Online activities with students
Activities allow students to interact with you, the course content, and each other. They are the single best way to keep students engaged in the course. Below are a few ideas that are relatively quick to implement.
Discussions: If students have a reading assignment to complete (or a video to watch), set up a discussion Links to an external site. with some directed questions to encourage discussion of the course content. You can also create smaller group discussions Links to an external site. which are often more manageable to read.
Response papers: Have students response to a reading or video, as above, but instead use the Canvas Assignments feature to have these sent directly to you.
Reaction papers: Depending on course content, have students write response papers on the event that we are dealing with. For example, if we are facing an extended fire season, environmental science students could write a personal response that focuses on how the extended fire season has impacted their daily lives. Or students in a writing class could craft op-ed essays on how we need to better prepare for fire seasons.
Journals: If students do not have reliable internet access, you could ask them to keep a written journal of activities. This would require instructors to plan out a week’s activities and send them out all at once so that students who do not have reliable internet access or power only need to get online or on their phones once, before they lose power. Then they can go old school.
Collaborate: Create a shared document for students so that they can build a how-to guide on how to survive the event in question. Once students are back on campus, this how-to guide could be distributed or presented so that we are better prepared next time.
Look to the Community: If students are at home with family, friends, and neighbors, they can interview those who went to school before the 2000s. How was education different then? How did they write their essays? Did they have to use a typewriter? How did they find out if a library had a book they wanted? Students could argue whether or not advances in technology have helped them or harmed them.
Documentaries: Students can create short films of what is happening in their communities during the school closure. Parameters will have to be clearly established by the instructor. There is easy-to-use video editing tools on most recent phones. Students can share the videos in a discussion. Depending on the course, relevant discussion questions can be added as a way in to discussing the short films.
How-to Information: