Viviana Pezzullo, graduate teaching assistant and PhD candidate at Florida Atlantic University, relies on simplicity and human connection to reach her students during the transition to virtual instruction.

Viviana Pezzullo, a graduate teaching assistant at Florida Atlantic University (FAU), started the spring 2020 semester excited for the opportunity to teach an Introduction to World Literature course.

“Teaching literature is what I really love,” says Pezzullo. “It’s what I want to do at the end of this, after all.”

When Pezzullo, who grew up in Italy, studied in France, and worked in Poland, decided to pursue her PhD in Comparative Studies, she made the journey to Florida. FAU’s approach to teaching and learning, which includes providing graduate students the ability to teach and giving instructors the ability to try new approaches and techniques, appealed to Pezzullo, who hopes to pursue a career in education. “I wanted the pedological experience, and I knew that teaching as a graduate student would help my growth as an educator,” she explains.

Little did she realize that so soon into her teaching career, a pandemic would force her to rethink what she knew about instruction. While one of the language courses she was teaching was already online, she had to switch her Intro to World Literature course to an online model.

“My first instinct was to figure out how to maintain that same level of energy I have in that face-to-face class,” she says. “I have a very active group of students who, like me, were sad to not be in the classroom environment anymore. During the move to virtual learning, I tried to keep things as simple as possible, recognizing this transition was hard for them, too.”

Pezzullo, an ACUE-credentialed instructor, looked for ways to apply what she’s learned in her effective teaching practices course into her virtual classroom—starting with checking in with her students and asking them for feedback on how to adjust assignments in the most effective way.

“I decided to reach out to all my students in a survey to let me know by name how they are doing, where they are, if they have their own computer or if they have to share with a family member, if they are still working — practical questions like that,” Pezzullo explains. “I wanted to be able to personally reach out to my students who are struggling.”

One student, for example, responded to say she was having a hard time and was worried about completing the work since she has difficulty with reading. Pezzullo decided to record herself reading the text and sent the recording to that student to make the transition less stressful.

There were other tools Pezzullo tried to pull out from her ACUE “toolkit” as well. For instance, since classroom participation made up a significant percentage of her students’ grades, she had to rethink how they could receive credit for virtual participation, implementing both video and written discussion.

“I developed a checklist that also serves as a rubric to share with my students that shows what they need to do to earn their participation grade—including engaging in comments through videos and providing thoughtful responses to other students,” she says.

Additionally, she created bi-weekly video announcements that communicate upcoming deadlines, answer questions she regularly receives through emails, and recognize students who have provided helpful contributions to the class’ virtual discussions. Pezzullo has found providing audio feedback while grading students’ textual analysis has been helpful in not only saving her time but also giving her the opportunity to offer her students actionable pieces of advice to address specific areas in her grading rubric.

“I think the most common mistake people make when trying to transition to online teaching is to try to replicate what they would do in the classroom, and that’s just not possible,” Pezzullo says. “So I did all I could do to simplify my assignments and instruction, while also trying to incorporate some of the activities my students enjoyed in class.”

Viviana Pezzullo is an ACUE-credentialed graduate teaching assistant in the Department of Languages, Linguistics and Comparative Literature and a PhD Candidate in Comparative Studies at Florida Atlantic University.

Together with Active Minds, we are pleased to announce a new resource designed to help college and university faculty support student wellbeing and mental health. Creating a Culture of Caring, released April 9, provides practical approaches that faculty members can implement in the everyday.

Viviana Pezzullo, graduate teaching assistant and PhD candidate at Florida Atlantic University, relies on simplicity and human connection to reach her students during the transition to virtual instruction.

Viviana Pezzullo, a graduate teaching assistant at Florida Atlantic University (FAU), started the spring 2020 semester excited for the opportunity to teach an Introduction to World Literature course.

“Teaching literature is what I really love,” says Pezzullo. “It’s what I want to do at the end of this, after all.”

When Pezzullo, who grew up in Italy, studied in France, and worked in Poland, decided to pursue her PhD in Comparative Studies, she made the journey to Florida. FAU’s approach to teaching and learning, which includes providing graduate students the ability to teach and giving instructors the ability to try new approaches and techniques, appealed to Pezzullo, who hopes to pursue a career in education. “I wanted the pedological experience, and I knew that teaching as a graduate student would help my growth as an educator,” she explains. 

Little did she realize that so soon into her teaching career, a pandemic would force her to rethink what she knew about instruction. While one of the language courses she was teaching was already online, she had to switch her Intro to World Literature course to an online model.

“My first instinct was to figure out how to maintain that same level of energy I have in that face-to-face class,” she says. “I have a very active group of students who, like me, were sad to not be in the classroom environment anymore. During the move to virtual learning, I tried to keep things as simple as possible, recognizing this transition was hard for them, too.”

Pezzullo looked for ways to apply what she’s learned in her effective teaching practices course into her virtual classroom—starting with checking in with her students and asking them for feedback on how to adjust assignments in the most effective way.

“I decided to reach out to all my students in a survey to let me know by name how they are doing, where they are, if they have their own computer or if they have to share with a family member, if they are still working — practical questions like that,” Pezzullo explains. “I wanted to be able to personally reach out to my students who are struggling.”

One student, for example, responded to say she was having a hard time and was worried about completing the work since she has difficulty with reading. Pezzullo decided to record herself reading the text and sent the recording to that student to make the transition less stressful.

There were other tools Pezzullo tried to pull out from her ACUE “toolkit” as well. For instance, since classroom participation made up a significant percentage of her students’ grades, she had to rethink how they could receive credit for virtual participation, implementing both video and written discussion.

“I developed a checklist that also serves as a rubric to share with my students that shows what they need to do to earn their participation grade—including engaging in comments through videos and providing thoughtful responses to other students,” she says.

Additionally, she created bi-weekly video announcements that communicate upcoming deadlines, answer questions she regularly receives through emails, and recognize students who have provided helpful contributions to the class’ virtual discussions. Pezzullo has found providing audio feedback while grading students’ textual analysis has been helpful in not only saving her time but also giving her the opportunity to offer her students actionable pieces of advice to address specific areas in her grading rubric. 

“I think the most common mistake people make when trying to transition to online teaching is to try to replicate what they would do in the classroom, and that’s just not possible,” Pezzullo says. “So I did all I could do to simplify my assignments and instruction, while also trying to incorporate some of the activities my students enjoyed in class.”

Viviana Pezzullo is an ACUE-credentialed graduate teaching assistant in the Department of Languages, Linguistics and Comparative Literature and a PhD Candidate in Comparative Studies at Florida Atlantic University.

Resilient Faculty Series

We’re inspired—but in no way surprised—by the countless stories of faculty going above and beyond to help one another and ensure that students keep learning.

Over the coming weeks, we’ll be highlighting the extraordinary leadership of educators from every region in the country to honor and celebrate the amazing work of #ResilientFaculty. You can find these stories at https://acue.org/stories.

We want to hear from you! Send in your stories on social media with the hashtag #ResilientFaculty or tag @ACUE_HQ. You can also email us at [email protected] Or, directly contact a member of the ACUE team.

Together with Active Minds, we are pleased to announce a new resource designed to help college and university faculty support student wellbeing and mental health. Creating a Culture of Caring, released April 9, provides practical approaches that faculty members can implement in the everyday.

In the wake of higher education’s unprecedented migration to remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for guidance on delivering quality teaching online has never been more urgent.

“I’d like to cheer for the heroic effort faculty across the country have made to support students in online learning in a very short time,” said Susan Cates, CEO of ACUE. The final installment of our Effective Online Instruction webinar series, Engaging Students in Readings and Microlectures, took place on April 20, 2020, and featured experts Ludwika Goodson, Catherine Haras, and Flower Darby. ACUE’s Kevin Kelly moderated the webinar.

Presented in collaboration with the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), the Association of Public & Land-Grant Universities (APLU), the National Association of System Heads (NASH), the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), and the American Council on Education (ACE), each webinar in the series examined a different facet of delivering online instruction effectively.

Focusing on microlectures, Goodson told the story of an engineering instructor who complained that students were asking questions that were answered in an 18-minute presentation he’d created. He realized that the microlecture simply wasn’t holding their attention, so he began creating shorter presentations and giving students more guidance on why the information in it was important.

In fact, Goodson advised delivering content in “short bursts,” with each microlecture lasting 1-6 minutes. “How long can you walk and talk?” she asked, referencing Michael Wesch and explaining that students often gravitate toward the “micro” version of anything.

Attention spans, she continued, just aren’t what they used to be, thanks to the distractions present today. She was reminded of longtime educator Linda Nilson, who told her that when she taught in the 1970s, students faithfully completed all the assigned readings, but later on, this was no longer the case. Nilson began using “reading wrappers” containing the most salient points in the readings to assess what — and whether — students had learned from them. Goodson suggested having students respond to questions before and after microlectures and readings, including “What was the most important point?” and “What did you find most difficult?”

“The learning improves,” Goodson said. “This may be the spark they need for feeling good about the material they’re studying.”

“Folks are very distracted now,” Haras agreed. “It’s a very good time to read. It’s a destresser and improves attention spans.”

“Even unsupervised reading is very effective,” she noted. “How do we supervise reading so it’s even more effective?”

She encouraged instructors to think of it as “a way to have a social presence online,” while noting the importance of discussing the readings they assign. “Think about golden lines,” she said. “Interact with reading in a personal way.”

Ultimately, Haras explained, instructors need to show students how to think. She suggested asking students to share what they didn’t understand and floated the possibility of giving quizzes on assigned readings, too.

“If you want students to dig in, you need accountability and structure,” Darby added. She showed an example of a Eukaryotic Cell Component Worksheet and a fill-in-the-blank concept map created by her colleagues at Northern Arizona University, which students complete for points. While the assignments don’t need to significantly affect students’ grades, they should carry some sort of incentive for completion.

“Give students small pieces of content they can meaningfully engage with,” Darby said.

As the semester wears on, she continued, students might no longer need a points system to complete the assignments. However, instructors should include some sort of messaging about the value of the work even if they’re not required to do it — such as how the strategies can be applied to all their courses.

In the Q and A portion of the webinar, the experts addressed how to work with students who find reading unpleasant and challenging.

“It’s a deeply metacognitive act,” Haras said. “The secret sauce is helping students draw connections.

“It’s important to take a step back and realize the students may not be like us,” Darby added. She pointed to José Bowen, who noted that “we’re the weird ones” as people who made learning their careers.

“Finding meaning in whatever they’re reading is very important,” added Goodson. “Find ways for them to look for meaning.”

You can watch the complete webinar, read a transcript from the event, access resources, and join the discussion via the Engaging Students in Readings and Microlectures page. Don’t forget to check out recordings of our previous webinars, too!

For faculty looking to delve further into online learning strategies, check out ACUE’s micro-credential courses.

“I think video is a huge piece of our experience as professors,” Michael Wesch said in the webinar, “Recording Effective Microlectures.” Wesch joined his fellow expert Viji Sathy and moderator Kim Middleton in the fifth installment of ACUE’s Effective Online Instruction webinar series, presented in collaboration with the American Council on Education (ACE), the Association of Public & Land-Grant Universities (APLU), the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), and the National Association of System Heads (NASH).

As part of his presentation, Wesch shared a short, prerecorded video on how to make a microlecture, appropriately enough, including tips such as how he uses duct tape to hold the camera steady. He also had his wife and sons join him onscreen, noting, “The more you can build a social presence, the better the learning.” Approachability, he said, is crucial, and showing students elements of your life and surroundings will “humanize” you as an instructor.

To that end, he urged instructors to “try connecting rather than performing.”

“You have to give 125% when you do this,” he added, noting inherent barriers to delivering microlectures, rather than teaching in person. He suggested keeping the five Rs in mind: reason, relevance, resonance, and rhythm.

Sathy encouraged instructors to keep the purpose of the microlecture in mind when creating the video. “Ask yourself, ‘Is a video necessary?’ What are you trying to accomplish?”

You don’t have to make everything yourself, she continued; moreover, you can choose a different format from a video, such as a podcast, if the material is best suited to one. You also don’t have to appear on the screen; Sathy noted this can prevent some faculty from making videos at all.

If you do decide to make a video, Sathy said, keep them short — no longer than 4-5 minutes. “It’s important to think about the connection this fosters with students,” she said. She, for example, shares a short, 3-minute clip about standard deviation and annotates over the slides during the video. That way, students can see how she’s working through the problem and learn from it. Sathy also embeds pretest and practice questions in the video to give students a chance to interact with it.

Microlectures, Sathy noted, are a great way to unload content you don’t particularly enjoy teaching. “I hate calculating standard deviation,” she said. “This way, I’ll never have to do it again.”

Some participants wondered if microlectures have different applications and benefits depending on the discipline. Sathy said that it’s certainly helpful in math courses — students benefit from being able to watch their instructors work through problems. It’s also an “opportunity to give our knowledge and lens and which we see the world to others” if you make that content available to the wider public.

Wesch, who teaches anthropology, agreed that “there’s a real opportunity here to educate the public and share ideas more broadly.” For example, one effective video he made broached the topic of cultural racism. In it, Wesch walked around Kansas City and discussed the history of the Troost Wall. “It turned out to be an important, controversial video that sparked conversation.”

“Start small, but dream big,” Wesch advised faculty. Sathy added, “Be kind to yourself as you’re making these videos. It’s exhausting to do this work. Give yourself permission to feel tired.”

Watch the complete recorded webinar, read a full transcript, access resources, and join the conversation via our Recording Effective Microlectures page. For faculty looking to delve further into online learning strategies, check out ACUE’s micro-credential courses.

Moving courses online with little-to-no advance warning has presented myriad challenges to instructors and students alike. One particularly difficult aspect to recreate in a digital environment is discussions. In the webinar “Planning and Facilitating Quality Discussions,” experts Ludwika Goodson, Viji Sathy, and Flower Darby explored the advantages of an online setting and how to continue to have fruitful conversations in this forum.

This was the fourth installment of ACUE’s six-part series, Effective Online Instruction Webinars, presented in collaboration with the American Council on Education, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, the National Association of System Heads, American Association of State Colleges and Universities, and The Council of Independent Colleges.

Goodson noted that there are some benefits to holding discussions online. “You can see how students are thinking,” she said. She added that some of the more reluctant students are inclined to participate in this forum over an in-person one. She also advised setting up an online office and giving it a name that encourages students to frequent it, such as the “Jazz Lounge” or “Green Room,” as well as establishing a virtual study hall, where students can share difficulties and collaborate on solutions.

Goodson offered a series of principles for holding online discussions: communication guidelines; directions, questions, and challenges; wait time; and whether or not to grade. For example, in the first instance, she suggested that writing in all caps comes across as shouting.

Sathy, who teaches quantitative courses, noted that one challenge of transferring to an online format is keeping a peer-instruction component in place. To that end, she holds micro-discussions, in which students work together to solve a problem. She suggested including very specific prompts and providing structure so students are clear about what they should be doing.

“Students need to understand expectations,” she said.

Sathy also advised setting up a discussion forum for students to post and answer questions. This, she said, is especially useful for quieter students and those who feel self-conscious about asking questions in class. Instructors can “like” correct or helpful responses they see from other students.

“Think about access to questions,” Sathy added, explaining that if a student asks a question that others might have, the instructor should send the response to the entire class.

Darby agrees that discussions need structure and advises offering “all the support and guidance we can give students” possible.

Through online discussions, she opines, “we can interact with our students in the moment.” Her suggestions include exploring how students can relate to current events.

However, she cautions that online discussion don’t just happen naturally but require intentional thought and planning. Like her co-presenters, she encourages instructors to communicate clear expectations (“help students know exactly what you want them to do to foster success”), schedule strategically, and provide feedback. She suggests using rubrics or checklists to grade, such as Linda Nilson’s Specifications Grading approach.

In the question-and-answer portion of the webinar, many participants wondered how instructors can ensure that students are engaged, participating, and posing quality questions and answers.

Goodson commented that many LMSs allow instructors to see which students are participating and how often. As an instructor, she said you can also highlight what’s coming up in discussion and acknowledge what a student has said. “Ask another question to encourage deeper thinking,” she suggested. She also raised an example of a fashion design course, in which the instructor challenged students to search for their favorite design online and explain why they chose it, comparing it to the original examples.

“Focus on ‘discussable’ questions,” Darby added. She encouraged her colleagues to ask students to write about themselves and how their experiences interact with course concepts. This, she said, promotes “natural engagement” and fosters more authentic engagement, along with academic integrity. “You can’t Google your own experience,” she remarked. “Focus on the relevance of what we’re asking students to do.”

“We should be clear about why we expect engagement,” Sathy added. “What students stand to gain.”

“It’s important to consider all the ways students can participate.” For example, Sathy experiments with polling and repolling students after a discussion about the answers. She also makes poll questions available to students who aren’t able to participate synchronously and encourages students to text her with questions.

The presenters also discussed topics such as inclusivity and addressing hurtful comments and language in discussions. “ The instructor needs to create guidelines and remember that these comments are in writing,” Darby said. She suggested deleting particularly upsetting comments, as well as reaching out to the person who was targeted and the perpetrator.  “You need to make everyone feel safe.”

To watch the full webinar or read a transcript of the session, visit our Planning and Facilitating Quality Discussions resource page. You’ll also be able to access additional materials and join in the discussion. For faculty looking to delve further into online learning strategies, check out ACUE’s micro-credential courses.

“One of our biggest challenges is curating the online learning space in such a way that students feel confident that they’re going to be able to access all the resources needed to successfully complete their assignments,” said Alyson Snowe of the Community College of Rhode Island.

Showing a picture of an extremely messy office, she compared it to how students might feel when entering an online learning environment for the first time. “Expecting anyone to navigate our space would be unrealistic.”

The third installment of ACUE’s six-part Effective Online Instruction webinar series, presented in collaboration with the American Council on Education (ACE), the Association of Public & Land-Grant Universities (APLU), the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), and the National Association of System Heads (NASH), focused on Organizing Your Online Course. Snowe, April Mondy of Delta State University, and Michael Wesch of Kansas State University discussed how to plan your courses from a student’s perspective.

Snowe advised instructors to minimize the need for clicking and scrolling. She also reminded participants to establish the learning objectives upfront. “Students should know what they need to do and when and where they need to do it.”

Wesch agreed. “Keep everything clean,” he said. “You have to be thinking about not just organizing your class—you’re really organizing people’s lives.” He also advised faculty to get students away from their computer. “Your class is not online; those are just the instructions.”

That’s why Wesch handwrites and even draws out plans for his course and presents them during his video sessions. He also adds time estimates for assignments next to the pictures and instructions so students can plan ahead.

“Encourage them to do something outside of class,” he added. “Connect with someone. Something that benefits their mental health.”

Mondy reminded faculty of the stakes. “When students get frustrated in an online environment, that impacts their engagement. It also has an impact on their success if we’re unable to organize the class effectively.”

Acknowledging that every class is structured and formatted differently, Mondy advised instructors to organize them “with a sense of direction.” She offered a visual sequencing for organizing courses:

• What do I want my students to do first
• Where do I want my students to go next
• What do I want my students to avoid
• What do I want my students to do last

In discussing pitfalls, Wesch shared a digitized paper syllabus that he used early on in his teaching. Students, he said, would have to go find files referenced in the syllabus. Mondy, meanwhile, encouraged instructors to avoid being too “texty and wordy.” She suggested they find different media for sharing content, such as videos and images.

In terms of engagement and “outsmarting” students who might skip over the content to the assignments, Snowe encouraged instructors to “provide students with relevant, meaningful content. Many students are struggling to manage work and families, so I don’t assign anything that doesn’t have great value for students.” From the beginning, she tells students what they’re going to gain from the work.

Mondy even has her settings configured so students aren’t able to access the assignments until they’ve gone through the content.

“From the moment I started teaching online, I knew the bar had been raised tremendously in terms of how engaging my content needed to be,” Wesh agreed. “Create a culture of engagement—don’t just try to trick them.”

For more advice on how to organize your online course and a complete video and transcript of the webinar, visit our Organizing Your Online Course resource page. You can also share your own thoughts and ask the experts your questions.

For faculty looking to delve further into online learning strategies, check out ACUE’s micro-credential courses.

When she’s not teaching her courses, Flower Darby teaches pilates at her local gym. Once, when she was running to class behind schedule, she noticed a woman standing outside of the studio carrying a yoga mat and looking a little apprehensive. The lights weren’t on, the music wasn’t playing, and she wasn’t sure if she was in the right place at the right time.

“I think many times when students click into our online classrooms, they might feel that same way,” said Darby. “The lights are not on. The music is not playing….But let’s think today about how we create that ongoing sense of welcoming, so every time a student clicks into your online learning environment, they feel welcome, supported, valued, and appreciated. They see the lights are on, they hear that music playing, and they know they’re in the right place at the right time.”

Higher education has been forced to make an extraordinary transition to online learning in a matter of days, and many dedicated faculty are searching for guidance on how to make this shift as seamless as possible. In collaboration with The American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), The American Council on Education (ACE), The Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU), The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), and The National Association of System Heads (NASH), ACUE is offering a series of six webinars featuring nationally recognized experts in online teaching and learning to discuss best practices for ensuring quality online instruction for student success.

Our first webinar, Welcoming Students to your Online Environment, featured Darby, director of Teaching for Student Success at Northern Arizona University and author of Small Teaching Online; Michael Wesch, professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University and author of “Teaching Without Walls: 10 Tips for Online Teaching;” and Kevin Gannon, director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning and professor of History at Grand View University and author of Radical Hope: A Teaching Manifesto. Carmen Macharaschwili, regional academic director at ACUE, served as moderator.

Darby, Wesch, and Gannon engaged in a lively discussion, sharing how they strive to make students feel comfortable in an online learning environment. Wesch, for example, demonstrated how he uses a selfie-stick to hold his phone while teaching, walking through his home and pointing out his son and cat to humanize himself as an instructor. He urged fellow faculty to “find your why” and ask themselves “Who are my students? What do they need? What are their purposes?”

“Remember,” Wesch said. “It isn’t about you; it’s about your students. It’s about connecting.”

“Think about it from a student’s perspective,” Gannon agreed. He focused on how to invite students into online spaces, wondering, “What makes a space welcoming?” Pointing to a picture of the interactive children’s room at a museum in Washington, he noted that the layout is open and encourages people to play around. This, Gannon said, could serve as a guiding metaphor for online learning.

“Think of ways to curate the learning space,” he said. “What can they read, encounter, and engage with? The space has to be accessible.” Gannon’s suggestions included asking students to use actual photos instead of avatars and considering how to leverage audio and visual feedback rather than written for assignments.

“What are we saying to our students even when we’re not saying anything at all?” he asked.

During the Q&A portion, many participants asked about personalizing learning when teaching a large group. Wesch noted that one way he tackles this challenge is by using “low-level” assignments to allow students to express themselves, such as having students attempt to break a habit over the course of 28 days. This, he said, “ties into a larger discussion about who we are as human beings.”

Participants also wondered what they should do when students are disengaging.

Gannon urged instructors to use a “one size fits one” approach, such as reaching out to students personally and asking if they’re encountering problems and how the instructor can help. “Many students are not experienced online learners,” he noted, much as many faculty are not experienced online instructors.

To assist students with learning or access challenges, Darby reminded participants to “think about the complexities,” such as students who were sharing their computer with their family. “A lot of times, online students feel like they’re invisible,” she said, explaining the importance of discussing students’ needs based on their backgrounds and learning preferences.

Ultimately, the presenters agreed that despite the challenges, this transition would present plenty of opportunities. “Think about what the possibilities are,” Gannon said. “Think in different ways.”

Head over to our Welcoming Students to Your Online Environment resources page to watch a recording or read a full transcript of the webinar, join in the discussion, and discover more resources to help you transition your courses to an online environment, including the ACUE Online Teaching Toolkit.

“I think video is a huge piece of our experience as professors,” Michael Wesch said in the webinar, “Recording Effective Microlectures.” Wesch joined his fellow expert Viji Sathy and moderator Kim Middleton in the fifth installment of ACUE’s Effective Online Instruction webinar series, presented in collaboration with the American Council on Education (ACE), the Association of Public & Land-Grant Universities (APLU), the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), and the National Association of System Heads (NASH).

As part of his presentation, Wesch shared a short, prerecorded video on how to make a microlecture, appropriately enough, including tips such as how he uses duct tape to hold the camera steady. He also had his wife and sons join him onscreen, noting, “The more you can build a social presence, the better the learning.” Approachability, he said, is crucial, and showing students elements of your life and surroundings will “humanize” you as an instructor.

To that end, he urged instructors to “try connecting rather than performing.” 

“You have to give 125% when you do this,” he added, noting inherent barriers to delivering microlectures, rather than teaching in person. He suggested keeping the five Rs in mind: reason, relevance, resonance, and rhythm.

Sathy encouraged instructors to keep the purpose of the microlecture in mind when creating the video. “Ask yourself, ‘Is a video necessary?’ What are you trying to accomplish?”

You don’t have to make everything yourself, she continued; moreover, you can choose a different format from a video, such as a podcast, if the material is best suited to one. You also don’t have to appear on the screen; Sathy noted this can prevent some faculty from making videos at all.

If you do decide to make a video, Sathy said, keep them short — no longer than 4-5 minutes. “It’s important to think about the connection this fosters with students,” she said. She, for example, shares a short, 3-minute clip about standard deviation and annotates over the slides during the video. That way, students can see how she’s working through the problem and learn from it. Sathy also embeds pretest and practice questions in the video to give students a chance to interact with it.

Microlectures, Sathy noted, are a great way to unload content you don’t particularly enjoy teaching. “I hate calculating standard deviation,” she said. “This way, I’ll never have to do it again.”

Some participants wondered if microlectures have different applications and benefits depending on the discipline. Sathy said that it’s certainly helpful in math courses — students benefit from being able to watch their instructors work through problems. It’s also an “opportunity to give our knowledge and lens and which we see the world to others” if you make that content available to the wider public.

Wesch, who teaches anthropology, agreed that “there’s a real opportunity here to educate the public and share ideas more broadly.” For example, one effective video he made broached the topic of cultural racism. In it, Wesch walked around Kansas City and discussed the history of the Troost Wall. “It turned out to be an important, controversial video that sparked conversation.”

“Start small, but dream big,” Wesch advised faculty. Sathy added, “Be kind to yourself as you’re making these videos. It’s exhausting to do this work. Give yourself permission to feel tired.”

Watch the complete recorded webinar, read a full transcript, access resources, and join the conversation via our Recording Effective Microlectures page. For faculty looking to delve further into online learning strategies, check out ACUE’s micro-credential courses.

In the wake of higher education’s unprecedented migration to remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for guidance on delivering quality teaching online has never been more urgent. 

“I’d like to cheer for the heroic effort faculty across the country have made to support students in online learning in a very short time,” said Susan Cates, CEO of ACUE. The final installment of our Effective Online Instruction webinar series, Engaging Students in Readings and Microlectures, took place on April 20, 2020, and featured experts Ludwika Goodson, Catherine Haras, and Flower Darby. ACUE’s Kevin Kelly moderated the webinar.

Presented in collaboration with the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), the Association of Public & Land-Grant Universities (APLU), the National Association of System Heads (NASH), the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), and the American Council on Education (ACE), each webinar in the series examined a different facet of delivering online instruction effectively. 

Focusing on microlectures, Goodson told the story of an engineering instructor who complained that students were asking questions that were answered in an 18-minute presentation he’d created. He realized that the microlecture simply wasn’t holding their attention, so he began creating shorter presentations and giving students more guidance on why the information in it was important.

In fact, Goodson advised delivering content in “short bursts,” with each microlecture lasting 1-6 minutes. “How long can you walk and talk?” she asked, referencing Michael Wesch and explaining that students often gravitate toward the “micro” version of anything.

Attention spans, she continued, just aren’t what they used to be, thanks to the distractions present today. She was reminded of longtime educator Linda Nilson, who told her that when she taught in the 1970s, students faithfully completed all the assigned readings, but later on, this was no longer the case. Nilson began using “reading wrappers” containing the most salient points in the readings to assess what — and whether — students had learned from them. Goodson suggested having students respond to questions before and after microlectures and readings, including “What was the most important point?” and “What did you find most difficult?”

“The learning improves,” Goodson said. “This may be the spark they need for feeling good about the material they’re studying.”

“Folks are very distracted now,” Haras agreed. “It’s a very good time to read. It’s a destresser and improves attention spans.”

“Even unsupervised reading is very effective,” she noted. “How do we supervise reading so it’s even more effective?”

Haras described reading as:

She encouraged instructors to think of it as “a way to have a social presence online,” while noting the importance of discussing the readings they assign. “Think about golden lines,” she said. “Interact with reading in a personal way.”

Ultimately, Haras explained, instructors need to show students how to think. She suggested asking students to share what they didn’t understand and floated the possibility of giving quizzes on assigned readings, too.

“If you want students to dig in, you need accountability and structure,” Darby added. She showed an example of a Eukaryotic Cell Component Worksheet and a fill-in-the-blank concept map created by her colleagues at Northern Arizona University, which students complete for points. While the assignments don’t need to significantly affect students’ grades, they should carry some sort of incentive for completion.

“Give students small pieces of content they can meaningfully engage with,” Darby said.

As the semester wears on, she continued, students might no longer need a points system to complete the assignments. However, instructors should include some sort of messaging about the value of the work even if they’re not required to do it — such as how the strategies can be applied to all their courses. 

In the Q and A portion of the webinar, the experts addressed how to work with students who find reading unpleasant and challenging.

“It’s a deeply metacognitive act,” Haras said. “The secret sauce is helping students draw connections. 

“It’s important to take a step back and realize the students may not be like us,” Darby added. She pointed to José Bowen, who noted that “we’re the weird ones” as people who made learning their careers. 

“Finding meaning in whatever they’re reading is very important,” added Goodson. “Find ways for them to look for meaning.”

You can watch the complete webinar, read a transcript from the event, access resources, and join the discussion via the Engaging Students in Readings and Microlectures page. Don’t forget to check out recordings of our previous webinars, too!

For faculty looking to delve further into online learning strategies, check out ACUE’s micro-credential courses.