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)
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December – Engaging learners: Any time? Any place? Anyhow? | Advance HE (advance-he.ac.uk)
Providing 52 different options for engaging students within your teaching session, whether that is online or face to face, these cards can be used individually and/or in combination with the others, as appropriate. The toolkit is underpinned by a review report with supporting pedagogical references. Published December 2020.
(External Resource)
There is a dedicated webpage related to the available support for using Zoom, including recordings of live Zoom sessions, the accompanying slides, tips on securing your Zoom session and links to further resources within Swansea University and also to Zoom support.
(Swansea Resource)
https://salt.swan.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Zoom-FAQ-1.5.pdf
Drawing on the initial Zoom sessions offered throughout March and April 2020, the FAQs provide answers to the questions raised within the sessions, using terminology appropriate to teaching, learning and assessing students. Where relevant, links to the Zoom support materials are provided.
(Swansea Resource)
https://canvas.swansea.ac.uk/enroll/4KMB3F
Staff from across the University have come together to produce a short CPD module designed to help us all transition our teaching to a format that is suitable for helping students online. The module is designed to help with core principles around the ‘why’ and ‘what’ of teaching online, with links to the technical aspects of ‘how’. The link above takes you to the self-enrolment page to get access to the module. All the content is then available within the module using the navigation menu.
(Swansea Resource)
https://salt.swan.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Securing-Your-Zoom-Meetings.pdf
Arising from international concerns about the security of hosting Zoom meetings, this document, produced by Zoom Video Communications offers the key tips and features you can enable through your settings to keep your Zoom sessions secure.
(External Resource)
https://staff.swansea.ac.uk/it-services/zoom/
The Welsh Video Network at Swansea University provide these webpages with advice on setting up and using Zoom. You must be logged on with your SU staff account details to access these pages. More detailed resources with links to the support pages of Zoom are provided.
Be aware that you may have to know the exact phrase/terminology that Zoom uses to make best use of the resources. Staff may wish to review the Swansea Zoom FAQS documents first which has links to the appropriate Zoom support pages as necessary
(Swansea Resource)
Comprehensive resources (video and web pages) provided by Zoom for meetings and webinars. The resources outline approaches for different platforms and indicate the host/participant perspective. You may need to know the specific terminology before exploring these. Staff at Swansea University are recommended to first review the FAQS produced by SALT first before reviewing the Zoom support pages for specific details.
(External Resource)
https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-18572-conferences-resources
This CANVAS Resource provides detailed documentation of how to use Conferences. Conferences is covered within the ‘Communication and Collaboration’ module as part of the CANVAS Essentials training. Additionally, a more in-depth CPD course is available for those who wish to explore Conferences further.
(External Resource)
https://canvas.swansea.ac.uk/courses/3774/modules
Canvas Conferences makes it easy for instructors and students to meet for synchronous (real-time) online learning and discussions within a course. Conferences is built upon a tool called “BigBlueButton”, currently the basic version. An instructor may invite students or colleagues to course-wide conferences, or set up personal conferences. Conferences allows you to broadcast real-time audio, video, or share presentation slides, and other online resources.
The university has adopted Zoom as our main web conferencing platform for online learning, but Conferences is also an option. Conferences has advantages over Zoom for students undertaking group work within very large classes. Conferences is covered within the ‘Communication and Collaboration’ module as part of the CANVAS Essentials training.
(Swansea Resource)