e-learning: Notes for teachers

Contents

• Advice for Distance-Learning
• Copyright aspects
• Video conferencing in teaching/ webinars
• Online whiteboards
• Additional software
• Further support

The following hints for teachers are intended as a complementary addition to the central hints on e-learning of the Servicecenter Lehre as well as for the specific situation at the Department of Organic Agricultural Sciences.

When converting an existing face-to-face course into an online course, the focus should not only be on the technology, but also on the teaching/learning relationship between teachers and learners.

A face-to-face event cannot simply be replaced by a digital "live lecture". Moreover, it cannot be assumed that all students will have stable Internet access and terminal devices at their disposal. Therefore, please do not primarily plan virtual face-to-face events, e.g., via video conferencing systems with your students, but use asynchronous formats (e.g., instructional videos, annotated slides) as much as possible. The great advantage of asynchronous online teaching is that students can learn regardless of location or time. Please make use of this advantage.
Nevertheless, in order to give students a certain planning security and structure in the summer semester, it is advisable to primarily use the scheduled time slots for your courses according to the timetable and to enable an interactive exchange with the students and queries e.g. via a chat, a discussion forum, the posting of assignments, or for small groups also a  video conference. We also consider it particularly important to maintain the timetable as far as possible because we have a complex semester structure at the department with different courses and many lecturers/lecturers, and a lot of confusion and uncertainty is to be expected or would lead to a high coordination effort if the times are completely abolished.

Advice for Distance-Learning

For the successful design of e-learning content, the motivation of the learners is of particular importance (the worm must taste good to the fish, not to the angler). Only if interest is aroused and maintained can learning be successful. Based on the assumption that some form of recording (video, audio, annotated slides, screen recordings) will be used for the most part, there are some differences to be noted compared to traditional teaching formats:

• Learners can pause and repeat the recording at any time, as well as skip it.
• The recordings cannot be quickly skimmed to check for relevant content, important information, etc.
• We recommend using dosed recorded instructional videos and supplementing them, for example, with assignments or reading lists from the library's online offerings. Also possible are annotated PowerPoint presentations, which are usually easy to create from existing presentations. In distance learning, the scope that is conducive to learning should be taken into account. A unit for information transfer should be max. 20-30 min and, if possible, be thematically delimited.
• If, for example, an event lasts two hours in face-to-face teaching, this does not mean that a two-hour recording is necessary. In face-to-face teaching, the auditorium present is addressed, questions are answered, etc., 2-way communication takes place. Recording formats are different, here it is a 1-way communication. You can definitely expect less time for the online presentation compared to the face-to-face teaching. However, additional "aids" must be available for this.
• Create a content overview in text form for each recording with the indication of topic and skip mark. E.g.:
  Topic 1 (0:00); Topic 2 (7:15), Topic x (19:41) etc.
• Provide important information (dates, literature, links,...) additionally in text form, these are otherwise very difficult to find again.
• For the teaching record you can use Panopto. All interested teachers can write an email to the Service Center Teaching, for which course they plan to record, then a suitable event folder will already be created there. Teachers have to register once in the system and install the program. Online training courses are offered by the SCL. Recording a Panopto training course
• Teaching recordings via Panopto are possible in the following rooms at the department: Large Assembly Hall, Small Assembly Hall, H1 and H13. The necessary headset is in the adjoining room in the Large Assembly Hall, and in the desk drawer in the Small Assembly Hall. In H1 and H13, the ceiling microphone must be turned on.
• When planning online teaching, start by identifying the key module objectives and providing appropriate self-study materials (scripts, PPT, texts, etc.). Focus on the essentials.
• For online teaching, the Moodle learning platform should be used by default. The Moodle course should be well structured. Start with a welcome text, formalities about the course and usage notes. Then structure the Moodle course along the learning content. Panopto recordings can be incorporated directly into the Moodle course. Other videos can be published in Moodle with a link. This eliminates significant required storage space in Moodle as well as long download times for students. Students watch as a livestream.
• Information transfer should be linked to an activating task. This can be designed to be repetitive, continuing, promoting transfer or reflective. In Moodle it is also possible to create and evaluate tests. If possible, the tasks should be designed in a way that alternates between individual and group work.
• Learners should be given regular feedback, preferably visible to all, in a Moodle forum.  Interactions are especially important. This ensures that learners are actively and intensively engaged with the topic - and that what they have learned sticks better. Set the forum subscription from "optional" to "automatic". This way, learners will receive an email every time a new post is made. They can decide for themselves if they want to change the forum back to "otional".
• The materials for teaching should be made available to the students piece by piece from week to week, so that the students have to deal with the contents over several weeks, just like in a face-to-face event.
• Learning should also be fun - even at university. With playful elements and a reward principle, you activate the motivation of the learners and even strengthen their self-confidence through small, immediately visible successes. In Moodle, the components of the "HotPot" activity can be used for this purpose.

Copyright aspects

When uploading materials, please be aware of the following:

• Up to 15% of the content can be scanned from a textbook and made available to students as a PDF on the learning platform as part of a course.
• Up to 15% of a film, e.g. from a media library, can be made available to students on the learning platform. References to online video platforms, e.g. Youtube or the media libraries of public broadcasters are always permitted.
• Full use is permitted for works of small volume. For example, articles from a journal can be scanned in their entirety and made available to students.

At this point we would like to point out the offer of the university library to have e-books procured via the university library. Please only provide references that are available online.

Video conferencing in teaching/ webinars

The University of Kassel provides the tool Zoom. An initial registration before use is necessary. The program has the following functions, for example: Through the "Share Screen" feature, you can share and discuss your PowerPoint, documents, or photos with students. You can also give the moderation to a participant* so that this person can share his/her presentation with the group. For groups of more than ten people, we recommend that participants turn off their microphones and videos and only turn them on for questions and discussion. By opening the chat function, participants (even those whose microphone is not working) can write questions or contributions to the discussion.

The data protection regulations have been adapted for the University of Kassel. The tool is suitable for online events with up to 300 participants and for forming/moderating subgroups in online seminars. German-language tutorials for Zoom: https://support.zoom.us/hc/de/articles/206618765-Zoom-Video-Tutorials?flash_digest=7789e31a51949dcfada4c7ded7b81d48e45dd9dc

Recording a video conference or webinar is basically possible through the programs. As soon as you press the record button, all participants* are informed and must confirm that they agree. Otherwise they will be excluded from the video conference.

Technical requirements and communication rules for videoconferencing: here.

For exams, only Zoom may be used for confidential meetings.

Online Whiteboards

The University of Kassel provides the tool Collaboard for this purpose. Initial registration prior to use is required.

Additional Software

If videos are too big, you can transform them with the freeware "Handbrake"(https://handbrake.fr).

For editing audio tracks, the freeware "Audacity"(https://www.audacity.de) is a good choice.

Both programs are available for Windows, Mac and Linux and also have a German language version.

Create the final audio recordings in mp3 format(audio formats). The final file size depends on various factors or settings(https://www.podcast.de/faq/antwort-36-Welche+Fileigr%C3%B6%C3%9Fen+result+in+the+MP3+files%3F/). A rough approximation is 1 MB per minute.

Further support

We would like to draw your attention to the services offered by the central institutions. The Service Center Teaching offers a telephone consultation on Moodle and webinars on various topics: https://www.uni-kassel.de/einrichtung/index.php?id=1257