Resources to get you going

When you’re considering how to get your teaching online, particularly when you don’t have much time, it’s useful to think in terms of curating existing content, and using it to enrich your classes.

Curate don’t create

Neil Mosley, Cardiff University “Curate don’t create – there are a wealth of articles, materials, open educational resources out there that you could use and link to, rather than creating something yourself from scratch.”

Of course, you’ll still need to introduce the resources and orientate them to the learning activities you plan, you’ll also be helping develop your students’ digital literacies as they work through the resources. If your students are at the appropriate level, you can ask them to search for resources, evaluate them and feedback on them.

Your task: Search, filter, evaluate (30 mins)

Included in this step are a lot of resources – too many. We suggest you look through them with the following approach:

1. Search – use Ctrl/cmd +F to search a page for key word such as the topic, age, level, technology.
2. Filter – put your teacher hat on and refine your search to just a few, make a list of what is good enough.
3. Evaluate – look at three, but no more than five, resources. Rank them based on your immediate needs.

Resources for you to to use / adapt

Below are some links organised by key areas of need. If you haven’t already we also encourage you to search the internet and see what you can find relevant to your situation.

Parents or Carers Teaching Children

BBC Bitesize Children
A range of resources for students aged 3 to 16+

Coronavirus School Closure Homeschool Planner and Daily Schedule Children
Study.com
Includes a sample schedule and tips on planning a study day.

Coronavirus Home Schooling Support Page Children
Twinkl.com Resources specific to a range of countries and languages.

Turning a classroom into an online group

Teach from home All
Google in partnership with UNESCO
A temporary hub of information and tools to help teachers during the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.

Swiftly Moving to Teaching Online – Resource Bank Adults
Dublin City University National Institute for Digital Learning
This page has links to resources to help teachers in the transition to online teaching.

Engaging Students Through online Activities Adults
University of Cape Town Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching
Guidance on activities that engage the students with the content, the teacher and each other.

How to be a Better Online Teacher: Advice Guide Adults
Flower Danby in the Chronicle of Higher Eduction
This article includes ‘10 essential principles and practices of better online teaching’.

Online Teaching Toolkit Adults
Association of College and University Educators (ACUE) Resources teachers can use to start working with students online.

Creating an Online Community, Class or Conference – Quick Tech Guide Adults
Stephen Downes
An openly accessible Google doc with links to free tools and resources.

Converting a week/timetable into a series of online learning activities

Learning Designer All
University College London
Register an account and search or browse to discover reusable learning activities.

Planning to Teach Online Adults
University of New South Wales, part of Learning to Teach Online Guidance for planning online classes.

Finding ways to swap face-to-face activities into online equivalents

Teaching with Google docs Adults
Stephanie Hedge in Inside Higher Ed
Advice on how to use Google docs for collaborative writing and other group activities.

Conducting Effective Online Discussions Adults
University of New South Wales, part of Learning to Teach Online
Advice on how to engage students in productive discussions.

Sharing, collecting, discussing: All possible with Padlet All
Hunter College Academic Centre for Excellence in Research and Teaching
Tips for using the collaborative tool Padlet.

Alternative Assessments

Creative Assignment Ideas for Teaching at a Distance
Bard Centre for Experimental Humanities Adults
Over 20 ideas for alternative assessments which can be completed online.

Creative Methods of Assessment in Online Learning Adults
Centre for Teaching and Learning
5 Tips for designing online assessments

How can I use podcasts and videos? Adults
King’s College London
Guidance on assessments requiring students to record audio or video.

Study Skills for Self-Isolating Students

Study Skills Adults
The Open University
Links to help with study skills for online learning, revising and assignment preparation (open resources just below the sign in)

Academic Skills Adults
The University of Melbourne
Links to help develop academic skills, including studying effectively, research techniques and working with others.

…or something else

Zoom: Teach Online Class Sessions
University of Minnesota
Advice for setting up a live class using Zoom, a web conferencing software

Teaching in the context of COVID-19
Jacqueline Wernimont (Dartmouth University), Cathy N. Davidson (CUNY Grad Center, USA)
An openly accessible Google doc with advice for teaching online.

The COVID-19 Online Pivot
Martin Weller, The Open University
Blog post with links to a range of online teaching resources.

Amazing Educational Resources All
Hundreds (and growing) of education companies offering free access due to school closures.

Doodle All
A free website that allows you to set polls for your students

Timezone Finder
If you are working with students across different timezones.

Producing high quality media while working remotely All
FutureLearn Studio
A guide for creating high quality media for online courses during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Our Tips: how to navigate so many resources

• Open pages in a new tab on your web browser.
• If there aren’t any that suit your needs, start searching
• Share links to what you find in the comments
• During your search, filter and evaluate keep thinking about your needs and how you could use this resource.

Take some time to Like and Reply to comments. Thank learners if you plan to use what they shared.