Category: Modes of Delivery

Modes of Delivery at Conestoga

Making the Essential Elements Work for Students

Reading Time: 3 minutesBy Sherri Steele and Joel Beaupré, Teaching & Learning Consultants At Conestoga, students are supported in their courses through the use of a Learning Management System (LMS) which has been branded as “eConestoga” and is built within the Desire2Learn (D2L) platform called Brightspace. The organization and structure of courses within eConestoga create a foundation for the overall learning experience for...

Icebreakers for Your Zoom Classrooms

Reading Time: 4 minutesIn the era of synchronous online learning, it is important to create a community of learning. Using icebreakers can foster communities, promote positive teacher and student relationships, and lay the groundwork for classroom interaction (Serembus & Kemery, 2020). Studies in pedagogy encourage teachers to use icebreakers in their classes. The following icebreakers are quick and easy to run both in...

10 (+1) Tips for Supporting International Students (and Everyone Else) While Teaching Online

Reading Time: 5 minutesKathryn Brillinger, Nasreen Sultana, and Laura Stoutenburg of Teaching and Learning, and Thomas Campbell and Kavya Adapala from Student Engagement.  Keep the Welcome Going Work on a big, warm welcome each class. Students will either be remote and trying to manage bandwidth and scheduling and new systems or in Ontario settling in or seeking housing, grocery stores, etc. Start your class right on time but expect some students to sometimes be late...

Breaks in the In-Person and Synchronous Online Classroom

Reading Time: 4 minutes“For each class, faculty will […] [e]nsure breaks occur during the lesson time to support student needs.” – Course Delivery Procedure (January 2021)  Breaks are time-bound periods in which students stop doing class work to rest and re-focus. Breaks should be given for students into all in-person and hybrid courses at least by the 1-hour mark of class, or more depending...

How Our Online Synchronous Workshops Benefit a Trades Faculty’s Students

Reading Time: 2 minutesSheri Copplestone teaches Computer Applications in Conestoga’s School of Trades and Apprenticeship, and facilitates the Entrepreneurial Program for Newcomers. She is also involved in the School of Workforce Development’s Academic Upgrading program. In March 2020, when COVID-19 shifted education to an online synchronous and asynchronous format, many faculty sought ongoing assistance from Teaching and Learning. From last Spring to present,...

Silent In-Class Reading Time

Reading Time: 4 minutesIf one goal of your class meetings is to promote thoughtful, lively discussion among students, then it can be useful to think about ways to help students prepare for discussion. This teaching tip considers the potential benefits of providing students with quiet time in class to prepare for discussion. The focus is on applying synchronous online class meetings, but the...

Putting Your Best Face Forward in Zoom Meetings with Students

Reading Time: 6 minutesThe clothing we wear, the setting we present ourselves in, and the camera view have a profound impact on our students’ impressions of us and on how comfortable and respected they feel.    We might ask ourselves the following questions: What is the balance between formal and casual on Zoom? Ben Marder and Sebastian Oliver (2020) at the University of Edinburgh...

Helping Students Connect the Dots

Reading Time: 3 minutesBy Paula Barrett, Professor and Coordinator of the Bachelor of Public Relations  Paula Barrett is a professor and program coordinator in the Bachelor of Public Relations degree program at Conestoga College. Paula has been with the college full-time for 16 years and helped build and launch both the BPR as well as the PR diploma. She received the college’s Employee...

Using an External Whiteboard to Replicate the In-Person Experience

Reading Time: < 1 minuteAre you missing your in-class whiteboards to write the formulas, solve the math problems or draw the flowcharts? Is Zoom’s whiteboard not giving you enough flexibility of writing and drawing? This teaching tip offers you ideas of using external white boards in our remote classrooms.   Using College-Issued Devices Surface Pro or a Touchscreen tablet  For a college-issued Microsoft Surface Pro or a touchscreen tablet (single screen)  Download the Microsoft Whiteboard app and sign in...