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Technology for Remote Teaching: Create a Document Camera at Home
Last week we explored some of the technology options for improving your video and audio on videos and web calls. Today, we want to take a look at options for replicating the use of a document camera or whiteboard over Zoom. Dr. Todd Barsby, Associate Dean of Science and Technology at VIU, has captured his…
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Course Outlines and Syllabi
We’ve had lots of conversations with faculty members about what their teaching in the Fall semester will look like, and course outlines have come up regularly. Students need access to the basic information about the courses in which they are enrolled. This is true in the best of times, and is even more important as…
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Synchronous vs Asynchronous: What is the best blend?
As we continue to live in the world of Alternative Delivery, we are often asked “how much of my online course should be synchronous and how much should be asynchronous?”. There is no magic ratio that will work for every course and every instructor. The approach that we recommend is to think about what your…
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Technology for Remote Teaching
Being seen and heard clearly online is extremely important in this time. Whether you are creating videos or just spending hours on video calls, many of us are finding our current equipment isn’t quite meeting our new needs. But how do you know what equipment you do need? To help answer this question, members of…
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The Big Pivot: Podcast Bites from VIU Faculty Shifting to Alternate Delivery
In this series of podcasts, I wanted to collect and share stories from VIU faculty who have pivoted, or who are pivoting, to an alternate delivery method. Which is all of us. I wanted to capture at this moment in time what’s happening, and how we’re all getting through this as best we can. And…
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The Podcast that Wasn’t: Capturing Amber Hieb’s Pivot to Alternate Delivery
As someone who is supporting a small army of faculty transitioning to alternate delivery, I’m a bit shy (mortified?) to share my own cringe worthy tech fail. But I will. In that selfless sort of way that leaves one thinking, “Well, at least I didn’t do that!” After recording an excellent (seriously, it was amazing)…
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More Options for Improving Zoom Security
Zoom is continuing to add features and make setting changes to improve the security of their platform. In this post, we look at the new Security button, password protected meetings, data centre location settings, and keeping Zoom up to date on your device.
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Gather Feedback from Students Using VIULearn Surveys
As we explore new tools in a world of alternate course delivery, we understand that many of you will also be looking to collect feedback from your students: either to confirm what’s working, or to focus your innovations and refinements. In support of those efforts, we have created a survey for use in VIULearn. It…
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Four Ways You Can Prevent “Zoom Bombing”
Zoom is a great way to stay connected in this time of physical distancing. However, with the recent massive increase in the use of Zoom around the world, we have also seen reports of “Zoom Bombing” – where participants in a meeting share explicit, racist, or otherwise inappropriate messages, videos, or other content with all…
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How to be a successful student during COVID 19
As our world deals with the COVID 19 crisis, we want VIU students to know that we are in your corner, now more than ever. You may feel uncertain about how your courses are changing, what is now expected of you, and how you are going to manage these changes at this time. We’ve identified…
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How to be a successful student during COVID 19 Part 2
Student Success tip #2: Make a plan and stay organized Planning and setting goals is one of the most effective ways that students can stay on track and achieve success. Now more than ever, is the time to setting goals, make a plan, and organize your time accordingly. For each course you’re in, start from…
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How to be a successful student during COVID 19 Part 3
Student Success Tip #3: Choose good study strategies What follows are some quick tips and strategies for studying, but many more in depth resources can be found at on VIU’s Learning Matters website. The most important ingredient when studying is not how long you study for, how passionate you are, or even how innately gifted…