Faculty Online Instruction and Distance Learning: Teaching Tools and Online Assignments

Article Discovery

• Using appropriate databases, students find articles about a given topic, posting in a discussion forum along with a brief summary.
• Students may also be required to comment on a certain number of other articles, demonstrating that they have read articles/summaries posted by their peers.

Fishbowl

• Students practice a skill under peer review and audience using Blog or Forum feature in Canvas.  Assignment ideas here and here.  

Digital Storytelling

• Students lay out a storyboard with a plan for a narrative using photos and video.  Using voiceover, they tell a story on any given topic, then create a final short video to share.  A few guides here: TCEA.

Glossary Building

• Use google docs or create a page in Canvas to build a resource where they share information with one another. You can set it so all students can edit a page.
• Assignments could be to find a picture and describe/analyze, find a website and summarize, define terms, chapter and concept summaries, create entry and peer assessment, or develop Q and A study guide.

Graphics and Posters

• Students create an interesting infographic, poster, pictogram, or image to share.
• Canva and Pictographic are useful sites for this.  Canva even has a list of teaching ideas and lesson plans to use with the app.

Online Scavenger Hunt

• Students are given a website or list of sites, and a set of questions for which they must find the answer.
• A great assignment for familiarizing students with websites in a particular discipline.

Presentations

• Ask students to make a presentation using PowerPoint with voiceover, screencasting, or by making an instructional video.  Then, after they share it online, ask the rest of the class to pose a question about the presentation or respond with constructive criticism.  This can be done using Discussions in Canvas.

Share the News

• Using appropriate news sources, students share a link to an article and give a summary using blog or forum feature in Moodle.
• Website Paper.li allows students to easily create a newspaper-style page using content from a variety of popular news sources, magazines, and social media.

Website Sharing

• Students look for useful websites in the discipline and share them.
• Sites can be posted on a shared page or a discussion in Canvas.  Can be done in Moodle with Blog, Forum, or Glossary tools.  Another useful tool is symbaloo.

Writing Assignments

• Journals, reflection essays, and written responses are all appropriate online activities that can be assigned and submitted using the assignment activity in Canvas.
• Writing assignments can be uploaded, graded, and returned on Moodle in various ways (as attachments, inline text).  Rubrics can be helpful to define how students will be graded. 

Video or Podcast and Discussion Questions

• Students are given discussion questions to answer after watching video content or listening to a podcast.  To find helpful content, see the "content support" box and streaming media on this page.
• Responses can be submitted a number of ways in Canvas, using assignment, quiz, or discussion tool. 

More Great Resources for Online Assignments

• U of Illinois

New to online instruction at Trinity? Get ready to ACT and STAR with Katie the Moodle Lady's tips:

ACT first.

Assess the learning goals for the next few weeks and pick the most important ones on which to focus. 

Resources for Rapid Remote Learning

Communicate the plan to your students. 

Send Email in Moodle | Post Announcements |  Add Text on Course Page

Test your technology in advance for any synchronous options. Microphones, computers, and cameras, oh, my! 

Meet Google Meet | Remote Technology Preparedness | Computer Recommendations
 

Then, you are ready to shine and be the STAR!

Share your knowledge with your students. 

Upload Files | Record Lectures | Provide Links |  Lecture Online

Turn it around--let your students share their knowledge. 

Online Discussion Board/Forum Activity | Collaborative Glossaries | Online Peer Assessment

Assess your students. 

Collect Papers Online | Quizzes* | Info Pages with Questions Between

Review the assessments with students. 

Gradebook* | Google Meet for Small Meetings

*If you are not enrolled in these resource courses in Moodle, please submit a Moodle Support Help Desk ticket and request access.

Create Video Lectures or Live Video/Chat

• Powerpoint with Voiceover (Microsoft online help or video tutorial)
• Videoconferencing with Google Meet
• Record your Google Meet sessions
• Videos and screen recordings with Screencast-o-matic (free) 

Streaming Video

• Streaming video with Kanopy, the library's subscription streaming service, featuring a superior collection of dramatic film, documentaries, and learning videos
• More video with TedTalks, YouTube, Vimeo, TeacherTube, and video lectures with CosmoLearning, MentorMob, VideoLectures 
• Documentaries at Top Documentary Films

• Source sets on a variety of topics at History.com and Library of Congress
• Online lessons/courses at Khan Academy (target audience is primary and high school, but many useful lessons for university-level instruction)
• News archives at NBC Learn and breaking news headlines at 1st Headlines
• Teaching Channel
• TedEd for creating lessons around Ted Talks or YouTube videos.

Use the Moodle to force students to space out work on a large project.  This works very well for a paper, slideshow presentation, video, or art project / infographic that they might present.  Give them a rubric for each item they must turn in, each by a given date.  They can turn in the following:

• General idea - short summary of idea for their project 
• Bibliography - find a given number of specified resources (journal articles, books, websites, etc.) they plan to use with a brief summary of each
• Outline and/or Abstract - offer main points that will be covered and plan for overall structure of project
• Visual aid (optional) - if project is for student to demonstrate an infographic, work of art, or narrated video/PowerPoint, this is the visual for the project (for example, the actual slides, the infographic, or the work of art).
• Full Text - complete text that will either be part of a paper (rough draft), script for narration to go with a PowerPoint or Video
• Final Project - final essay, final video with narration

The assessment for each part of the assignment can be as simple as a check for "complete/incomplete" or can be a more detailed rubric.

Once the final project is complete, have the rest of the students in the class engage with the project by creating one or two questions for the presenter in a discussion forum.  Alternatively, you can ask your presenter to create an assessment tool such as an online quiz, a survey using Moodle/Google forms, or a game in Kahoot.