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This week, ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� College Utrecht returned from a very unexpected kind of Spring Break. The coronavirus measures mean a virtual return to class, and many lecturers spent their Break week converting their courses to online. Two lecturers share their first experiences as well as their inspiration and advice.

“I have to say it went better than expected”, says Chemistry lecturer Robert Geitner. “I was in contact with Educate-it (Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� expertise centre for online teaching – red.) even before the coronavirus outbreak, as I was planning to create a few high-quality animated videos on specific topics, but due to the coronavirus measures I had to move the entire course online.”

Video Games

Thanks to his interest in video games, Robert had a smooth landing. “The whole gaming industry is already doing what we in education are aspiring at: record someone’s screen and perhaps also their face, while they are playing or commenting on the game. Of course, we have a different intention, education instead of entertainment, but the tools are the same: live broadcasting or a video. I believe that we can learn a lot from the gaming, streaming and YouTube video communities on how to produce high quality online content that holds one’s interest too.”

“I chose an asynchronous format for my course, as some of my students are abroad and in a different time zone. I also have to take my family circumstances into account. The video lecturing from home would not be possible without the support from my wife, who is taking care of our young daughter while I am recording the videos.”

Robert’s video inspiration: topical videos by on YouTube.

Photo gallery: Corona times experiences of the UCU Wellbeing Team. Click on the pictures for a larger image. (Text continues under the photos.)

Student Feedback

Katja Rakow, lecturer in Religious Studies, chose to give students self-study assignments, while she was figuring out how to proceed with online teaching. The assignments resulted in an overload of emails, Katja tells.

“I did my first recorded video in order to provide students with additional information and explanation of concepts and theories in order to help them better understand the assigned readings. The first video lecture was lengthy, 24 minutes, but the first reactions from students were positive and encouraging. I really appreciated their feedback.”

“The great advantage of a recorded video lecture is that you can stop and replay it at your own convenience. Students really liked the “pause or stop and replay” option because it allowed them to process information in their own time and speed. After all, we are in a situation that comes with a lot of uncertainty, stress, and anxiety. This can make it hard for students to concentrate.”

“For the remainder of the semester, Katja is planning to provide students with short video lectures to watch before online class meetings. “One of the unforeseen advantages of the situation is that I can use these videos again in my next course when we hopefully will be in a real classroom again. A blended learning model with video lectures before the class ultimately frees up more time in the class room for interaction, communication, consolidation and the application of knowledge and that is something that I find important—online as well as offline.”

Katja’s tip: “I recorded my lecture with , which comes as an easy to use application on your computer or a browser extension."