Methods and tools for teaching
On these pages, you will find suggestions for web-based solutions for teaching and learning purposes, together with links to guides and resources to get you started. There is also a page, dealing with intellectual property rights for, e.g., recorded material.
- Lectures
- Recordings
- Laboratory exercises – compulsory parts
- Seminars and discussions
- Student activities
NB!
A straightforward exchange of a campus-based activity for a similar, web-based alternative is seldom successful, unless you make additional adjustments to the course, allowing for the different ways in which the latter works. The dynamics of an online e-meeting are different to those of campus lectures. Discussions in a discussion forum need to be handled differently from off-line seminars. If you record a lecture, the questions that you answer immediately during a live lecture need to be collected and answered in another way. All the online tools offer excellent opportunities for teaching and learning, but they are never a 1:1 match for campus-based alternatives. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses, depending on the context where they are introduced (and the same goes, of course, for the traditional methods).
Our advice is to avoid the simple “re-placement” mode of thought. Instead, you should go back to the course content and course goals, and choose from afresh the forms of instruction that will serve those fundamentals best in the new context of a distance course.
Of course, everything can't be moved online. Laboratories, clinical exercises, experiments etc. that play a central role in the course may need to be completed at later times. What you can do for the time being is of course to provide the students with information about the content of the course and with other resources that can prepare them for the exercise (videos, articles, simulations – teachers know what is best for their subject area).
However, more than you might think may be moved online! Using either the Student Portal and in Studium it is entirely possible to build well-functioning study environments. The learning management systems allow for publishing content such as videos, quizzes, assignments, peer review. You can assign and manage student groups and provide feedback with video or audio and discussions. If you are new to Studium, there is a complete Guide to getting started.
With the help of e-meeting tools such as Zoom, you can also meet the students in real time, whether it is individual supervision, small group work or large lectures.
Do you have colleagues who teach distance education: Ask them for advice!
If you need to know more, contact support at support-elarande@uadm.uu.se