Evolving as a digital teacher: Tools of the trade - Part 3

Here at DWU, we have talked about online learning for several years now. Several workshops and seminars were conducted all in an effort to upskill academics in the area of online learning. One of the workshops I remember attending was with A/Professor Dr. Susan Crichton from University of British Columbia (UBC) back in 2015. There were quite a number of tools introduced during the week-long session.

Since then we've had lengthy discussions and musings over the pros and cons of online teaching among other things e-learning. Discussions continue to evolve on our university broadcast surrounding this topic as several staff already using various tools share through blog posts (like this post itself) and Youtube videos such as this and others shared by Bernard Yegiora (a DWU staff who also shares some digital teaching tutorials on his blog). We even had a separate Moodle site set up by ICT to experiment with online learning. This site unfortunately has been decommissioned recently this year. Initially not many were keen on taking on the idea of online teaching. In fact only two or three people used the DMS Moodle platform setup specifically for online learning. Reasons as to why academics did not take the challenge to at least offer a unit online are unknown.

DWU however does have a well established e-learning environment using Moodle established several years ago which has gone through various updates with one done recently beginning of this year adding additional features and plugins to allow for more functionality. This university-wide learning platform has been used for both its undergraduate programs and flexible mode programs. Use of Moodle in this case has been mainly for blended learning where lecturers upload resources and post assignments for student to access and for students to post task submissions for feedback. It was not used for full online learning programs. The traditional approach of face-to-face classroom style seminars and lectures is still the norm for most of our programs.

The idea of online teaching using video,web and audio conferencing tools for remote learning was there but somewhat shelved every time it came up in discussions for various reasons. 

Anyhow, it now seems the COVID-19 may well 'force' academics to start using the vast array of tools online that allow for remote learning. At least that is the approach taken now in many universities across the globe given the outbreak of this pandemic as this article suggests among many other similar articles.

• Shift to online learning due to COVID-19 requires rethink of teaching: experts
• The COVID-19 online pivot: Adapting university teaching to social distancing

This post will not talk about how you can move your classroom online, an expert at Harvard Business School has done that already and is sharing his expertise and experience by hosting several webinars like this one which you can sign up to attend or download recordings. Harvard Business Publishing also share some great resources on Moving Your Classroom Online.

In this post, I share with you briefly three online delivery options I have been using and which I am familiar with. I use all three of these tools at various times in the Graduate Certificate in Data Networking program that I teach for 14 weeks fully online (remotely) and 1 week face-to-face on campus.

Evolving as a digital teacher: Tools of the trade - Part 2

I am currently teaching a flexible learning graduate certificate (data networking) program under the Faculty of Business & Informatics. The course is instructor-led, mixture of asynchronous and synchronous mode (better known as blended block mode) with 14 weeks fully online and a 1 week F2F component for hands-on hardware practical and an exam. Course participants are mainly working class adult learners.

As an online course instructor, you have to put in a lot of work up-front in setting up the lessons for the online component and 'front-loading' a lot of the key concepts for learning during this learning phase so your learners are prepared for the 1-week intense practicals. Learners are expected to do their own readings with a bit of guidance and support through pre-recorded video lessons and a single weekly synchronous video webinar through Zoom. A tip I picked up here is to utilize the backward design approach in your lesson planning and especially with identifying what is critical to learn and what is additional information.

One challenge I face is with pre-recording video lectures. So much more when you have 2-3 other courses you are teaching full-time to undergraduates. One approach is the use of the software Camtasia to produce 5-10 minute explainer/demo videos (often demos using a network simulator application) - if videos go beyond (happens quite a lot) you may have to segment them into 'bite-size' chunks of 3-4 minute videos. I am doing all these from my desk in a shared office space or sometimes in the test center with just a laptop and a Logitech camera. Nothing fancy.

In this article, I share a tutorial on how I use Camtasia to record Cisco Packet Tracer demonstrations for my class.

Here is the finished video. Video length: 21 minutes.

Note: Video has audio recording.

Time taken to complete. 

• Preparation about 30 minutes 
• Video recording and post-prod editing: 30 minutes.

1. Reasons why I do this:

1. The unit IS601 Graduate Certificate in Data Networking that I am teaching under FLC is a 14 week online + 1 week F2F course. My target audience is "adult learners". During this 14 weeks 'participants' are expected to do their own reading and self-learning. I as a 'facilitator' only guide them along and summarize key concepts at the end of each topic and highlight key learning objectives.
2. This video I recorded covered 5 learning objectives for one topic all in one activity.
3. If you are teaching F2F, you may not have enough time in a week (just 4 contact hours is not enough for some) to cover as much as you can. Recording a video for 'course participants' to watch can be helpful.

2. Tools used

Camtasia - a proprietary tool from TechSmith that allows you to record your screen and edit videos with a powerful, yet easy-to-use video editor to create professional-looking videos.

Cisco Packet Tracer - this is a simulation tool purposely for teaching and learning data networking
and it may not so much be of use to other fields of study. We use this tool in our IS/MCS programs specifically for data networking.

Logitech C920 webcam - used here for audio recording only since the audio quality is very good compared to the inbuilt audio mic on the Dell laptop (in my opinion). Using the inbuilt mic is still good.

The tool I want to share with you is the Camtasia tool and how easy it can be to record and share a video without any time-consuming serious video-editing involved. It has a free trial version which you can download from the link given.

Start out by preparing a script before you record, or just plan out (in your head) what you are going to say and do for the duration of the video recording. I usually plan in my head as script doesn't work well for me - not used to it.

3. How I recorded this.

1. I prepared my Cisco Packet Tracer demonstration file. Created a sample starter file first (which I planned to give to participants to watch video and follow through using the same file).
2. Did some mental preparation on how I wanted the video demo to begin and end.
3. Listed down clear objectives to be achieved at the end of the video.
4. I then proceeded to the recording part. 

Note: I chose to record my audio as it is much easier explaining while recording than adding annotations or text later to explain what you are doing in the video demo (like what I have done in this tutorial, it took me a while to add annotations for each process...quite time-consuming).

Note: this video has no audio recording but annotations and text is used to describe what is happening.

Thanks for reading and watching these videos.
Let me know how this has helped you or how you use these tools too.

• Download a free trial of camtasia here. 
• Find techsmiths library of camtasia tutorials here.

NOTE:
Methods and digital tools / software / sites etc..etc.. shared is not a one-size fits all. What works for me may not work for you. We may all use Camtasia and you name it but in different ways and for different purposes and to achieve different results. The important thing is see from the different methods shared and adopt what works for you. Critique technology but don't hate it. Different tools can be used to address different learning aspects. 

 

Evolving as a digital teacher: Tools of the trade - Part 3