Friday Matinee: Enhance Student Engagement with Virtual Social Learning Spaces

Everyone's asking how they can engage their students during remote learning.  Teaching online makes this more difficult than when your students are in front of you in the classroom.  Dr. Catlin Tucker shares ways to engage groups of learners online using technology.  She also includes some ideas and strategies for creating spaces for student-centered learning experiences.

Enhance Student Engagement with Virtual Social Learning Spaces

Many of her ideas include tools that you are already familiar with, including Zoom, Google apps, Padlet. Jamboard, and more.

Friday Matinee: Collaboration Ideas for Remote Learning

Take a big sigh of relief!  The first week of classes is over.  As you start to think about next week, you might try adding an activity where your students can collaborate digitally.  On our website on Remote Learning Resources, we have added several ways to have your students collaborate during class time (or after) using several digital tools.

One of the easiest to try is Padlet.  You can join with your MSU (Google) account and sign up for a free account and quickly set up a discussion wall.  I love using Padlet with inservice teachers to get their ideas or feedback during professional development sessions.  

Another is Wakelet.  Divide your students into groups and let them create a Wakelet on what they've learned, adding resources from various sources on the topic to share with their classmates.  It will take them less than 30 minutes to put together a great Wakelet (or wake) on a given topic.

Collaboration Ideas for Remote Learning

Friday Matinee: Some Advice for Newly Remote Instructors

Happy Friday!

I recently came across an article that is part of a guide entitled, "Sustaining Higher Education in the Coronavirus Crisis," and wanted to share it with all of you as you begin to get ready to teach online this summer or think about classes for this fall.  The article not only has advice for new remote instructors, but includes a link to a Google Sheet created by Daniel Stanford, the director of the faculty development and technology innovation at DePaul University.  This sheet includes a great number of resources curated from universities.

Coronavirus Has Led to a Rush of Online Teaching. Here's Some Advice for Newly Remote Instructors