Resources for Remote Instruction

Making the move into a remote instructional environment at Fort Hays Tech | Northwest will be challenging at times, but this also creates a moment in time where we have the opportunity to think differently about how we deliver certain (not all) aspects of technical education. It gives us a chance to use many new and familiar technologies to deliver course material in ways perhaps some of us haven't done before. 

For others, who have logged hours of experience converting materials for online delivery through Moodle or another LMS, perhaps this is an opportunity to try something new or pause to evaluate current methods and tools. 

Moving into a remote teaching and learning environment is different than the occasional E-Day we have been accustomed to using in the past. This is five weeks of remote instruction, but it's also an opportunity to learn new tools and techniques, so that when we return to our traditional classes next fall, we will have more tools in our teaching toolbox. 

This page will hopefully provide numerous technology and teaching tips that Fort Hays Tech | Northwest employees will find beneficial for the transition to remote instruction. And while these resources are here, don't forget the most valuable resource on campus - each other. Reach out and collaborate. :)

**One caveat, in some cases the term FREE has some time limits depending on how long the COVID-19 pandemic lasts.**

• Advice for Teaching Online

  This is an area dedicated to insights and resources for teaching remotely/online. 

  • Magna: A great set of resources for those new or expanding their knowledge base in online instruction.
    • Collection of Free Resources
    • Use code COLLECTION to receive the resources for FREE
  • Inside Higher Education's "Keep Calm and Keep Teaching" article
    • Link to Article

  • Internet Etiquette for Online Classes - Pearson

    • https://www.pearsoned.com/helping-students-develop-proper-internet-etiquette/

  • Tips for Moving a Class Online Quickly - Pearson
    • https://www.pearsoned.com/tips-moving-class-online-quickly/

• Design Tools

  • Adobe: They are opening access to Creative Cloud until May 31, 2020 free of charge. If needed, contact IT to request access, as there are additional steps we will need to go through.
    • https://helpx.adobe.com/enterprise/kb/covid-19-education-labs.html

• Productivity Tools

  Several great resources for various productivity and communications tools.

  • Dropbox: A great document sharing app that allows you to share documents, images, and about anything you need to send out to students and teachers. You can create folders inside to store documents. 
    • https://youtu.be/4Nan6Zt6bzw
    • Cost: Free
    • Platforms: Works on iPad, iPhone and other platforms.
  • Google Drive: While we use this one pretty frequently, it's always a good reminder that it's there and available!
    • https://youtu.be/YPbWTG6LM84
    • Cost: Free
    • Platforms: Works on iPad, iPhone and other platforms.
  • Remind: Another great app used in several school settings. Similar to others, you can create groups (classes) that you can communicate with and send reminders.
    • https://youtu.be/0bui4hhvxnc
    • Cost: Free
    • Platforms: Works on iPad, iPhone and other platforms.
  • Slack: This is a group chat tool that allows you to create small groups (ie. classes?) that you can communicate with via instant messaging.
    • https://youtu.be/7YUTc4Cigc8
    • Cost: Free for the basic package
    • Platforms: Works on iPad, iPhone and other platforms.
  • Toggl: A project and time management app that works well with teams.
    • https://youtu.be/VzeEkWMn5cU
    • Cost: Free for the basic package
    • Platforms: Works on iPad, iPhone and other platforms.

• Screen Capture and Video Tools

  Here are a few screen-capture and video tools you might find interesting.

  • Go Record: A very cool app that allows you to use your iPhone or iPad to capture or import other videos (ie. demonstration in the shop) and do voiceover commentary. 
    • https://youtu.be/ZBfcT6Z7Cn4
    • Cost: Free 
    • Platform: Works on iPad, iPhone and other platforms.
  • Screen Record from your iPad or iPhone
    • https://youtu.be/sdXZ2_Vl9CY
    • Cost: Free (built-in tool) 
    • Platform: iPad and iPhone
  • Screencast-O-Matic: Capture your Keynote, Powerpoint presentations or other demonstrations you're doing on your laptop. This is more advanced software, so be prepared to spend a little more time learning how to use it.
    • https://youtu.be/McIsNh7BpBQ
    • Cost: Free (for videos under 15 minutes)
    • Platform: PC and Mac OS (desktop version)
  • Snagit
    • https://youtu.be/tQpltHBztB0
    • Cost: Free (through the end of June)
    • Platform: PC and Mac OS (desktop version)

• Textbook Resources and Tools

  Some of you may have textbooks written by the following publishers. Several have opened up free resources for you to use including instructional videos, course content, user help, teaching strategies and more. See the links below, or check with the publisher of your textbooks to see if materials are available. If you have other publishers you'd like to add to this list, please let us know.

  • Cengage: https://www.cengage.com/covid-19-support/faculty/
  • Houghton-Mifflin Harcourt: https://www.hmhco.com/learningsupport
  • McGraw-Hill: https://www.mheducation.com/ideas/announcements/mcgraw-hill-supporting-schools-and-learners-covid19
  • Pearson: https://www.pearson.com/news-and-research/working-learning-online-during-pandemic.html

• Video Conferencing Tools

  Connect with your students via live video conferencing with any of these tools.

  • Google Hangouts Meet: You are able to use this videoconferencing service since Northwest Tech is already a Google Suite school. You can connect one-to-one for student conferencing as well as large groups for up to 250 people.
    • https://youtu.be/h8XJYQ1s4pg
    • Cost: Free
    • Platforms: Works on iPad, iPhone and other platforms.
  • Zoom Videoconferencing: This is a fairly common videoconferencing tool used in education and industry. You can connect for one-to-one for student conferencing as well as large class meetings. Users can call into a meeting/classroom if they do not have access to strong enough bandwidth for video.
    • https://youtu.be/UTXUmoNsgg0
    • Cost: Free for the basic service
    • Platforms: Works on iPad, iPhone and other platforms
  • Skype: A popular and long-established app that most people will have heard of by now. It’s suitable for video conferencing for small teams of up to 50 people. We have found the video quality to be lower, especially if access to bandwidth is an issue.
    • https://youtu.be/tQpltHBztB0
    • Cost: Free
    • Platforms: Works on iPad, iPhone and other platforms.

• Working and Teaching Remotely

  We will be collecting pages and tips about working remotely.

  • Teach From Home (Google Resources)
    • https://teachfromhome.google/intl/en/
  • Tips for Working From Home:
    • https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/tips/work-remotely.html
  • 7 Tips for Working Remotely during the COVID-19 Crisis:
    • https://insights.dice.com/2020/03/17/7-tips-work-remotely-during-covid-19-crisis/
  • 8 Remote Working Tips for Beginners:
    • https://remoteyear.com/blog/top-8-remote-work-tips

• Other Tools

  Here are some other relatively random tools, tips, and tricks that may be helpful for productivity.

  • Creating PDF files from your iPad or iPhone:
    • https://youtu.be/yEQRKnu4yLo
    • Free
    • Platforms: Works on iPad, iPhone, and other platforms
• Expand All

If you know of additional content that would help your fellow instructors, let me know at ben.schears@fhnw.edu!