{"id":11937,"date":"2020-02-23T21:49:56","date_gmt":"2020-02-23T10:49:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sydney.edu.au\/education-portfolio\/ei\/teaching@sydney\/?p=11937"},"modified":"2020-02-28T15:36:35","modified_gmt":"2020-02-28T04:36:35","slug":"ensuring-off-campus-students-can-access-resources-to-learn-anywhere-and-anytime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/educational-innovation.sydney.edu.au\/teaching@sydney\/ensuring-off-campus-students-can-access-resources-to-learn-anywhere-and-anytime\/","title":{"rendered":"Ensuring off-campus students can access resources to learn anywhere and anytime"},"content":{"rendered":"

This semester, many units are running\u00a0with online supported learning for at least part of the semester for students impacted by travel restrictions. A positive, supportive and inclusive learning environment is important for all students but teacher presence must be built more deliberately for those learning online. In a partner article<\/a>,\u00a0some simple and easy to implement principles and techniques to build such an environment online are outlined.<\/p>\n

In this article, the focus is on providing resources and structure in the online and blended environment. It is based on the Level 1 Checklist<\/a>\u00a0developed by Educational Innovation as part of the Resource Toolkit<\/a>\u00a0available on the coronavirus information Intranet page<\/a>. As with the partner article<\/a> on positive learning environments, a Canvas site (self-enrol yourself here<\/a>) is available illustrating some of the ideas presented here, so that they can be lifted straight into your own Canvas sites.<\/p>\n

This article covers only the essentials with a focus on asynchronous learning (that is, learning that can happen anywhere and anytime, not at the same time as a scheduled class). More advanced techniques for interactive and synchronous learning are included in the\u00a0Resource Toolkit<\/a>\u00a0and in the\u00a0‘Supporting off-campus learning’ workshop<\/a>s. Even if you are going to be adopting synchronous approaches such as live-streaming that rely on technology and stable internet connections, it is always good practice to have the simple things in place: a “Plan B” is always a good idea.<\/p>\n

Content delivery<\/h2>\n

The online environment allows flexible and self-directed learning. However, learners, especially those unfamiliar with learning online, in a tertiary setting and perhaps in English for the first time, need structure and for resources to be both available and to be in a format suitable for online study. Here are some of the essentials:<\/p>\n

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  1. Make sure class resources (e.g. lecture notes, tutorial worksheets) are available well ahead of the associated class: 24 hours ahead is a minimum but 48 hours ahead will reduce stress for students.<\/li>\n
  2. Refer students to textbook or literature resources available electronically<\/em>\u00a0through the University of Sydney Library. Follow the Library’s guides<\/a> to the use of third party resources.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Lectures, seminars and preferably tutorials should be recorded using Echo360:\n