CIRTL Fall '20 Meeting Focuses on Online Teaching

UArizona contributes “teaching tidbit” video for collection of effective online teaching strategies at Fall ‘20 CIRTL Meeting.

As part of a larger effort to develop a repository of “best practices” on teaching during COVID to share across the CIRTL Network, institutions were encouraged to submit 3-minute “Teaching Tidbit” videos that addressed various challenges associated with creating community online to the Fall ‘20 CIRTL Meeting. UArizona’s contribution, “Using Padlet to Generate Discussion in Professional Development Workshops,” reflected on using Padlet in our Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs), which transitioned from in-person to online this past fall.

The bi-annual meeting took place on October 7-9, 2020 with a focus on helping prepare future faculty for the challenges and opportunities related to online teaching and learning. The conference, which took place on Zoom, was designed around the metaphor of sitting together at the “kitchen table,” with Home Groups (the kitchen for cooking up new idea), Parallel Sessions (a meal of sharing and brainstorming), Table Conversations (a buffet of diverse perspectives), and Teaching Tidbits (hors d'oeuvres to take home) to address teaching during this challenging time.

Other interesting “tidbits” considered finding ways to be “human” on Zoom, creating communities of learners in the undergraduate classroom, creating communities of practice among instructors in professional development settings, and generating interactivity and feedback in the online classroom. Some notable contributions included Yale University’s “Creating Interactions in Large Online Groups” and Columbia University’s “Setting Community Standards Online: Discussing How to Wear Pants on Zoom.”

The Spring ‘21 CIRTL Meeting took place on March 4-5, 2021 and focused on building local communities in the COVID-19 era and beyond.