How I Survived the Pivot: Creative Solutions to Facilitate Remote Learning
How I Survived the Pivot:
Creative Solutions to Facilitate Remote Learning
November 18th, 2020
Please join us in over 30 faculty-led sessions where faculty share how they used creative solutions to pivot during remote learning this fall. These sessions contain many examples of creativity in teaching and the use of technology. These faculty like you have used new tools, interesting COVID-based assignments, creative methods in Canvas, and as a result made remote learning engaging to your students very quickly. Join in and participate in the conversation. If you have any questions, please contact Wendy Creasey, Director, Digital Learning & Emerging Technologies at creaseyw@ecu.edu.
Most sessions were recorded; look for the ? icon in the Session Descriptions below.
Session Descriptions
GoPro is my Hero: Teaching microbiology lab skills in the time of COVID
8:30 – 8:50 AM
How do you teach advanced plate-reading skills and biochemical techniques to future clinical laboratory scientists when they can’t come into the lab? Enter the GoPro Hero – an easy to use, lightweight, portable camera. Video from the GoPro, along with a healthy dose of Canvas pages, still photos, and microscope image capture, can give students a scientist’s-eye view of what’s happening at the bench.
Guyla Evans
College of Allied Health
evansgu@ecu.edu
Moderator: Ginny Sconiers
Pushkin’s “A Feast During the Plague” (1830) in RUSS 3220: Covid-19, Technology and Humanities
9:00 – 9:20 AM
Concurrent Session A
Which tragic questions does Pushkin’s “A Feast During the Plague”(1830) raise and how are they related to our today’s life? This session stems from the experience of teaching a 19th century Russian Literature Humanities course in English remotely during the pandemic. The use of new methods of remote teaching via Canvas during COVID-19 allowed both teachers and learners to discover a depth of human interaction and to reach new levels of creativity in our understanding of human condition and concerns in new and unprecedented ways.
Elena Murenina
Harriot College of Arts & Sciences
mureninae@ecu.edu
Moderator: Amy McMillan
International Virtual Exchange and Co-Teaching Online Discussion
12:00 – 12:20 PM
Concurrent Session B
Attend this session to learn how one group of students had the opportunity for experiential learning by communicating with students in another country and engaging in intercultural interaction. Two different types of linking (required/optional) will be addressed, as well as logistics (planning time differences/assignments/co-leading discussion) needed for these learning opportunities.
Sachiyo Shearman
College of Fine Arts & Communications
shearmans@ecu.edu
Moderator: Marylaura Papalas
Ending the semester with (a) Spark!
9:00 – 9:20 AM
Concurrent Session C
This session will introduce the audience to Adobe Spark and how this simple tool can be integrated for building course material and be used to teach digital literacy to STEM students. The learning curve for Adobe Curve is not steep and students are able to share their projects on their professional website making them more competitive in the job market.
Sambuddha Banerjee
Harriot College of Arts & Sciences
Banerjees17@ecu.edu
Moderator: Cat Normoyle
Canvas Course to Assist Remote Learning: Classwork, Engagement, and Assessment
9:30 – 9:50 AM
Concurrent Session A
This session will focus on one instructor’s experience ‘multi-tasking,’ and moving to a fully asynchronous course during the fall semester without losing sight of course quality. Strategies, tools, and methods used to facilitate learner engagement and develop high quality assessments will be emphasized.
Chalani Prematilake
Harriot College of Arts & Sciences
prematilakec17@ecu.edu
Moderator: Amy McMillian
Creating Opportunities for Virtual Capstones through Podcasts
9:30 – 9:50 AM
Concurrent Session B
When students in a capstone course normally go out into the community, how do you pivot during a pandemic and create meaningful assignments? Podcast development allows students a creative space to talk about their fields while simultaneously developing new skills. Join this session to see how this project turned out and how you can make it work for your courses.
Brittany Thompson
College of Fine Arts & Communications
thompsonbri14@ecu.edu
Moderator: MaryLaura Papalas
Adobe InDesign for Developing Digital Course Content Displays
9:30 – 9:50 AM
Concurrent Session C
Adobe InDesign is a print and graphics layout tool for creating pages/documents. It is a great tool to convey all types of information in your course design such as lectures, course content, course structure, assignments, & projects. It is also a great tool for students to learn as it increases their digital literacy skills and helps them become more marketable in the workforce. In this session, see how Adobe InDesign can support you and your students in your course development and their student outcomes.
Patricia J. Slagter van Tryon
College of Education
slagtervantryonp@ecu.edu
Moderator: Cat Normoyle
Lecturing with Multimedia PowerPoint
10:00 – 10:20 AM
Concurrent Session A
This session will feature one instructor’s experience using video, audio, and interactive “test your knowledge” questions to convey course information in a manner similar to lecturing in a face-to-face classroom.
Rosa Alvarez-Bell
Harriot College of Arts & Sciences
alvarezr@ecu.edu
Moderator: Amy McMillian
How to stay connected with online students when chaos abounds
10:00 – 10:20 AM
Concurrent Session B
How do you create an environment where students are no further away than their cell phones. Join this session to see how easy it is to implement REMIND into your course.
Joy Shepard
College of Nursing
shephardj@ecu.edu
Moderator: Wendy Creasey
Using Adobe Dreamweaver for Easy Websites
10:00 – 10:20 AM
Concurrent Session C
This session will introduce Adobe Dreamweaver and show how it is used in the course, Web Application Development for Business. Dreamweaver’s flexibility is useful for designers and coders, from novice to expert. See examples of work and discover how you can use it in your course.
John Drake
College of Business
drakejo@ecu.edu
Moderator: Cat Normoyle
Teaching in Microsoft Teams
10:30 – 10:50 AM
Concurrent Session A
One of the biggest challenges concerning online synchronous teaching is student engagement. How do you maintain an interactive culture in the online environment? This session presents various ways of engaging students in MS Teams, including quizzes, polls, and collaborative instant messaging and video recordings.
Marylaura Papalas
Harriot College of Arts & Sciences
papalasm@ecu.edu
Moderator: Amy McMillian
Fighting the Fall Funk
10:30 – 10:50 AM
Concurrent Session B
Join this session to learn how to fight the fall funk! HHP Canvas support approached block 2 creatively this semester – using Canvas, reflecting on student engagement, and infusing fun in this funky semester.
Susannah Berry
College of Health & Human Performance
berrys@ecu.edu
Moderator: Wendy Creasey
Enhancing Online Presentations and Video Content Using Adobe Rush Premiere
10:30 – 10:50 AM
Concurrent Session C
Learn how to put a little movie magic in your online course materials with Adobe Rush Premier. After attending this session, you will learn tips and tricks to make your online lectures, videos to students, as well as student lead online presentations more captivating and impactful.
Tiffany Blanchflower
College of Health and Human Performance
Blanchflowert15@ecu.edu
Moderator: Cat Normoyle
Leaping forward with Determination and Innovation
11:00 – 11:20 AM
Concurrent Session A
During the academic semesters that were affected by COVID, the School of Theatre and Dance used a combination of hybrid online and Face to Face instructional methods to engaged students in dynamic and innovative ways. This session will address how dancing, choreographing, acting, and producing theatrical productions were continued by combining the collective wisdom, talents, and resources of our faculty, students and guest artists.
Jayme Host
College of Fine Arts & Communication
Hostj17@ecu.edu
Moderator: Michael Kocher
Immediacy and Technology – Connecting with Students Using Canvas Technologies
11:00 – 11:20 AM
Concurrent Session B
This session focuses on one instructor’s efforts to develop rapport with students and encourage them to develop rapport with one another. Join in to learn how Canvas features were used, including the use of Canvas Studio to connect/relate to social events. Emphasized will be two primary concerns: (1) keeping students accountable and (2) ensuring that students do not “slip through the cracks.”
John Howard
College of Fine Arts & Communications
howardjo@ecu.edu
Moderator: Sarah Williams
Using Adobe Premiere Rush to Create Digital Stories
11:00 – 11:20 AM
Concurrent Session C
Digital stories are first-person video narratives created by combining still and moving images, music, sound, text, and video clips. Digital stories can be used by faculty to complement lectures and assigned reading. Students can create digital stories to demonstrate higher-level learning objectives. This session will explain how, Adobe Premier Rush, an all-in-one video creation tool can be used to capture, edit, and create educational videos.
Melissa Beck
College of Nursing
schwartzme@ecu.edu
Moderator: Cat Normoyle
Utilizing Studio to Increase Interaction in Assignments
11:30 – 11:50 AM
Concurrent Session A
Studio provided a platform for student case presentations that (due to COVID) faculty were unable to observe in the clinic setting. This session will describe how Studio was utilized for an introduction discussion board as well as mini-presentations. This strategy was well-received by students and enabled them to feel more like they were in the classroom.
Alexis Hodges
College of Nursing
Hodgesale17@ecu.edu
Moderator: Michael Kocher
Sparking Joy with Adobe Spark
11:30 – 11:50 AM
Concurrent Session B
Join this session to hear how one instructor teaching a 4-credit graduate course in an 8-week block developed Adobe Spark pages to introduce topics each week. This platform allowed for a continuous (scrolling-based) lesson with embedded figures and videos, without the need to download a hefty PowerPoint. Follow-up in-person meetings provided the opportunity to review the lesson and reinforce fundamentals with critical thinking exercises and student-led discussions of related scientific papers. Students welcomed the spark pages as a learning tool that provided more interaction and engagement over traditional lectures using PowerPoint.
David Lagomasino
Coastal Studies Institute
Lagomasinod19@ecu.edu
Moderator: Sarah Williams
Using Adobe Portfolio to develop Teacher Identity
11:30 – 11:50 AM
Concurrent Session C
Music education students are asked to keep portfolios of their work, from videos of performances and teaching to methods course materials from introductory courses that they will use in their advanced methods courses. Using Adobe Portfolio as the electronic format allows students to organize different methods classes and build a virtual notebook for materials for use during student teaching and beyond.
Cindy Wagoner
College of Fine Arts & Communications
wagonerc@ecu.edu
Moderator: Cat Normoyle
Conducting in the Abyss: Learning to move musically online
12:00 – 12:20 PM
Join this session to learn how the instructor of a music course determined how to teach students to influence sound while online and by themselves. A combination of changes to class formatting and utilization of simple phone/camera technology allowed the instructor to individualize instruction and teach the students to think critically about how they influence others.
William Staub
College of Fine Arts and Communication
Staub2@ecu.edu
Moderator: Wendy Creasey
Engaging students in laboratory courses online
1:00 – 1:20 PM
Concurrent Session A
The transition to online learning due to COVID-19 presented the physics department with an opportunity to fill an institutional need: online laboratory courses that fulfill general education requirements. The key challenge is to create a curriculum that engages students in meaningful science practices in an environment where students do not have access to a key resource: the laboratory learning environment. As a part of an NSF-funded effort, we have created a curriculum that engages students in meaningful science practice. In this presentation, we will discuss how we translated the laboratory learning environment to an online context, including the creation of kits that students purchase in lieu of a lab manual to provide students with a hands-on experience.
Steve Wolf & Mark Sprague
Harriot College of Arts & Sciences
wofls15@ecu.edu & spraguem@ecu.edu
Moderator: Irina Swain
Materiality in the Virtual Classroom – teaching remotely with objects and experiences
1:00 – 1:20 PM
Concurrent Session B
As a new ECU faculty member who teaches ancient and public history, the switch to a virtual format was a blow to the experiential and object-based assignments typically used to structure encounters with the material world for students. Using choose-your-own-adventure assignment options, the instructor was able to re-integrate some of these experiences into the “World Civilizations to 1500” class this fall, encouraging students to make their own versions of ancient objects, technologies, or experiences, as well as asking them to connect to museum objects in various online formats. Join this session to have a conversation about teaching with experiential and material elements and to share tips and assignments for future online semesters.
Helen Dixon
Harriot College of Arts & Sciences
Dixonhe19@ecu.edu
Moderator: Amanda Haberstroh
Teaching Professional Writing and Communication Projects with InDesign
1:00 – 1:20 PM
Concurrent Session C
Students often struggle to think about writing as something that happens in the professional world. They are also often unfamiliar with the writing contexts and situations that will arise beyond the classroom in volunteer opportunities, internships, and eventual careers. These include situations where students will be asked to write and design professional-looking documents for a variety of audiences. Learn some of the ways that students can be introduced to best practices in document design with InDesign.
Guiseppe Getto
Harriot College of Arts & Sciences
gettog@ecu.edu
Moderator: Cat Normoyle
Teaching Undergraduate Statistics in the Social Sciences
1:30 – 1:50 PM
Concurrent Session A
This session will feature an introductory, online, math-based statistics course, covering common statistical concepts and formulas which was taught asynchronously for Criminal Justice majors. Material covered in the course included both univariate and bivariate statistics. Join this session to hear what worked (from both instructor and students) and some things to do differently in the future.
Scott Walfield
Harriot College of Arts & Sciences
walfields16@ecu.edu
Moderator: Irina Swain
Virtual Seminar “in” Berlin
1:30 – 1:50 PM
Concurrent Session B
The pivot to online learning has offered the instructor’s high-enrollment Holocaust class the opportunity to attend a live seminar with the Holocaust Documentation Center Topography of Terror in Berlin. The class was divided into 3 groups of roughly 25-30 students and spent 3 days touring the site and analyzing archival images and documents housed at the Topography of Terror. Typically, only those few students travelling to Berlin as part of my Study Abroad Program each year get a chance to visit the Topography of Terror or similar sites. They are privileged to benefit from the extraordinary wealth of authentic documents there or get a chance to work with a historian and learn how to analyze and derive meaning from the many images they might otherwise casually consume. Offering this class online affords this opportunity to the roughly 80 virtual students in my class.
Susanne Jones
Harriot College of Arts & Sciences
jonessu@ecu.edu
Moderator: Amanda Haberstroh
Sparking Social Awareness in STEM
1:30 – 1:50 PM
Concurrent Session C
Undergraduate geology majors in a “Math for Geologists” course use Adobe Spark (some for the first time) to create 3-5 minute video presentations about famous black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) mathematicians and geoscientists.
Sid Mitra
Harriot College of Arts & Sciences
mitras@ecu.edu
Moderator: Cat Normoyle
Tips for Student Engagement during a Pandemic
2:00 – 2:20 PM
Concurrent Session A
Did the pivot to remote/hybrid learning throw you into a panic? Did you feel disconnected from your students? If so, join this session and learn some tips to increase student engagement in your classes as well as provide ideas to help facilitate the faculty/student and student/student interactions. In this session, we will discuss how Microsoft Teams was used to connect with students inside and outside of the classroom. Learn about strategies implemented to provide a better overall experience and course structure for you and the students.
Melinda Doty
College of Engineering and Technology
dotym@ecu.edu
Moderator: Jean Merenda
Using Microsoft Forms to Prepare Students for Online Synchronous Instruction
2:00 – 2:20 PM
Concurrent Session B
With flipped learning, students complete lower-cognition tasks prior to a synchronous online class. Learners prepare for the in-class activities by reading or viewing material at home and filling out forms (i.e., fill-in-the-blank worksheets). These forms help learners capture prerequisite knowledge and will serve as reference sheets during synchronous class sessions. The worksheets must then be uploaded to the LMS prior to class, which holds learners responsible for timely work. This quick session shows participants how to create such worksheets.
Birgit Jensen
Harriot College of Arts & Sciences
jensenb@ecu.edu
Moderator: Africa Hands
Teach with ‘Spark’le: Using Adobe Spark in the classroom to promote digital literacy
2:00 – 2:20 PM
Concurrent Session C
This session will introduce Adobe Spark, ways in which faculty can use Adobe Spark for teaching, and how to integrate Adobe Spark for student learning and assignments.
Alison Swift
College of Nursing
Swifta@ecu.edu
Moderator: Cat Normoyle
Just be you, the instructor students know well
2:30 – 2:50 PM
Concurrent Session A
Join this session, to learn the simple rules followed during the transition to virtual teaching: 1)be simple, 2) have a back-up plan, and 3) share the responsibilities with students. Being simple helps students feel comfortable with the virtual environment and to know exactly what they are supposed to do. A back-up plan gives peace of mind to the instructor and students. Sharing the responsibilities can make students more initiative and active in-class activities
Young Kim
College of Allied Health
Kimyo15@ecu.edu
Moderator: Jean Merenda
Using Annotation Software to Encourage Reading and Engage Students
2:30 – 2:50 PM
Concurrent Session B
A challenge faced pivoting to online classes was how to reproduce the lively, informed discussions from in-person classes that helped create a sense of community. The “informed” part of the discussion is key; students should engage with the assigned readings as well as each other. Collective annotation is a great way to do this. Turning reading from a solitary event to a collective one, students use a software program to make comments and ask questions on the same version of a text, with the ability to respond to one another. Join this session to see how the instructor used Perusall, an annotation software, in my online class to encourage reading, create conversation among students, and identify key questions and areas of interest for larger class discussions.
Melinda Kane
Harriot College of Arts & Sciences
kanem@ecu.edu
Moderator: Africa Hands
Replace an essay with a Podcast
2:30 – 2:50 PM
Concurrent Session C
Podcasts can be a fun way to add variety to your course without increasing workload or lowering academic rigor. This session explores how to replace an essay assignment with a podcast, and how to leverage Adobe Audition to record studio-quality audio on a budget.
Michael Kocher
ITCS
Kocherm18@ecu.edu
Moderator: Cat Normoyle
Hypothesis Shared Annotation in Literature Classes
3:00 – 3:20 PM
Concurrent Session A
In this session, two faculty will share their experiences using the online tool Hypothesis for students in literature classes to annotate and discuss texts. Presenters will describe how they structured Hypothesis activities to keep students engaged and focus their attention on details in the text.
Marianne Montgomery & Brian Glover
Harriot College of Arts & Sciences
montgomerym@ecu.edu & gloverb@ecu.edu
Moderator: Jean Merenda
Creating Videos on Powtoon and Utilizing Canvas Polls
3:00 – 3:20 PM
Concurrent Session B
Join this session to hear strategies used in one online course (A Survey of United States History to 1877) to keep students engaged. Specifically, educational videos, songs, podcasts, and readings are employed in chapter learning assignments in each course module. The Canvas Polls app enables checking in with students to gain feedback about learning and course preferences. Short (2-5 minute) and engaging Powtoon videos reemphasize major points in the readings and uploaded into a YouTube channel.
Shannon Vance
Harriot College of Arts & Sciences
Vances18@ecu.edu
Moderator: Irina Swain
Using Canvas Studio Video Timeline Commenting in Online Video-based Lectures
3:00 – 3:20 PM
Concurrent Session C
Interested in learning ways to increase student interaction with the instructor and their peers and enhance the student’s sense of community in online learning environments, then join this session. The presenter will share engaging methods to create interaction between the learner and instructor, learner to learner, and learner to content.
Xi Lin
College of Education
LINXI18@ECU.EDU
Moderator: Wendy Creasey