In moments of contingency, where partial or total suspension of activities on Campus is inevitable, we recommend the following actions to give academic continuity to your teaching practice:
Get ready for your web conference classes:
- Check the proper functioning of your computer, webcam, headphones and microphone. To ensure that your audio is free from ambient noise, it is important that you use headphones (headset or hands-free) at all times.
- Make sure you have a stable Internet connection at the location where you are going to broadcast your class.
- Download the web conference app on your computer and register with your institutional email.
- Practice using web conference in advance.
Be prepared to communicate with your students:
- Select an alternate means of communication (WhatsApp, Slack, Remind) through which you will be in contact with your students, in addition to the officials.
- Share previously, through the technological platform (Canvas or Blackboard) or any other means of communication, the information that your students require to resume classes (web conference link, access instructions, previous activities, materials to be reviewed in class, etc.)
Prepare yourself with resources, materials and active learning dynamics:
- Create diverse and dynamic activities for the web conference sessions.
- Find support materials for the class such as: videos, readings, web pages, among others.
- Record your own videos following the recommendations and tutorials that you will find in the VideoLabTec site.
Inform yourself and be empathic
- Read carefully the guidelines that were defined to ensure the academic continuity of the school programs of our institution during the suspension of classes and its consequent activation in digital format, derived from the health contingency associated with the Coronavirus COVID-19 (See section on Guidelines).
- Remember to keep in constant contact with your Department Director for any questions or follow-up.
- Plan a time in your first class to generate empathy and tranquility.
In a flexible and digital model, you have the opportunity to interact and share content in two formats:
- Synchronous format: There are professor and students in the same digital space, for this, you can use the web conference tools such as Zoom.
- Asynchronous format: The professor generates contents (videos, readings, audios) for the students and they are uploaded in the technological platform Canvas or Blackboard.
Review the advantages and disadvantages of each of these formats below to make a decision:
Synchronous format
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
| 1. Proximity between students and professors, which creates a feeling of community and reduces the isolation feeling.
2. More responsive interaction between students and professors, avoiding miscommunication or misunderstandings. |
1. Challenging due to the need to plan the session in detail.
2. Challenging in case the student has any technical problem, which would imply thinking of a plan B to support them. |
Asynchronous format
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
| 1. More flexibility, guaranteeing a more accessible learning experience for students.
2. More cognitive engagement, as students will have more time to explore the material |
1. Low interaction between classmates and professors.
2. Course material can be misinterpreted. |
When planning your course, make this decision by asking yourself: “will this content / activity be done in class by web conference (synchronous), through a discussion group (asynchronous) or will it be sent in video or reading format for the student to review outside of class?”
Know the current situation or status of your course, identify which objectives/competencies, classes, contents, activities, evidence and evaluations will have to be modified and covered under this flexible and digital scheme (synchronous or asynchronous). Since it is not known how long the contingency will last, we recommend that you plan by the week or in short educational cycles.
According to the modifications or adjustments, you make update the calendar of your course in the platform and share it with your students.
Inform your students how you will be continuing classes and ask them to check their institutional mail frequently, as well as the message board of the institutional platforms (Canvas and Blackboard), so that they are informed of any changes. Also inform them about a second means of communication they will have (WhatsApp, Slack, Remind) and invite them to join.
In periods of academic continuity, it is very important to take full advantage of the technological platform to build the digital learning environment that will house content, tools and resources to support students.
It is essential that your course on the platform has spaces to share:
- Announcements
- Agenda / calendar
- Contents, resources and materials
- Recorded zoom classes
- Task and activity instructions
- Exams
- Ratings and feedback
In addition to communication channels (discussion forums and messaging) and spaces for the delivery of tasks and activities.
The Flexible and Digital Model is a learning model that integrates innovative teaching strategies and state-of-the-art technologies.
- It is flexible because it ensures that the teaching-learning process can be adjusted to different needs and situations regardless of time or space factors.
- It is digital because it takes advantage of educational technology to generate hybrid or distance learning experiences.
One of its main benefits is that it guarantees academic continuity through a flexible digital education strategy.
The model suggests the design of a flexible and digital learning experience that combines the following didactic components.
Modelo Flexible y Digital
Contents
- Readings
- Presentations
- Websites
- Infographics
- Videos
- Simulators
Interaction
- Live sessions based on active learning (videoconference).
- On-demand and distance consultancy.
- Integration of experts by videoconference.
Learning activities
In live sessions:
- Supervised activities.
- Collaborative work.
Remote assisted work:
- Self-directed individual work.
- Guided collaborative work.
- Interactive activities.
Evaluation
- Digital evaluation resources.
- Multimodal feedback (video, audio and/or text).
Technological tools
- Video conferencing tools for remote interaction.
- Technological platforms for content management.
- Technological applications for active learning.
The main scopes of this model are:
- Ease of continuing to teach the classes (web conference).
- Flexibility to carry out the live sessions (classes) from any location. The student and the professor can physically be anywhere with Internet access (home, another campus, inside or outside the country, etc.)
- Monitoring, accompaniment, advice and feedback from the professor through remote interaction tools.
- Availability of support resources to learn the contents (videos, web pages, explanations, etc.)
- Development of active learning in web conference sessions, as well as in remote assisted work.
- Use of state-of-the-art educational technology to generate hybrid or distance learning experiences.
