This is where I share my techniques and tools for teaching, presenting and running workshops online.
Having the same structure across multiple days (and communicating that structure well before) helps students prepare, creates reasonable expectations and makes it easier for you to select content.
After inspiration from Alastair Somerville, and some of my own experimentation, I have landed in a structure that works well for me. In general, mornings are teacher-directed and afternoons are self-directed, but with content and structure provided by me.
A full day (9-16) looks something like this:
Clear, structured and accessible information is always key to success. Having a single point-of-entry to all information related to the course or workshop makes your teaching more efficient and minimises the need for ongoing support.
Landing page / course site.
A web-based curriculum and content library will be hugely appreciated by all students. They visit a website to find things like:
Setting up a course web may be a significant effort the first time around, but the value it creates for you and your students is worth it many times over.
One thing I do as well is list a number of different scenarios and use-cases that can be used in exercises.
The only way to know if your message is getting across, if students are confused, if there is something you should focus more on, if there is something working really well that could be extended... is to listen.
Here are a few ways I listen:
A selection of feedback paths such as this gives opportunity for different types of learners to approach me and for everyone to learn by listening to questions from others.
Things change, new stuff comes up, guest speakers cancel... you never know what will happen. To reach students both when I need to alert them about administrative changes and when I've read a relevant news story or discovered an enlightening documentary, I use a newsletter service.
To stay top of mind I've sent out 1-2 newsletters per week to the students with both valuable new information and reminders about deadlines and preparations.
I always use the classname as a hashtag in subject lines, which allows students to search for that hashtag to find everything from me related to the course.
Students are allowed to sign up for this newsletter with any e-mail address, and are not limited to the school-assigned e-mail, which I know not all students check regularly.
Get comfortable. While you may be enticed by my setup it's more important that you feel comfortable with the setup you're using, both physically and skilfully. I am a tech nerd, which is why I probably have tried everything...
Again, I have used and tried many different services and software solutions and am prone to change when new ones pop up. Focus on using stuff that helps you be a better teacher.
I try to avoid services that track users and strive to support European companies and smaller startups.
Per Axbom writes and teaches on ethics in design, digital justice and responsible innovation. This also means helping people make more considered decisions. You can subscribe to his newsletter to keep receiving more of his ideas and learnings.