Associate Professor Amanda Telford Health, Physical Education & Sport School of Education TCHE2639
Overview
Our year 3 students for Health and Physical Education have not been able to complete a live teaching placement all year and it is possible their next placement may require them to teaching online in schools. So, the challenge for me was to ensure they had the skills and experience for them to teaching online. In the ‘Mental Health, Well-being and Positive Relationships’ course I have used a co-design approach. In groups of 4, students were split into several groups and required to present on issues relating to mental health, well-being, positive relationships, sexuality and drug education. Each group had to meet with me to plan their session and learn how to use the online learning platform. Then, each group had to have a dress rehearsal which allowed them to pilot all their ideas, test the technologies required, and make necessary adjustments to their presentations.
They were encouraged to make the learning sessions as interactive as possible. Then they presented each session during the online class time. All students also had to complete a reflection journal about each session reflecting on learning in relation to both the content and online pedagogies used. I also provided them with formative feedback and guidance in terms of the co-design approach during the planning and dress rehearsal sessions. I also provided them with feedback about their delivery in the chat section so all students could incorporate these positives into their own online teaching. The constructive feedback was provided to students in a more private manner as part of a debrief after class. All elements described above were embedded into assessment tasks.
Benefits
Students:
- Developed online teaching skills
- Learnt how to moderate online learning sessions
- Are more prepared for future virtual teaching in schools
- Created incredible resources for their own teaching, and for RMIT use as exemplars
- Developed of 21st Century skills for teaching
- Felt empowered to use the student-centred approach
Challenges
- It is a time-consuming approach.
- Success of the activity was depended on internet access, therefore students needed to have contingencies planned to support co-presenters if they encounter issues.
Advice and Tips
- To protect privacy, ensure you turn the record button off when going to break out groups, in that way during the session you can provide formative feedback and encouragement to the students about their teaching/presentation within the main room.
- Embed the approach into assessment.
- Always check the activities and slides they are going to show to ensure quality and appropriateness.
- Be prepared for things to take much longer for the first couple of groups. The other groups will learn by watching the earlier groups.