Teaching Online

Learning management System is online learning platform.
https://lms.lums.edu.pk/

Pros

You can run course as is, without having to make substantial modifications; Interactive, supports screen sharing, whiteboard, allows audio and video recording though video is too large to place it on LMS resource folder

Pair it with Microsoft One Note – Import slides in one note and annotate on it.

Cons

Higher bandwidth required for interactive sessions, so highly contingent on student and server bandwidths at LUMS

Resources

Guide For Online Lectures Using Zoom (Prepared by Dr. Hassan Jaleel from EE Department, LUMS)

Tips for Using Zoom to Teach1

• Test your audio and video well before teaching using Zoom for the first time, especially if you are planning to use Zoom from an off-campus location.
• Share your screen to show slides or other materials and ask students to share their screens to present:
  • Sharing your screen makes sure content and questions are visible to students who may have a slow Internet connection or who may struggle to hear the audio.
• Annotate and mark on the screen, or draw on a whiteboard.
• Break your class into smaller groups for managing discussions or projects as you would in a regular class.
• Use the chat feature to answer questions or share learning resources. Students can also use the chat feature to ask questions:
  • Moderate discussion, i.e., “call on” a student with a comment to speak, to help them break into the conversation.
  • For larger classes, assign a Fellow or TA to moderate the chat and make sure important questions and comments are addressed. Even for smaller classes, it may be worthwhile to ask a student (or two) to take on special roles as “chat monitors” to voice if there are questions that arise that the instructor has missed.
  • You might use the chat to troubleshoot technical problems. For example, if a student is having trouble connecting via audio or video, the chat might be a space for you as the instructor or for fellow students to work together to problem-solve. This may, again, be an opportunity to assign a student to a special role, especially if you have students eager to help on the technical aspect of things.
• Record your class so students can review materials.
• Poll your students to check for understanding.
• Consider making discussion questions available in advance so that students can access the questions if screen sharing does not work.
• Host virtual office hours.

(from https://teachremote.mit.edu/tools-tutorials#prepdevices)

Support required from university

• Need subscriptions to host a class for more than 40 min
• Bandwidth requirements? Especially in light of hosting simultaneous classes
• If bandwidth is an issue, will we need to decide which classes need more interaction and should get priority access to zoom
• Will need to increase supported file size to upload recorded videos or use alternative forum – Google Docs? Dropbox? YouTube? A 1 hour 10 min recording was 158 MB.

Demo Video:

Demo Video:

Google Hangout Cheat Sheet for Teachers

Microsoft Teams is a synchronous teaching platform in which students can see the tutor and slides at the same time. It has a mobile app as well so students can use it from mobile as well.

Introduction to Microsoft Teams (kindly prepared by Dr. Muhammad Shoaib of Chemical Engineering Department, LUMS)

What is Microsoft Teams?

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Just need video calling for personal use? Click here

Demo Video:

Demo Video:

Video recording software (compatible with canvas):

https://www.panopto.com

Demo Video:

Demo Video:

Demo Video:

Maktab (http://www.maktab.pk) style story-board videos can be made using a Tab (we recommend Samsung’s Galaxy tab A 10.1) and the following free softwares: Screen recorder and Draw on Screen. Both of them can be downloaded from Google Playstore. A tab is more versatile than a Digital Board. The quoted price for the Tab is approximately Rs. 36,000 and for purchasing through LUMS resources, you would need to contact Mr. Muhammad Iqbal, Head of Procurement (m.iqbal@lums.edu.pk) or your Department Chair.

Method

Combination of slides with voice-over, course notes (MIT style). Recommend complementing this with assessment instruments that allow students to apply concepts that can provide rapid feedback to compensate for the lack of interaction

Pros

Low-tech, no further hard or soft infrastructure required

Cons

Non-interactive; not suitable for complex courses or courses  literature

Resources

• To make lectures/content available at a later date and time, record them using Webex.
• Embed or record audio directly into Microsoft Powerpoint presentations.
  • Video and audio file formats supported in PowerPoint
• Add existing video and audio in Keynote on Mac.
• Record audio in Keynote on Mac.
• Record audio in Pages, Numbers, and Keynote.
• Insert audio in Google Slides.
• To view, create, annotate, print, and manage PDFs, use Adobe Acrobat Pro.

(from https://teachremote.mit.edu/tools-tutorials#prepdevices)

For lecture note sample example MIT open courseware lecture notes e.g. (https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/economics/14-03-microeconomic-theory-and-public-policy-fall-2016/lecture-notes/

The non-interactive nature of instruction can be managed using i) Skype/Whatsapp office hours ii) problem sets which encourage reading and provide feedback on learning

Method

Screen capture with handwritten notes (‘Khan Academy style’ videos)

Pros

Low-tech and suitable for stand-alone concepts

Cons

Non-interactive and not useful for discussion based classes

Resources

• Break up into smaller topics for shorter videos
• Have to combine this with more problem sets and online office hours to compensate for lack of interaction

Support from the University (Software requirements)

• Camtasia Recorder ($200*)
• SmoothDraw3 (Free)
• Wacom Bamboo Tablet ($80)
• ScreenVideoRecorder ($20)
• Microsoft Paint (Free)
• Screen Castify (Free, only five minutes videos can be prepared).

Demo Video:

Mac users: In lieu of SmoothDraw, Autodesk Sketchbook Express works (free with a Wacom).

• Camtasia also offers a basic version of its software called SnagIt.

(from https://khanacademy.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/202483430-What-software-program-equipment-is-used-to-make-Khan-Academy-videos-)