B S Balaji
The coronavirus pandemic has forced all educational
institutions to look for an alternative to regular classroom teaching and are
therefore resorting to online teaching-learning process. It can be quite
challenging for teachers to adopt to a new process within such a short span of
time.
Here are a few best practices for
creating and sharing online lectures.
If you are going to create slides, consider
creating one slide about learning outcomes in the beginning. This will help the
students get tuned to what to expect. This is an excellent primer to reduce
your anxiety as well.
If possible, giving a glossary of terms or
jargons at the beginning of each lecture helps students focus on these terms
during the lecture. You can also give emphasis to these terms while delivering
your lecture.
At the end of the video, the contents discussed
in that lecture can be summarised.
Keeping students engaged.
Planning is another important aspect, which is
easy to follow but mostly overlooked. Regular classrooms allow you to keep
students engaged through face-to-face interaction. Online lectures, mainly
those that follow the asynchronous mode, lack this aspect. So,
planning is essential to keep a lively flow.
Though it is always better to explain the
topics in simple terms, it could be time- consuming both with respect to
preparation as well as explanation. So, given the paucity of time,
judicial choice should be made. As far as possible, try explaining through
story-telling approach or using analogies to help students learn the concepts
in an easy way.
It is always preferable to jot down points or
have a ready script while delivering online lectures. This helps reduce
fumbling and unnecessary pauses.
It is a better option to upload your video to
YouTube or similar sites than live streaming. The advantages are many. You can
reuse it later any number of times. You can edit, modify, improve your videos.
Another biggest advantage is, you can even
share the lecture when someone cannot join the live streaming class. Students
can pause or fast forward the video based on their needs.
When you are uploading your lectures to
YouTube, there is an option to share with limited people. You can include the
list of students who can access it.
For a one-hour lecture, a well-organised 20-30
slide can be a good start. Using animation helps in teaching the concepts
easily. Making them, however, takes a lot of resources. Some simpler
approaches include using pointer, highlighter, underlining etc. This helps in
keeping the students focused on what is being discussed or taught.
For every new lecture, a recap of the important
points discussed in the previous lecture helps students retain more
information.
Other aspects include acknowledging the sources
of images, tables, figures, if used from online sources, journal articles or
books.
Although there is an exemption to using
copyright material for classroom lectures, there is no clarity on what can be
used for online classes. So, a cautious approach may be a better choice.
The
author is associate professor, school of Biotechnology, Jawaharlal Nehru
University
(Source: Deccan
Herald)