When teaching online, recording videos, and communicating with students it is important to consider the audio and video quality to ensure that your instructional content is accessible to students in a consistent and high quality format. A good quality headset will block a lot of background noise and bring focus to your voice. Swansea University have a non-exhaustive list of recommended devices.
(Swansea Resource)
[:]
[:en]
Blackboard & Canvas (not quite ready)
The whole TEL Course on Blackboard and Canvas is useful generally to support all areas of learning and Teaching online. It includes a range of material which spans more of the topics in the Resources for Teaching including many Creative Commons external resources and links as well as Swansea Universities guidelines and support. There is a whole section on Connect, Communicate and Collaborate which provides a range of tools and activities designed to help you practise with asynchronous and synchronous learning and Teaching methods. You can work through the activities at your own pace, engaging fully with all the activities in this section will enable you to experience online learning for yourself, and this will give you a wealth of detail to draw upon and some practical ideas to challenge your students.
You will need to request access (from SALT) to the Blackboard Resource until July 2020. The Canvas resource is still in development, but will be ready soon.
(Swansea Resource)
[:]
https://canvas.swansea.ac.uk/enroll/PD7WC6
This is a self-paced course containing several modules that are designed to introduce and then build on the basics of Studio use. Canvas Studio is a streaming digital repository which allows users to collect, share and create media. This is a great course for anyone new to the use of video in teaching or for those seeking to build on their previous experience. Its integration with Canvas makes Studio extremely usable for developing short instructional films, icebreakers, vlogs and announcements, lending a more personal approach to student communications.
This course is a must for anyone seeking to incorporate more video content into their online teaching but it should be noted that Studio is not intended for use as a form of lecture capture.
(Swansea Resource)
https://canvas.swansea.ac.uk/courses/3774/pages/discussions-2?module_item_id=82927
This resource provides an overview of Discussions in Canvas alongside example activities, step-by-step guidance on setting up a threaded discussion and signposting to additional resources. Discussions facilitate asynchronous communication between two or more course members and can be used with both small groups and larger cohorts. It can facilitate icebreaker activities and is a good way to maintain contact between taught sessions. The referenced literature from the University of Tasmania is also well worth exploring for further information on stimulating and maintaining student engagement with discussion boards more generally.
The use of discussions for assessment purposes is not covered in this resource, but guidance on setting up graded discussions can be accessed at: https://canvas.swansea.ac.uk/courses/3774/pages/extension-activity-creating-a-graded-discussion?module_item_id=551510
(Swansea Resource)
https://canvas.swansea.ac.uk/courses/3774/pages/announcements-2?module_item_id=404004
This resource provides an overview of Announcements in Canvas alongside step-by-step guidance on how to display announcements on the homepage. It also suggests that the timing of announcements should be considered and whether it is always the most appropriate form communication. It also suggests that connecting to RSS feed could prove problematic depending on announcements are used within a course. The resource provides signposting to further information.
Additional ‘how to’ guidance is also available on the Staff-Guide: Assessment and Feedback Course: https://canvas.swansea.ac.uk/courses/20042/files/848617?module_item_id=548749
(Swansea Resource)
https://canvas.swansea.ac.uk/courses/3774/pages/inbox?module_item_id=511485
The Canvas Inbox is an inbuilt messaging system similar to Outlook. It enables users to send messages to individual, course users or all users with a given course role e.g. teacher or student. This resource provides step-by-step guidance on sending via the Inbox and signposting to additional resources. The Inbox also enables both staff and students to easily send messages in audio or video format.
For further information on this aspect of the Inbox, please see the Staff Guide: Assessment and Feedback Course: https://canvas.swansea.ac.uk/courses/20042/files/848508?module_item_id=548633
(Swansea Resource)