This week, the fine folks at BCCampus, led by Ross McKerlich, shared “The Basics of Online Learning” webinar this week. I took some visual notes, and wrote a brief summary below. 
The webinar was well attended with nearly 100 participants from around the province, in a variety of teaching online experience. I was interested in “the basics” since I know many SFU faculty will be in a similar situation. Since all course will be “going online” for this summer, and who knows how long moving forward, this is the starting point for many. I thought the webinar achieved a common understanding and provided many good tips to begin an online learning experience. The discussion was mostly high level, big picture and jargon free. I highlighted the following points visually.
Acknowledge Students Context – At this time we are all going through a great deal of change in our personal and learning context. We are all in a similar situation, and it is not ‘normal’. Nowhere is this more true than in the classroom. Consider the context of your students, and make appropriate connections
Interaction through Learning Management Systems – Seek simplicity in your online interactions. High bandwidth and High Immediacy (Zoom) is great for some things, but not necessary for all. Low bandwidth and Low Immediacy (email) is often just right. Seek simplicity, and other “Asynchronous” solutions where you can.
Components of online presence – The content doesnt change, the interactions and presence too. Although the tools are very advanced, they do not accomplish the same things that a face to face experience do. Lower the expectations that they will. Bring balance to your online teaching by being mindful of the distinctions between the social, cognitive, and teaching aspects to the experience.