Yes, most of us like shiny, flashy, and interactive technologies.<\/p>\n
But consider:<\/p>\n
How many truly awful webinars have you experienced?<\/p>\n
How many times have you had to log back on, or fight with your microphone settings?<\/p>\n
And, indeed, we have three well-provisioned video conferencing platforms that should handle the traffic, Zoom and MS Teams meetings.\u00a0 We also have Panopto which will allow you to record video and audio to share with your students. And video and live conferencing may be more engaging when done well, but it isn’t necessarily easier, and it is most certainly far more difficult to make compliant with accessibility laws and to get to work consistently over low-bandwidth connections.<\/p>\n
Even if you are adept with technology, we urge you to tend toward simplicity with students who didn’t seek to be online students. They may not like to read, but text may be your and their best friend.<\/p>\n
If you create text within the LMS using any of the built-in functions, it is automatically usable by screen readers and available for students who need that tool. Discussion boards may be clunky, but once you’ve mastered the flow, they work, and at low bandwidth.<\/p>\n
If you choose to do live classes or to record videos, you may want to consider pre-scripting them so that you can easily send a copy of the transcript to any student who requests the transcript.<\/p>\n
So consider whether your high-stakes information and content might better be delivered as text, as text and photos, or as a recorded video that has an identical transcript.<\/p>\n
Remember that you can insert images and links to YouTube videos easily<\/a> within the LMS from the editor and that links to external sites work as well. You can even create a reflection assignment or discussion board afterwards.<\/p>\n For images, remember copyright issues (a great guide from our library is available here<\/a>) and remember that there are several cultural heritage institutions that provide their images free for educational use (like the Smithsonian<\/a>).<\/p>\n And, if you’ve been forced to move online because of outside factors, be kind to yourself. Stick with simplicity or use simplicity as a fallback when complexity causes confusion.<\/p>\n Remember that the best practices of online course-creation call for a 1-2 year preparation for a well-designed online course and that many outside companies suggest a budget in the tens of thousands for well designed video and interactive content. You don’t have the time for that. You have the core of content and can use tools like Zoom or Collaborate as extensions of the relationships that will get us all through this time of change together.<\/p>\n Focus on getting a working wall of sandbags built to channel the water for a short period of time. This isn’t time to try to build one of the wonders of the world.<\/p>\n We’re here to help you with your technology, but don’t forget that words and reading are still one of the most powerful technologies, and that they still have their place in the world of online teaching and learning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yes, most of us like shiny, flashy, and interactive technologies. But consider: How many truly awful webinars have you experienced? How many times have you had to log back on, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,111,108,439,700],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-eddev","category-edtech","category-pedagogy","category-teaching-with-technology"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16419,"url":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cfc\/blog\/2020\/08\/28\/faculty-can-register-for-video-conference-mid-semester-course-analysis\/","url_meta":{"origin":13552,"position":0},"title":"Faculty Can Register for Video-Conference Mid-Semester Course Analysis","author":"Terry Pollard","date":"August 28, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Faculty may now schedule Coulter Faculty Commons staff for a mid-semester course analysis for a fall course. The\u00a0Quick Course Diagnosis\u00a0(QCD) takes about 20 minutes and helps faculty better understand challenges their students are facing with content, pacing, performance, and student behavior. All fall 2020 QCDs will be conducted during a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cfc\/blog\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Videoconference with laptop","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cfc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/87\/2020\/08\/AdobeStock_334593158-300x200.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":404,"url":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cfc\/blog\/2016\/07\/07\/streaming-video-resources-for-online-classes\/","url_meta":{"origin":13552,"position":1},"title":"Streaming Video Resources for Online Classes","author":"Jonathan Wade","date":"July 7, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The CFC Educational Technology Team and the Library are working to understand, support, and document the needs that faculty have for legally obtained streaming video that can be linked to your LMS courses. Before the end of the semester, we should have a full update of the currently available resources\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cfc\/blog\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6972,"url":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cfc\/blog\/2019\/02\/12\/helpful-educational-technology-links-spring-2019\/","url_meta":{"origin":13552,"position":2},"title":"Helpful Educational Technology Links – Spring 2019","author":"Jonathan Wade","date":"February 12, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Commonly Requested Features for Panopto, our Video Recording and Streaming Platform Are you interested in in-class Polling, formative assessment or interactive discussions?\u00a0 You might want to try using PollEverywhere. Interested in learning more about how to use Microsoft Products in the classroom? Try the online courses in the Microsoft Educator\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cfc\/blog\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15989,"url":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cfc\/blog\/2020\/07\/16\/the-fall-blend-a-hybrid-course-workshop-now-offered-every-week-this-summer\/","url_meta":{"origin":13552,"position":3},"title":"The Fall Blend \u2013 A Hybrid Course Workshop Now Offered Every Week This Summer","author":"Terry Pollard","date":"July 16, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The Coulter Faculty Commons is offering three new sections of its Fall Planning Workshop (\u201cFall Blend\u201d), intended to help faculty walk through design, delivery, and technology considerations for fall teaching. A workshop will be offered each week until the beginning of fall courses, following a Tuesday \u2013 Thursday format.","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cfc\/blog\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16256,"url":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cfc\/blog\/2020\/08\/12\/strategies-and-tools-for-fall-class-planning\/","url_meta":{"origin":13552,"position":4},"title":"Strategies and Tools for Fall Class Planning","author":"Terry Pollard","date":"August 12, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The Coulter Faculty Commons often entertains questions throughout the summer about ideas for fall teaching. Here, we share some of those commonly asked questions and our responses. Q. Can a shift in the syllabus verbiage encourage a better learning environment? A. Ken Bain, who conceptualized the term \u201cthe promising syllabus,\u201d\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cfc\/blog\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16175,"url":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cfc\/blog\/2020\/08\/03\/cfc-open-training-sessions\/","url_meta":{"origin":13552,"position":5},"title":"CFC Open Training Sessions","author":"Eli Collins-Brown","date":"August 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"In order to practice social distancing and safety precautions, the CFC will be operating by appointment only. No walk-in hours will be available until further notice. 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