The rapid and dramatic switch to purely online teaching meant so many colleagues swinging into action to provide a large-scale, intensive training programme to as many academic staff as possible across the institution. Straight from the basics of our Learning Management System (for those who may have largely used it as file-storage) to how to set up and run \u2018live\u2019 online classes for hundreds of students at a time.\u00a0 Recording tools, interactivity, online assessment, discussion boards, collaborative platforms \u2013 everything came into play, though we tried our utmost to focus on the \u2018keep it simple\u2019 message.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n
<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\n\nScreenshots of help pages provided for students and for academic teaching staff<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That the technology held up (for the most part) and we could run 3,500 live online sessions per day was reassuring (and for some, quite remarkable). All those software licences we\u2019d been lobbying for suddenly seemed like excellent value! The exams, when they appeared on the horizon in April and May, brought a new set of challenges. Debate around academic integrity and security in online assessment led many to see the intrinsic merits of alternative forms of assessment, which were perhaps more \u2018authentic\u2019 and holistic than a traditional timed examination. Such exams did however happen, and everyone held their breath as the first one started at 9:30 one morning with 650 students nervously connecting to a Blackboard Test. As the clock ticked, the helpdesk remained quiet. An eerie calm. As the closing minutes drew near, 11:30 struck, and the online Grade Centre suddenly filled with 650 marks in the results column. The Eagle had landed!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After that, the tension remained each day, but as the weeks went past and more and more grades came in, whether on MCQs, essays, project reports, video assignments, or even scanned hand-written mathematics papers it was clear that we\u2019d survived. Sure, the caffeine consumption was at record levels, but the main fuel of the whole enterprise was the extraordinary commitment shown by everyone, staff and students alike.<\/p>\n\n\n
<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\n\nImages from Galway, photos by Dr. Chaosheng Zhang<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the summer rolled in preparations started being made for a return to campus in the autumn, albeit under restrictions of distancing, masks, and the like. But once again, at the last minute, on the Friday before the Semester was due to begin, the Irish Government announced that higher education was to go back to fully (or largely!) online. And here we still are. The trick with all this \u2018pivoting\u2019 and \u2018shifting\u2019 is to not fall over, and the trick to not falling over is to have the support of a community, and that\u2019s what those at the digital chalkface have become, students, staff, family, friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Editor’s note: Iain’s talk at our recent Media & Learning Online Event on 18 November was really appreciated by participants, We asked Iain to provide us with samples of how he and his team support their academic staff in NUIG and he pointed us to this online lesson<\/a> which they put together at the start of the pandemic. They also provided this guide<\/a> to converting an existing module to an online module. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n