Preparing to Teach
All of us here at CAETE are committed to making your teaching experience a positive and rewarding experience. We can help with virtually all aspects of your teaching styles and methods. We have some suggestions that will help you make the transition from blackboards and chalk dust, to a high-tech course delivery platform that you and your students will find is a great improvement from the early days of distance learning.
Your Audience
When offering your course through CAETE, you are typically teaching for two groups of students:
- students present in the classroom (on-campus students)
- students viewing the course later via the Internet (downloading or streaming) or disc media (CD or DVD)
Your in class students also have access to online class sessions through server portals available for their specific course of study. The studio staff will be happy to show you how to view them.
Remember to take each of these student groups into account when preparing to teach with us. For example, look into the camera often, to let the distance students feel they are included.
Effective Visual Aids
Well-designed visuals are important components of distance teaching. Instructors may prepare graphics, PowerPoint slides ( the most compatible), Adobe Acrobat files, Microsoft Visio, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets ahead of time, or, develop content during the class session with the computer tablet and stylus.
Prepared graphics should be kept simple, and avoid fine lines and small detail. Refer to the Preparing Visuals for additional information.
Your classes are “captured” by software called Tegrity, which integrates your presentation, audio, and video capture into one, comprehensive class experience. View a sample class. The studio staff are available to demonstrate the Tegrity software to you. We are sure you will find Tegrity to be user-friendly and an excellent teaching tool.
Some tips for effective visual aids:
- The minimum font size used for preprinted graphics should be 24 point.
- Use the landscape format to accommodate the bias of the TV screen and projected image in class..
- Avoid using all upper case letters—a mixture of upper and lower case is easier to read.
- Use a sans serif font (e.g. Ariel, Franklin, Tahoma) —which is easier to read on the internet and on TV.
- Point to key features of your graphic as you discuss them. Tegrity has a specific tool for this.
- Take time with your visuals—give your students a few moments to absorb what you are showing, and to take notes. Some instructors provide handouts of the slides prior to class, or instruct the students to print them out and bring them to class before a specific lecture.
- Tegrity also has a camera capture feature, where you can take a “snapshot” of an article, 3D object, or other item, and it is then integrated into your class session. Ask the studio staff before class if you might like to use this.
Other classroom aids may be interfaced in your lectures (see below). Give all aids along with instructions to the studio director well in advance of the class start time.
- VHS and multi-standard VHS tape—Cue to the desired start point.
- DVDs—Advise the studio director which cuts you want played.
Computer Use
Each studio is equipped with a computer system that can show your presentation, demonstrate your software programs, connect to the Internet, etc.
In addition, your MAC / PC laptops can be integrated into this system, with advance notice. However, our Tegrity Software is loaded on the classroom computer, and we cannot guarantee your class will be available online unless it is captured on the classroom computer. The best option is to bring in your content on a portable, removable medium— USB drive, CD, etc., or from a downloadable source you use. Embedded and/or attached audio and video files are best heard and viewed using this method as well.
Make an appointment with one of the studio staff to experiment with unique programs, necessary interface requirements, etc. well in advance of the class session in which you want to use them. Do not wait until class day—studio personnel are on a tight schedule and may not be able to accommodate your needs on short notice.
Consistent with licensing requirements, instructors may load additional software but should remove it at the end of the semester unless they plan to use it again the following semester and have been assigned to teach in the same classroom.
