't enough food!
By the way, I have a related discussion at this portal:
https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_is_your_opinion_about_standalone_e-learning_Has_it_succeeded_in_developing_countries_especially_at_Coronavirus_disease_covid-19
Nidhal Kamel Taha El-Omari Thank you for this insight. I often discuss similar challenges with my colleague from Ghana. I will take a look at your link.
Medical education cannot be online , because of skill and practical component. Slowly we are trying to get back to normality, scrambling really because small group means a lot of strain on manpower resources.
But online platforms for teaching have been a real success, they can be made more interactive by introducing discussions on cases , adding videos etc
I feel students more freely express their views online even the relatively shy ones but limiting factor is connectivity problems
The most important thing to remember is the interaction between the faculty and the students during a online class. As a result we have reduced the number of students to a maximum of 10 per batch for an effective two way communication. Also allotting tasks related to the topic being taught helps to generate an interest amongst students for that particular topic. The time allotted for a particular session is also about 30-45 minutes so that the level of concentration does not fall.
Manisha Naithani Aroop Mohanty Kelvin Mutter Thank you for your input. I also prefer smaller batches and synchronous communication.
This paper discusses related issues:
Article Teacher leadership in the context of distance learning
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