When students are studying entirely or mostly online, clear and comprehensive instructions are critical. This saves students time because they know what they need to do and it saves you time, because you don’t have to answer the same question or provide clarification to multiple students.
When you transition to a new week or topic you can use a range of strategies to assist students in moving with you. Examples we will look at include:
- Using a scheduled announcement
- Using the first page of the canvas module
- Using a video
Whatever format you choose consider introducing the new topic by:
- Connecting to the previous topics,
- Identify what prior knowledge or experience will assist in this topic (from this course, previous study or life in general)
- Connecting to current global events
- Connecting to industry discussions or upcoming events
- Identifying how this topic will be used in practice, or
- Explaining what types of problems a student will be able to solve at the end which they cannot currently.
You might also like to present:
- A checklist of task list identifying which order to complete the readings or videos,
- How long students should be spending on the topic
- What tasks or activities will be happening in the live or interactive sessions
Example – Using an announcement
This announcement from MEDS2118, is a personal invitation for each student to get start the weeks learning experiences.
Dear Students,
I hope you’ve all had an enjoyable weekend and well done on completing the Week 10 test. When you’re ready, please go to the Week 11 Module where you will find my short video that outlines what you need to do this week, including the details of an optional collaborate ultra drop-in session on Wednesday night at 8 pm. You will also find the Week 11 lecture notes, summary notes, and the Week 11 lecture recordings in this module.
In summary, this week you need to:
- Submit your Workshop 3 activities that are due on Sunday 24th May. Activities and other details are found here.
- View the Week 11 lecture recordings on the topic of Gastrointestinal System Disorders and also review the Week 10 topic.Resources are found here.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask for help either via email, phone (XXXX XXXX) or via the collaborate ultra session.
Take care everyone,
<name>
Example – presentation within module
In AERO2347, the team have integrated the purpose and checklist into the module page. This video tour of topic 8, provides an example of how to integrate the topic introduction into the Canvas module pages. This short video looks at how the introduction and instructions have been integrated.
Example – using a video
In OHTH2163 the course team use a comprehensive approach to introducing a topic. In this course, a short (~7 min video) outlines the key objectives of the week and introduces the upcoming assignment.
Comments are turned on for the video so if any students have a question, observation or comment they are able to record it where they are. This can enable a more dynamic conversation between students, and students and teaching staff. Having the question asked and answered in context also means any other student who has the same or a similar question may be able to see the answer immediately.
Below the weekly orientation video the specific learning outcomes for the week, purpose and a checklist of activities (with time allocation) are presented. This information support students in their planning and overall time management.
If you are looking for ideas on how to present information
