Due to the COVID19 pandemic staff at Deakin may need to transition their teaching practice online. For daily updates, resources and workshops please visit the Transitioning Teaching Online website.
Transitioning Teaching Online – Supporting Virtual Teams
As we progress through our transition online many of you may need to facilitate team work virtually. Virtual teamwork can be a positive experience for students, yet it comes with unique challenges. You play a key role in supporting students to recognise these challenges, devise solutions and see the benefits of working collaboratively online. To help you do this, we have created the Top 10 practical strategies you can implement in your unit to support students to develop the online teamwork skills that are so important in this current time.
Building resilience in times of challenge – support for staff and students
In these challenging times, where we are all navigating daily uncertainty and change, supporting ourselves, our students and our colleagues becomes an important priority. You may find the following sites helpful for yourself or to share with students and colleagues.
Transitioning Teaching Online – Supporting Invigilated Online Exams
All unit teaching teams have been asked to move their T1 assessments online. Further information and a decision helper guide has been prepared by Deakin’s Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning (CRADLE) to assist unit chairs transitioning from exams to other forms of assessments. If units currently hold end of trimester exams, unit chairs have been asked to decide if this exam can be redesigned as an alternative assessment. In exceptional circumstances some invigilated online exams will be considered.
Transitioning Teaching Online – Online seminars using Blackboard Collaborate Ultra
Many of you will be using Blackboard Collaborate Ultra (BBC Ultra) to conduct online synchronous seminars with your students in the coming weeks. For some of you this may be an entirely new teaching experience and require you to shift the way you structure and deliver content. To assist all staff with delivery online we have put together a Top 10 Tips list for how you can create high value, interactive seminars using the tools in BBC Ultra.
Transitioning Teaching Online – Engaging Students in Discussion Forums
Learning is a social activity – we learn through talking through problems or topics with other people, hearing new ideas and perspectives, and clarifying our own ideas and misconceptions. It’s why we facilitate discussions in our (on-campus and online) classrooms and encourage students to work in teams. As we transition our teaching online in response to the COVID-19 crisis, you might be wondering how you’re going to facilitate similar social interactions online. We’ve put together a checklist of practical things you can do to engage students in the discussion forums.
What is digital learning innovation at Deakin? A framework for the Future
On the 10th of December 2019, divisional representatives from across the university met to workshop a new framework to define digital learning innovation at Deakin and to capture the collective perspective of this diverse cohort. The event also marked the launch of new resources, for the current Digital Learning Environments (DLE3 – i.e. Self & Peer Assessment, Portfolio, and Collaboration) tools that are in the process of development and integration. The event was facilitated by Deakin Learning Futures’ Digital Learning Innovations team alongside workshop facilitator Mike Stevenson.
Deakin’s 2019 Learning & Teaching Conference – Teaching Differently
A focus on Teaching Differently was the theme for the Deakin Learning and Teaching Conference this year. It proved to be a great framework for showcasing our colleagues’ creativity and commitment to students’ learning at Deakin.
Good Practice in Academic Development – Transforming Digital Learning
On the 6th of November the Council of Australasian University Leaders in Learning and Teaching (CAULLT) hosted the Australasian Advancing Academic Development good practice awards. The event brought together the finalists at the Queensland University of Technology to showcase and celebrate the work of teaching teams across the country. Deakin University was represented by Director of Digital Learning, Chie Adachi, who detailed the collaborative work of the teaching team who created and taught the Transforming Digital Learning MOOC.
Harnessing Cultural Diversity – A FutureLearn Collaboration with Lee Martin and Kristen Richards
In partnership with FutureLearn, Deakin University has developed an online course highlighting the impact of cultural diversity in the workplace – examining the benefits and challenges that diversity brings to any team and business, and how to manage that. This course is also symbolic of the great collaborative work at Deakin.
A Students Perspective of Microsoft Teams with Joan Sutherland & Rahul Masakorala
Collaboration is a hot topic in digital learning, particularly how it can be effectively applied as a learning strategy and to engage students, many of whom arrive with advanced digital experience and expectations. Joan Sutherland, Senior Education Developer sits down with Deakin student Rahul Masakorala, to explore his perspective of Microsoft Teams – the good, the bad, and otherwise.
How do students feel about their teachers and feedback?
In a survey of students on campus, several undergraduates shared their experiences at Deakin. Among some challenging experiences with tutors, students generally felt that most of their teachers genuinely cared about their progression and wellbeing. One stated the “majority of teachers…really care”, especially when they get to know students “on a personal level”. These students not only appreciated this personal approach, but also expressed a desire to connect with their teachers as they felt supported and valued, and this pushed them to do better.
“My opinion matters” – Students as Partners in Curriculum Design
Ever wonder what your unit would look like if students designed it? That’s a pretty radical idea – staff expertise and guidance is essential to the learning experience. But it is possible to partner with students to co-create and co-design your curriculum – what might that look like? In the CloudFirst CoDesign Project, we worked in partnership with Prakash, a Master of Business Analytics student, to identify opportunities for student involvement in curriculum design.
A Students Perspective of Microsoft Teams with Joan Sutherland & Rahul Masakorala
Collaboration is a hot topic in digital learning, particularly how it can be effectively applied as a learning strategy and to engage students, many of whom arrive with advanced digital experience and expectations. Joan Sutherland, Senior Education Developer sits down with Deakin student Rahul Masakorala, to explore his perspective of Microsoft Teams – the good, the bad, and otherwise.
Student Voice Series – Learning at Deakin University with Ella Longstaff
How do students feel about their learning experience at Deakin University? I’m Ella, a third-year communications student currently working as a communications support officer and student partner intern in Deakin Learning Futures. I went out and interviewed students on campus to hear about their experiences whilst studying here and how they feel about their learning at Deakin.
Student Voice Series #02 with Rahul Masakorala
Recently the DLE3 Project has welcomed a student partner as part of a DLF internship program to help investigate, analyse, trial and evaluate educational technologies across project streams. Rahul, as a new addition to our team, reflects on his time with us at DLF.
LATEST STORIES
Transitioning teaching online – Using Video Assessment
Transitioning our teaching online means we need to get creative about how we assess our students’ learning. Luckily there are some great alternatives to in-class tests and exams. A key challenge for many people is ensuring academic integrity while moving assessments online. Following on from CRADLE’s Ensuring academic integrity and assessment security with redesigned online delivery – Digital Assessments guide, we have put together some suggestions on using video assessments.
Transitioning Teaching Online – Supporting Virtual Teams
As we progress through our transition online many of you may need to facilitate team work virtually. Virtual teamwork can be a positive experience for students, yet it comes with unique challenges. You play a key role in supporting students to recognise these challenges, devise solutions and see the benefits of working collaboratively online. To help you do this, we have created the Top 10 practical strategies you can implement in your unit to support students to develop the online teamwork skills that are so important in this current time.
Building resilience in times of challenge – support for staff and students
In these challenging times, where we are all navigating daily uncertainty and change, supporting ourselves, our students and our colleagues becomes an important priority. You may find the following sites helpful for yourself or to share with students and colleagues.
Transitioning Teaching Online – Supporting Invigilated Online Exams
All unit teaching teams have been asked to move their T1 assessments online. Further information and a decision helper guide has been prepared by Deakin’s Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning (CRADLE) to assist unit chairs transitioning from exams to other forms of assessments. If units currently hold end of trimester exams, unit chairs have been asked to decide if this exam can be redesigned as an alternative assessment. In exceptional circumstances some invigilated online exams will be considered.
Transitioning Teaching Online – Online seminars using Blackboard Collaborate Ultra
Many of you will be using Blackboard Collaborate Ultra (BBC Ultra) to conduct online synchronous seminars with your students in the coming weeks. For some of you this may be an entirely new teaching experience and require you to shift the way you structure and deliver content. To assist all staff with delivery online we have put together a Top 10 Tips list for how you can create high value, interactive seminars using the tools in BBC Ultra.
Transitioning Teaching Online – Engaging Students in Discussion Forums
Learning is a social activity – we learn through talking through problems or topics with other people, hearing new ideas and perspectives, and clarifying our own ideas and misconceptions. It’s why we facilitate discussions in our (on-campus and online) classrooms and encourage students to work in teams. As we transition our teaching online in response to the COVID-19 crisis, you might be wondering how you’re going to facilitate similar social interactions online. We’ve put together a checklist of practical things you can do to engage students in the discussion forums.
Inclusive teaching tips: Supporting students transitioning online
While we continue to transition our students online during this period of change we can’t assume the transition will be equally smooth for all. Planning can help you support students who may have health concerns, financial difficulties and less than ideal study conditions at home. Some will have been feeling anxious about whether they belonged at university and around one-quarter will have some kind of underlying mental health condition that may be exacerbated right now.
Ensuring academic integrity and assessment security with redesigned online delivery
The following guide is designed to assist unit chairs with redesigning assessment, to suit fully online delivery, without invigilated exams. Some assessments can easily move to online delivery or submission some assessment will need to be redesigned to ensure that quality and rigour are maintained.
Practical strategies for online teaching – What teachers need now!
With things moving at such a frantic pace, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and not know where to begin as our on-campus teaching moves online next week. We have developed the following checklist of practical strategies that you can implement immediately to prepare students for success and guide their learning over the short term as you become more comfortable teaching online. The checklist has been aligned to Deakin’s CloudFirst Learning Design Principles, but specifically provides practical strategies for teaching online in the given COVID-19 context where temporary remote delivery of on-campus teaching is required at short notice.
Transforming Digital Learning short online course – Free upgrade
Deakin’s free two-week course on Transforming Digital Learning is now open for six months with a free digital upgrade on FutureLearn to support anyone who wants to acquire a range of practical strategies in transitioning to online learning. This course is particularly relevant for those ‘pivoting’ their practice due to the COVID-19 pandemic, challenging and changing the landscape of digital learning.