Quickly moving to remote teaching may cause feelings of uncertainty for both students and faculty. The Wake Forest University School of Medicine Instructional Design Team is committed to supporting this transition.
Office hours can be held virtually to accommodate your scheduling and instructional needs. Faculty may wish to speak with an instructional designer in one of the following methods:
- One-on-one or small group sessions using WebEx web conferencing.
- Over the phone with conference dial-in.
- One-on one or small group sessions using Skype.
If you are interested in scheduling one of these sessions, please submit your request to OnlineEducation@wakehealth.edu.
- We recommend that you use Canvas (https://wfusm.instructure.com) as your remote classroom environment. Canvas Guides are offered by the Canvas LMS Community and provide a database of updated Q &A regarding most of its features and functions.
- Email your students before classes resume, and on a bi-weekly basis to let them know the expectations of your remote classroom. Will there be required synchronous meetings? Will deadlines or due dates be altered for major class assignments? This informal virtual dialogue will remove much of the angst and ambiguity from your remote classroom environment. If you need help formulating strategies to further clarify expectations see the Engaging Practices section for suggestions on how to do so. Be sure you communicate to your students your preferred email address and let them know if you are available via telephone or web conferencing also.
- Wake Forest School of Medicine offers web conferencing tools that are available both in and outside of Canvas LMS. WebEx will allow you to meet one-on-one or with your whole class. You can pre-schedule these events in Canvas, or share your “Personal Room” link with your students. This versatility makes this an ideal tool for consistent communication that will engage your students, even while they are away from campus. Visit https://wakehealth.webex.com to login to your WebEx account using your Medcenter ID and Password. If you wish to use WebEx inside of Canvas, click the “WebEx” button in the course navigation menu on the left side of the screen. Skype sessions can be added through email and sent to your learners as well. See our Guide for more assistance. Canvas Studio is also a tool that can be used for similar purposes. See our Guide for more information.
From your Outlook Calendar, double click on the Calendar grid on the day you wish to schedule the Skype. In the meeting menu select, “Skype Meeting”. Add your students using their @wakehealth.edu email addresses as attendees in the invitation text box. Contact us for help setting up your Skype pin for your first meeting. If you need further technical support you can place a request [internal link]. - Remember HIPAA and FERPA compliance regulations. When creating online content for remote learning, please do NOT include Protected Health Information (PHI), or personally identifiable information.
Cultivate Community
Create and post a “Weekly Guide” or “To-Do List” in Canvas to prevent the fear of missing an assignment in the remote learning environment. Alternatively, you could email this to students.
Use Canvas Discussions to leverage what your students already know. Design questions and prompts that encourage students to take advantage of the knowledge they already have on a topic.
Seated classrooms are exceptional environments for cultivating the “teachable moment”. Those conversations that lead to a critical understanding of the topic or content through debate, exploration, and sometimes trial and error. Let your remote classroom be a safe place for students to “fail”. That is, use Canvas LMS for the same kind of dialogue and exploration that you would use in your seated classroom. Canvas Assignments, Discussions, and Ungraded Surveys / Quizzes are all places where you can facilitate virtual teachable moments. (Dirksen, 2012, pp.36-37)
Resources and Extensions
Consider the diversity of your learners. Use Canvas Modules to add a Resources section for your students. This section can contain materials to assist students needing remedial learning; in addition to articles, case studies, web links, etc. to extend learning for students who are ready to expand upon the content or topic being taught.
Canvas Assignments can be given to review content taught before the transition. Not only will this re-establish background knowledge, but it will also give students some early success in the remote classroom environment.
Let go of the feeling that you have to control every aspect of the instruction in your remote classroom. Try giving students a choice of reading material or provide some flexibility in how long they have to complete an assignment. Provision of choice empowers students and establishes a culture of trust and accountability in your remote classroom. (Dirksen, 2012, pp.36-37)
Rubrics and Collaboration
Plan to use multiple and varied forms of assessments while you are teaching remotely, so you can accurately identify the progression and future needs of your students. Canvas Quizzes are one way to measure student learning. You might also use Canvas Assignments with a Canvas Rubric to offer a more creative approach for assessment. For example, students can work remotely individually or in groups to create a representation of what they’ve learned in your course. The Canvas Rubric would ensure they know the parameters for completing the work, and the Assignments feature holds them accountable with due date notifications and grading options.
Presentations and Demo Sessions
Reschedule poster presentations or demo sessions into virtual opportunities using Canvas Conferences and Big Blue Button. Here, students can work in collaborative groups and have access to both video and audio capabilities. This is a great alternative to WebEx.
Ensure student participation during video based learning using Echo360. This product is included in Canvas. Click on “Echo360” in the course navigation menu to the left. See our Guide for more assistance.
The Wake Forest School of Medicine Instructional Design Team will continue to make available any valuable resources we find that may be relevant for our faculty during the emergency transition to remote learning.
Quick Reference Guides
Canvas
WebEx
- WebEx Essentials from Cisco
- QuickStart Guide for WebEx Meetings
- Basic Best Practices for Working Remotely
Top Picks from the Medical School Design Team
Boettcher, J. V., & Conrad, R. (2016). The online teaching survival guide : Simple and practical pedagogical tips. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com
Delivering A Virtual Lecture | School of Medicine IT. (2020). School of Medicine IT. Retrieved 23 March 2020, from https://www.med.unc.edu/it/continuity-of-learning-during-emergencies/delivering-a-virtual-lecture
Dirksen, J. (2012). Design for how people learn. Berkeley, CA: New Riders
Keep Teaching – Course Continuity During Emergencies. (2020). Keepteaching.duke.edu. Retrieved 23 March 2020, from https://keepteaching.duke.edu
Welcome | Canvas LMS Community. (2020). Community.canvaslms.com. Retrieved 23 March 2020, from https://community.canvaslms.com