Engaging students in the online environment

Tom Worthington

For Microlearning Series curated by Manisha Khetarpal at Maskwacis Cultural College in Canada

The four webinars:

1. What have we learned from teaching online in 2020 due to COVID-19? [Presentation slides] In early 2020, like many in higher education, Tom Worthington had to flip to teaching online. Come along and hear Tom Worthington's experience at the Australian National University. Come along and be ready to tell the webinar what worked, and what didn't work, for you in 2020. 
2. Show-Your-Work to discourage students cheating online [Presentation slides] : How do we keep students engaged with their major assessment tasks all the way through a course? Tom Worthington is proposing to have students record their notes and work for assignments, both to keep them engaged and make cheating harder. Be ready to contribute your ideas and experience of having students show their work.
3. Hackerthons for Learning: Hackathons came from the computer industry, where teams competed over a few days to collaborate intensively on a project. These have now expanded into other fields. Can we use this format to keep students engaged, solving real world problems? Tom Worthington will talk about his experience with hackerthons involving students and military personnel. Be ready to contribute your ideas.
4. How do we get students to engage beyond the class? Education is supposed to be a social and cultural experience, not just learning stuff. With students online, how do we get them to engage outside formal coursework? Athabasca celebrated the end of year with their Athabasca University Cozy Mountain Lodge and the Australian National University is holding a hybrid multi-location virtual/real Grand Graduation: Class of 2020. Join Tom Worthington  and be ready to give your examples of informal student interaction.
5. How to Teach Online as Part of a Team These are the notes for an extra webinar, in addition to the four on "Engaging students in the online environment", Wednesday, 17 February at 11 am AEDT Sydney time (Tuesday, 5 pm MST in Edmonton). Manisha suggested this additional webinar to explore issued raised in the previous ones. In particular, how can teaching staff convert courses for online delivery, while continuing to teach and carry out other responsibilities. This is an issue confronting educational systems, institutions, and individual teachers.
6. Why open pedagogy and learning activities? These are the notes for another extra webinar, Wednesday, 17 March 2021, 10 am AEDT Sydney time.