A compilation of articles, tools, and techniques based upon instructors’ experience in the online classroom. Browse the collection below or use the filters to find a resource that matches your needs.
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AI Solutions Suite
This quick guide is designed for students, faculty, and staff at the GSE to intentionally explore the use of AI. Below, you will find resources to frame your understanding, navigate common questions, and map out your own use of AI tools.
Make your own digital showcase
GSE IT workshop helps students build a personal website on GitHub to show off technical projects
Designing Your Own Chatbot
Design, customize, and refine a chatbot tailored to your needs and interests.
Enhancing Reflective Practices with AI
Reflection is a key component of experiential learning, what role might new technologies play in enhancing this process?
Exploring Forms of Feedback with AI
Interactive workshop focusing on the intersection of artificial intelligence tools and the feedback process
Going from Note to Knowledge
Panelists discuss digital tools to distill, manage, and disseminate information
Getting Things Done: Strategies and Digital Tools for Time and Tasks
Understanding personal energy and procrastination to improve productivity
SQL Workshop
Connecting datasets and sharing with research partners for greater insights
Boosting awareness with digital design tools
How to apply design tips to boost course or event offerings using ready-made templates
Setting up a sustainable data project
How to balance hidden costs, project structure, and reproducibility across the lifetime of a data project
Chatbot as a teaching tool
Cases in which conversational AI supports learners and instructional teams
Slack as a teaching tool
Leveraging interaction-rich online discussion boards to optimize instruction
Hosting a Zoom event
Technical setup and organization for a small- to medium-sized remote audience
Bringing cooperative learning structures online using breakout rooms
How to bring traditional peer interaction structures like jigsaw, speed dating, gallery walks, and mix and mingle into the digital space
Classes on your feet
Opportunities for students to leave the screen and incorporate movement into learning activities
Supporting assessment in online environments
Suggestions and considerations for feedback and evaluation in a virtual classroom
Direct instruction in online environments
Toolkit and recommendations for delivering content in a virtual classroom
Learning activities in varied environments
Instructional practices that augment active learning and engagement
Questioning and discussion techniques
Techniques to promote engagement and participation in discussions
How to leverage podcasts for learning
Podcasts are an engaging way for instructors to merge project-based learning with digital media
How to create your own podcast
Creating, editing, and distributing engaging audio content
Tools for remote research
From data analysis to presentation, how to collaborate with a GSE-based research team
Building video-based learning experiences with Panopto
Now integrated into Canvas, the Panopto video platform can enhance presence and streamline access to media
Utilizing Kahoot to assess understanding
Kahoot is an online platform for hosting interactive quizzes and knowledge-based competitions
How Hyperdocs connect learning resources
Hyperdocs centralize instructional materials for a particular lesson, unit, week, or course into a single document
How to utilize Padlet, a customizable bulletin board
Padlet is a virtual, customizable ‘bulletin board’ with options to populate with text, images, audio, videos, and links
How to use Google Jamboard to build ideas visually
Google Jamboard is a virtual whiteboard that elevates collaboration via sticky notes and doodling tools
How to use Calendly to schedule meetings
Set up meetings and Zoom links efficiently via online booking tool
How to distribute weekly exit tickets to check-in on students
Exit tickets allow instructors to gauge how students are doing and collect course feedback
How to utilize Poll Everywhere, a surveying and data-collection platform
Poll Everywhere provides short and versatile polls for data-gathering and feedback in class
How to conduct one-on-one meetings with students
Individualized meetings can foster connection and feedback with students
Canvas course organization: Recommendations and templates
A guide on how to use and import premade modules and templates to quickly set up a Canvas course
Bringing in guest speakers to deepen student learning
The why and how of bringing guests into a Zoom meeting
How to use the Slides as Virtual Background Zoom feature
The new Zoom presentation share screening option allows your meeting to be better accessible to students as well as less distracting
Zoom Breakout Room FAQs
Answers to common questions that arise when using breakout rooms in Zoom
How to create hands-on and experiential activities
Hands-on activities with manipulable materials and objects can propel learning and discourse
How to use MURAL, a digital collaboration space
Improve productivity and collaboration in remote teams with real-time idea sketches
Informal trust-building in an online environment
A GSE-inspired collection of practices for positive relationships in the digital classroom
How to deploy a launchpad to centralize course materials
Improve communication through a shared document that organizes course content
How to use anonymous surveys to get student feedback
Anonymous semi-regular feedback forms can pave the way for a more student-centered learning experience
Community building activities for agreement and norm-setting
This article offers some tips on how to build community in an online environment
Active and interactive learning online
This study compares the learning differences between students in an online writing course and an in-person writing course
The Flipped Classroom: Engage millennial students through active learning strategies
A literature review on the benefits and challenges of a “flipped classroom” approach
University students’ mental health amidst the COVID-19 quarantine in Greece
A quantitative study of 1,000 university students in Greece shows the mental health challenges from COVID-19
YouthTruth Survey: Learning and well-being during COVID-19
A bird’s-eye view of changes to students’ well-being in response to shifts in their learning environments during COVID-19
The impact of COVID-19 on student mental health
A survey from Active Minds, a leading college mental health organization on the impact of COVID-19 on student mental health
Student anxiety and depression increasing during school closures
A survey assessing new mental health challenges among California high school and college-aged students
Supporting student well-being
A detailed guide on how to support student well-being online and lessen the mental health impacts of COVID-19
COVID-19’s mental health effects on children, college students, and adults
This article discusses how college students, children, and adults are uniquely impacted by COVID-19
Building community and trust throughout the quarter
A collection of community and relationship building activities to use throughout the quarter
How to learn and teach in a hybrid course
A handbook for designing and teaching hybrid or blended courses focuses on outcomes-based practice
Providing student feedback in online courses
An article exploring how good online course feedback is one way to influence student learning
Effective online instructional and assessment strategies
A study surveying students and faculty about their perceptions of effective online instructional strategies
Millennial students and the flipped classroom
This paper examines the flipped-classroom approach to teaching accounting to millennial students
Cognitive presence in asynchronous online learning
This article examines the contribution of four scenario‐based online discussion strategies
The impact of a flipped classroom design on learning performance in higher education
This study examines the differential impact of studying in a flipped classroom setting
Cognitive style and attitudes towards using online learning and assessment methods
This study investigates several forms of online learning and assessment methods
Facilitating cognitive presence in online learning
A study on interaction in online learning and new technologies to support sustained educational communication
How chemists achieve active learning online during the COVID-19 pandemic
A Singaporean study on the transition to online learning
Designing learning environments to promote student learning: An ergonomic focus
A report on how the design of learning environments can influence student performance
Building effective blended learning programs
Research on blended learning programs that complements students and promotes learning and application-learned behaviors
Students speak about their online learning experiences
A small qualitative study that examines the perceptions of components of virtual schooling
A blended learning approach to enhance students’ learning experiences
A case study examining the benefits of blended learning on students’ learning experiences
Using social annotation in online classes
An article on how using social annotation in online learning environments can improve teaching strategies
Computer-mediated communication to enhance face-to-face discussions
A small study on the effects of computer-mediated communication
An instructional framework for fostering student engagement in online learning
A guide with four recommendations for developing blended courses
Motivation as a lens to understand online learners
An article on how open online learning environments are a novel convergence of traditional course structures
Academic motivation and self-regulation in online learning
A comparative study on the academic motivation of undergraduates and graduate students in online courses
Social robots and virtual agents as lecturers for video instruction
A lab experiment testing the results of substituting a digital agent for a video of the instructor
Faculty role in responding to the acutely distressed college student
A study on the importance of promoting mental health and implementing suicide prevention models
Barriers to learning online experienced by students with a mental health disability
A qualitative case study to better understand online learning barriers
The instructor’s face in video instruction
Two field studies highlight the value of social cues for motivation, and expresses caution against the one-size-fits-all approaches to instructional design
How to handle unstable WiFi in Zoom
A short article on how to make Zoom meetings more accessible for students with poor or unstable internet connection
Recording and sharing Zoom meetings and chat
How to record a synchronous and asynchronous Zoom class and access the chat features
Canvas FAQ
A collection of answers to the most commonly asked questions about Canvas courses and general Canvas tools and features
How to organize learner-centered course material
Options and tips for organizing class materials and resources, using a learner-centered Canvas compatible approach
Zoom FAQ
A collection of answers to the most commonly asked questions about Zoom meetings and the general tools and website features
How to download and sign into Zoom
A guide on installing Zoom to your computer and attending a meeting as an authenticated user
Using Zoom breakout rooms
A descriptive guide describing the various ways to create and manage Breakout Rooms in Zoom
Recommended Zoom meeting security settings
Managing the Zoom security settings to protect your classes from unwanted interactions
Creating multiple pathways for student participation
Utilizing Zoom chat, Zoom polling, and PollEverywhere to increase student engagement and participation
Social learning theory and web-based learning environments
An analysis of social learning pedagogical models and how they can be used to design technology-mediated teaching
Office hours in an online world
A guide presenting ways for instructors to make digital office hours accessible and meaningful to students
Building community and setting norms during the first day of class
A collection of community and relationship building activities for the first day of class
Suggested norms for online classes
General classroom norms and netiquette for online learning environments
Hosting a Zoom meeting or class: Best practices
GSE-IT shares Zoom best practices and how to schedule and host a meeting
Facilitating class community building before the quarter begins
A collection of college level community and relationship building activities for before the quarter begins
Participating in a Zoom meeting or class: Best practices
GSE-IT shares best practices and tips for participating in a Zoom meeting
Collection of teaching resources for instructors and TAs
This collection of internal and external resources can help instructors and teaching teams adapt in-person courses to an online format
Connecting in the virtual college classroom
Digital learning experts at the GSE share tips to help instructors build community and collaboration while teaching remotely.
What is synchronous and asynchronous learning?
Guide to understanding the interplay and affordances of online and offline instruction