- Experiments with New Modalities (asynchronous, blended, HyFlex)
- Experimenting with Engagement Strategies
- Leveraging the Affordances of Brightspace
- Leveraging Other Tech and Other Resources
- Rapidly Transitioning to Online
Launched at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic and continuing on until Winter 2022, the Welcome to My Online Classroom initiative was a subset of the Welcome to My Classroom series. Like its namesake, it featured a series of workshops led by instructors, for instructors, but it had a specific focus on sharing a wide variety of ideas, strategies and approaches relative to teaching in pandemic circumstances.
In the videos below, instructors leading the sessions briefly summarize their primary insights, sharing back with the community. The pandemic was perhaps the single greatest disruption to post-secondary education in generations, and it forced instructors to adapt, experiment and expand their teaching repertoires. The resources below showcase the incredible and wide-ranging pedagogical efforts of just a small subset of Carleton’s hardworking and dedicated instructors.
Experiments with New Modalities (asynchronous, blended, HyFlex)
| Presenter | Department | Highlights and Topics from the Videos | Resources | Date |
| Deanna Whelan | Department of Psychology | 2:22 In-person and blended teaching. Teaching in-person under COVID-19 protocols; experiential learning and group work; lecturing while wearing a mask, glasses, and a microphone; student responses to in-person teaching under such restrictions | Video, Transcript | November 2021 |
| Celine Bonnotte-Hoover | Department of French | 5:32 In-person and HyFlex teaching; FREN 3702 (HyFlex), FREN 1100 (in-person). Engagement, participation, attendance, and communication in the HyFlex and in-person modalities. Strategies for either modality. | Video, Transcript, Slides | October 2021 |
| Veronic Bezaire | Department of Chemistry | 5:01 Revising FOOD 2004 (scientific communication) for online delivery; blended delivery model. Re-creating a collaborative learning environment in an online writing course; using Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning to conceptualize appropriate scaffolding activities; using breakout rooms, shared documents, peer review, share screen, and Perusall to foster collaboration and engagement. | Video, Transcript | July 2021 |
| Vivian Solana | Department of Sociology & Anthropology | 14:19 ANTH 2001, the Students-as-Partners program (SaPP), the cuLearn course template, building online learning communities, blended course designs (online asynchronous lessons + synchronous meetings), lecture videos, video chunking, ‘check for learning’ activities (quizzes, discussion forums), Zoom breakout rooms, alternate participation activities, course structure/organization, frequent formative assessments, communication strategies | Video, Transcript | November 2020 |
| Achim Hurrelmann | Political Science | 7:23 MA students, blended seminar, course structuring, scaffolding, short lectures, small assignments, online debate, online superior to face-to-face | Video, Transcript | June 2020 |
| Bruce Tsuji | Psychology | 29:19 Large Intro Psych classes of up to 1,000 students, DFW rate online versus face-to-face, modules, daisy chain, many small assessments, open resource assessments | Video, Transcript | May 2020 |
| Ian Wereley | History | 4:40 Second-year history, asynchronous; 5-10 min modules; digital readings; mini-quiz each week; discussion forum or personal reflection; written document analysis 35%; mid-term + final exam 35% | Video, Transcript | April 2020 |
Experimenting with Engagement Strategies
| Presenter | Department | Highlights and Topics from the Videos | Resources | Date |
| Andrew Schmidt | Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering | 11:11 Online synchronous teaching, CIVE 5403; addressing issues around student engagement. Organizing group projects, assessing online participation via a rubric. Brightspace tools: discussion groups, groupings, gradebook. Zoom activities: breakout rooms, polls. | Video, Transcript | March 2022 |
| Melanie Adrian | Department of Law and Legal Studies | 15:26 Blended course design, SoTL project, small groups (“learning pods”), impact of learning pods on student engagement (student-to-student, student-to-instructor, and student-to-content), student learning, student outcomes | Video, Transcript | March 2021 |
| Sophie Tamas | School of Indigenous & Canadian Studies / Department of Geography & Environmental Studies | 3:07 Student engagement in online classes, student mental health, strategies for connecting with students, self-directed learning, collaborative pedagogies, ‘letters to students’ format | Video, Transcript | February 2021 |
| Onita Basu | Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering | 5:52 Blended course design, synchronous sessions + online modules; strategies for student engagement (polling, Kahoot, breakout rooms, white board); using a second camera for sample problems; technical specifications (lighting, mic, recording & editing software, video hosting) | Video, Transcript | January 2021 |
| Shazia Sadaf | Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies | 13:15 Teaching emotionally charged topics, large class management and assessments, blended approaches, small-group discussion forums (structure, rubric), low-stakes quizzing & assignment scaffolding, course outline quiz, ‘daisy-chaining’, attendance, ‘best of’ assignment structures | Video, Transcript | September 2020 |
| Alyshea Cummins | Religion | 4:06 second-year religion, online discussion forums with grading rubric, two truths and a lie, graded syllabus quiz, force Announcements subscription | Video, Transcript | June 2020 |
Leveraging the Affordances of Brightspace
| Presenter | Department | Highlights and Topics from the Videos | Resources | Date |
| Tamara Rozina | Department of Physics | 8:15 Online synchronous labs, PHYS 1007; solutions & strategies for solving the logistical challenges of moving labs online using Brightspace. Tools used: restrictions, modules, categories, groups. Strategies used: merging, weekly publishing, consistent naming, modules for just instructors/TAs. | Video, Transcript | October 2021 |
| Kathleen Moss | Department of Sociology & Anthropology | 6:26 Transitioning to Brightspace, synchronous course design. Accessing existing resources, using templates, building module content, setting up gradebook, using rubrics. Course communications, accessibility and closed captioning, transparency, community engagement. | Video, Transcript | July 2021 |
| Marylynn Steckley | Bachelor of Global & International Studies | 4:49 Transitioning to Brightspace, synchronous course design. Getting set up on Brightspace: homepages; personalized correspondence and ‘replace strings’; module design; embedding images and links; Brightspace support resources | Video, Transcript | June 2021 |
| Peggy Hartwick | School of Linguistics & Language Studies | 8:52 Brightspace pilot, synchronous course design. Getting set up on Brightspace: transitioning from cuLearn to Brightspace; the student perspective; Brightspace support resources; layouts and templates. | Video, Slides | June 2021 |
| Geoff Pignotta | Department of Earth Sciences | 9:16 Brightspace pilot, blended course design. Getting set up on Brightspace: the Course Home, the visual Table of Contents, class communications, module design/layout, Discussions, Rubrics, Quizzes, Assignments; grading and assessment in Brightspace | Video, Transcript | May 2021 |
| Julie McCarroll | School of Linguistics & Language Studies | 5:37 Brightspace pilot, blended course design, student engagement, student feedback. Getting set up on Brightspace: content/lesson/module organization, Assignments, Quizzes, Grades | Video, Transcript, Slides | March 2021 |
Leveraging Other Tech and Other Resources
| Presenter | Department | Highlights and Topics from the Videos | Resources | Date |
| Lorraine Godden | Arthur Kroeger College | 5:44 Embedding FUSION into FYSM 1700 (connecting academics to careers); what worked well & what didn’t. FUSION (Future Skills Innovation Network) project and curriculum (communication, problem solving, and metacognitive skills); experiential learning, reflection; student feedback on FUSION. | Video, Transcript | August 2021 |
| Vincent Andrisani | School of Journalism and Communication | 7:26 COMMS 1001, videos and screencasts, asynchronous course design, creating engaging videos (‘talking head’ vs. ‘screencast’), lesson planning, images and transitions, cuLearn setup options | Video, Transcript | November 2020 |
| Kevin Cheung | Math & Statistics | 4:58 Math 1107, Math 5801; asynch with synchronous tutorials. Tools: Mac pro, Wacom tablet, Shure mic, Final Cut Pro, Apple Motion, Gimp. Frequent low stakes assessment discourages cheating. Synchronous good for feedback, small classes; but draining. Asynchronous good for network independence, large classes, but difficult to gauge engagement, requires more planning. | Video, Transcript, Bonus Video | April 2020 |
Rapidly Transitioning to Online
| Presenter | Department | Highlights and Topics from the Videos | Resources | Date |
| Amrita Hari | Women’s & Gender Studies | 5:58 Developing online course before & during the pandemic, asynchronous & synchronous teaching, cuPortfolio, communication strategies, process vs product, student feedback, “3-2-1” activity, discussion forums. | Video, Transcript, Slides | October 2020 |
| Paloma Raggo | Public Policy and Administration | 13:25 Online course models (gamification, flipped, blended, capstone project), low-stakes quizzing & scaffolding, communication strategies, MCQs & rubrics, working with TAs | Video, Transcript, Slides | August 2020 |
| Adrian Chan | Systems & Computer Engineering | 6:24 Student expectations via course outline, framing, 1:1 interviews, and explaining “why” you’ve done things. | Video, Transcript | August 2020 |
| Lindsay Richardson | Psychology | 3:04 Transition “check points” for second-year perceptions weeks 2, 3, and 5. Student feedback to Qualtrics versus cuLearn in Intro Stats for psychology. | Video, Transcript, Slides | July 2020 |
| Lorraine Godden | Arthur Kroeger College | 8:09 MA students, experiential learning, discussion questions, cuPortfolio, presentations | Video, Transcript, Slides | July 2020 |
| David Hornsby | Norman Paterson School of International Affairs | 4:03 Large classes, active learning, diverse student environments, ethics of care, critical skills for students, grading. | Video, Transcript | July 2020 |
| Andrew Robinson | Physics | 9:24 Physics 1007, experienced learners, short video problems, low stakes testing, timetable of expected progress, flexible deadlines, discussion forum, daily BigBlueButton office hours, 15-20 min lecture modules | Video, Transcript | June 2020 |
| Deidre Butler | College of the Humanities | 13:16 Online course template, manage email, “Start here”, syllabus quiz, “How to get an A in this course”, weekly course rhythm, participation challenge, bonus marks assignment, consistent due dates and structure, modules with chunks, video or just powerpoint + voice | Video, Transcript, Slides | June 2020 |
| Grant Williams | English | 6:12 English 2200, rhetoric. Design course backward from capstone assignment to avoid too many irrelevant assignments. cuPortfolio, focus on few tools aligned with Learning Objectives | Video, Transcript | June 2020 |
| Martha Mullally | Biology | 7:48 Online midterm with MCQ, TFE, SA questions. Survey students, if 75% respond all will get bonus mark. Embed flexibility, consider student’s environment. | Video, Transcript, Slides | August 2020 |
| Danielle Kinsey | History | 7:28 History 3120, similarities and differences between face-to-face and online, asynchronous but weekly, consistent structure of modules with 10 min lectures, small group discussion forums better than face-to-face, greater upfront effort for instructor. | Video, Transcript | May 2020 |
| Kahente Horn-Miller | Indigenous & Canadian Studies | 4:16 Open to teach differently online, learn differently online, prep time greater than face-to-face, important to establish boundaries, BigBlueButton good for consensus based online learning | Video, Transcript | May 2020 |
| Anne Trépanier | Indigenous & Canadian Studies | 23:38 online teaching not easy, need time and plan, process is translating domain knowledge online, migrating intention, develop digital literacy in students, simple predictable course format, storyboard weekly learning response, build cohort | Video, Transcript, Slides | May 2020 |
| Virginia Taylor | Sprott School of Business | 11:53 Third-year BIB international exchange students, different time zones, community (within community); consistency (minimize confusion); connectivity (between students & with faculty), cuLearn Groups, cuPortfolio (both individual & group) | Video, Transcript | May 2020 |
| Matt Sorley | Psychology | 6:37 PSYC 3301, modules, case studies, MCQ, SA, major assignment in three stages, cuPortfolio, reasons to like teaching online, regular communication, procrastination, brief videos, academic integrity | Video, Transcript | April 2020 |
| Melanie Coughlin | Philosophy | 6:48 communicate expectations; communicate early, widely, supportively. Accessibility concerns. Course accessibility survey. Ask the Instructor forum, find a study buddy forum, automated appointment scheduler for office hours. Include links in weekly announcements. | Video, Transcript | April 2020 |
| Peggy Hartwick | Linguistics & Applied Language Studies | 6:18 ESL and Intro Linguistics, keep things simple, meaningful, and consistent format; consider environment/technology, if possible open/synchronous communications with students; consider assessment practice and frequency | Video, Transcript, Slides | April 2020 |
| Ali Arya | Information Technology | 12:56 BIT 1400 and 2400, Intro to programming; consistent structure; tutorials; reflection; evaluation assumed honesty; digital design not digitized design; Murphy’s Law applies; flexibility of format & tasks; clarity of communication & assignments; usability of course. Avoid synchronous; lower expectations of students and self. Focus on learning objectives, assessment, content, delivery. | Video, Slides, Transcript | April 2020 |