Our goal is to help NIU faculty design and develop courses that can be successful in any mode of delivery – face to face, online, or hybrid. To that end, we are committed to helping you create the most resilient, flexible course(s) possible. We are calling this effort “flexible teaching.”
The emergency remote teaching effort was the best we could do, given the limited time and constraints of the Spring 2020 pandemic, to help faculty translate face-to-face activities and content to a remote setting in an emergency.
Flexible teaching starts with the principles of course design to create a flexible, resilient course that can withstand any change in modality or delivery.
EMERGENCY REMOTE TEACHING | FLEXIBLE TEACHING | |
---|---|---|
Lead Time | Less than 2 weeks | 3-4 months |
Student Expectations | Managed through ad hoc communication; adjusted as circumstances changed. | Students introduced to the online components of the course. Norms set at the beginning for participating in online activities, discussions and live sessions. |
Instruction | Delivered primarily through live online sessions with recordings for those in different time zones. | Lectures pre-recorded, edited and offered ahead of class time; faculty also select and curate other content. Some instruction may occur in classrooms and/or via live online sessions. |
Content Creation and Delivery | Only supplemental materials already available for the course and materials shared on-demand. | Content created or curated based on the course design plan before the launch of the course; students have the opportunity to access content on their own schedule and review as many times as necessary. |
Learning Technology | Blackboard, Collaborate, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and other tools as possible at the time. | Technologies selected based on desired learning outcomes; student access is set up ahead of time. Uses multiple learning technologies and tools at NIU, in addition to Blackboard. |
Student Engagement | Live online sessions; limited use of breakout rooms for group activities. Limited peer-to-peer or peer-to-instructor interaction. | To support active learning, group and team activities are planned before the course starts. Students learn expectations for participation in live or asynchronous discussion, team projects and other meetings. |
Assignments | Paper-based assignments quickly translated to online versions | Paper-based assignments can be rethought from the ground up to be digital first for collaboration and feedback. Assignments can be redesign to take advantage of online mediums (ex: students might produce blogs or websites; develop videos and multimedia; use web-based presentation and sharing technologies). |
Assessments | Exams quickly translated to online versions and/or re-conceived as open-book. | Exams can be redesigned before the class starts to take advantage of question banks, randomization, or even re-conceived to demonstrate applied learning vs. recollection. |
Projects | Projects and larger assignments continued but presentations, discussion and other learning artifacts varied depending on the situation. | Projects and team assignments include designs and recommendations for technologies to use to collaborate as well as standard plans to provide presentations and/or have team meetings online if necessary. |
At its best, flexible teaching successfully combines the design, organization and deep preparation of online courses, the agility and choice of hybrid/blended courses, and the student connection and engagement of face-to-face courses.
While this toolkit is crafted for NIU faculty and for a NIU audience, there is a wide and growing body of resources available beyond NIU. You will find links to many of these resources alongside the content created within the guides themselves, and we have identified some broad references and resources for those who want to explore further below.
Our mission is to support effective and innovative teaching in pursuit of transformative learning experiences. Learn more about the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning.
Flexible Teaching guides were developed by Duke Learning Innovation and adapted for NIU by the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning. They are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
Didn’t find what you were looking for? Need more information? Contact the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning (CITL) with your feedback and questions about this resource.
CITL staff are available to answer your questions about teaching in any modality. Give us a call or text 815-753-0595 or email citl@niu.edu for assistance. You can also schedule an appointment with one of our staff.
View CITL upcoming events to view available upcoming workshops offered or to register.