{"id":871,"date":"2020-11-10T13:05:16","date_gmt":"2020-11-10T13:05:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/digitaleducation\/?p=871"},"modified":"2020-11-10T13:05:16","modified_gmt":"2020-11-10T13:05:16","slug":"tutorials-for-educators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/digitaleducation\/tutorials-for-educators\/","title":{"rendered":"Tutorials for Educators"},"content":{"rendered":"

In March 2020 we found ourselves\u00a0<\/span>needing to transition to online education as a primary means of delivering our teaching at King\u2019s. Whilst\u00a0<\/span>using\u00a0<\/span>online\u00a0<\/span>resources for\u00a0<\/span>teaching was not new to us (we have, after all, been using Keats, Blackboard and Lecture Capture for many years to support education) it was a challenge for many of us to become accustomed to the new way of preparing and delivering education to our students.\u00a0<\/span>Hundreds of academics at King\u2019s had to adapt to using Teams,\u00a0<\/span>chunking their lectures and uploading material in new formats to Keats; and this is even before we have to consider developing an online curriculum.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As spring turned to\u00a0<\/span>summer,<\/span>\u00a0we realized that Covid-19 was not going to go away anytime\u00a0<\/span>soon,<\/span>\u00a0and we started planning for the forthcoming academic year with the challenge of online delivery foremost in our minds.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Tutorials<\/p>\n

I have\u00a0<\/span>been hosting<\/span>\u00a0a website containing\u00a0<\/span>tutorials<\/span>\u00a0(<\/span>called\u00a0<\/span>Essential Life Science Tutorials)\u00a0<\/span>in which I demonstrate, through the medium of screencasts, the effective use of<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Microsoft office applications<\/span>\u00a0and<\/span>\u00a0selected<\/span>\u00a0scientific software to undertake analysis, presentation and\u00a0<\/span>interpretation of bioscience data<\/span>.<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Since we have regularly signposted this resource for educating our students and peers<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>I<\/span>\u00a0started thinking about my\u00a0<\/span>colleagues<\/span>\u00a0and how<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0at this busy and problematic time<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0providing helpful\u00a0<\/span>technology enhanced education-focused\u00a0<\/span>screencasts might make the transition to online teaching a little\u00a0<\/span>more palatable<\/span>.<\/p>\n

I started recording screencasts for my department<\/span>\u00a0(Physiology)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>to help colleagues set<\/span>\u00a0up Teams meetings,\u00a0<\/span>record<\/span>\u00a0narrated PowerPoint presentations<\/span>\u00a0and to help with the<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>intricacies<\/span>\u00a0of Kaltura\u00a0<\/span>and how to use your computer as a<\/span>n<\/span>\u00a0online education tool. The\u00a0<\/span>first\u00a0<\/span>handful of tutorials were welcomed by my colleagues within Physiology and soon links to the videos were been circulated among other departments<\/span>\u00a0and faculties. Emails started hitting my inbox.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As the summer\u00a0<\/span>progressed,<\/span>\u00a0I was prod<\/span>ucing around 4 tutorials a week\u00a0<\/span>using Camtasia<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0form my home office<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0as the college and faculty produced more guidance notes for educating online.\u00a0<\/span>\u2018<\/span>Tutorials for Educators<\/span><\/i>\u2019 was born! Soon these tutorials were attracting attention from overseas and comments on YouTube and emails were coming from all over the world thanking me for the work (this is extremely flattering!)<\/span>. By the end of the summer there\u00a0<\/span>were over 50 tutorials available and even a few product reviews to help those engaged with teaching online get the most out of their skills and resources.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Tutorials<\/p>\n

These tutorials were always intended for a wider audience<\/span>\u00a0and I long-since chose YouTube as a mode of delivery of all my\u00a0<\/span>screencasts<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>With over 14,000 international viewers (at the time of publication) these online tutorials have been of interest to a wide variety of educators throughout the world. I have started producing videos in response to staff requests and now with over 60 focused tutorials available on the YouTube channel\u00a0<\/span>and<\/span>\u00a0posted on<\/span>\u00a0the College Streams system<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u00a0<\/span>firmly<\/span>\u00a0believe that peer support is one of the foundations of higher education and without it we are fighting a losing battle\u00a0<\/span>to develop and innovate in education\u00a0<\/span>and I am not alone (<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/BF00138870<\/span><\/a>). If one thing the\u00a0<\/span>Covid<\/span>\u00a0era has taught us is that we are in this together.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>We are also learnt over the past few years that listening to\u00a0<\/span>experts is not always easy and it is my impression that colleagues\u00a0<\/span>would prefer to be informed by other academics rather\u00a0<\/span>than<\/span>\u00a0getting an IT-focused approach to learning about technology. I might be wrong, but I think this might be the key\u00a0<\/span>going forward.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s nothing particularly original and new about these screencasts<\/span>;<\/span>\u00a0YouTube, Dailymotion and Vimeo are full of peoples ideas and useful advice but it is clear that in times of need a focused and accessible source of useful (and practical) advice for online educators BY an online educator is a welcome resource.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I am still adding new tutorials every week or so, so why not subscribe yourself?<\/span><\/p>\n

Useful Links:<\/h3>\n