When Covid-19 got its foothold in the United States, and schools left for spring break never to return, we had to scramble to switch to fully remote learning. Now that we're resurfacing from the pandemic, many stakeholders are pushing for remote learning to continue. There are advantages to remote learning, and it does need to be utilized. Still, there are situations where being physically together in the same room can offer exceptional learning opportunities.

Higher education already had problems before Covid-19. The inconsistent and inequitable solutions colleges and universities were implementing to improve retention, persistence, and completion are insufficient. Remote learning only made the problems more apparent. Here’s what we’re doing to change that.

Screencasting is a video of your computer screen with your voice as the audio. Screencasts serve as a communication tool for asynchronous online courses. They are easy to make and can increase instructor presence. Here are a few tips and tricks to improve your screencasting videos.

Teaching math online opens the door to teaching math as a concept rather than a set of skills. Use breakout groups included in web conferencing software to promote student interaction and critical thinking. One idea for a good discussion prompt is described with more to follow in the next blog post.

This first blog in the series designed to help you prepare for the first day of teaching an online class, focuses on getting to know your students and building relationships when you are not able to see them every day.