Digital Teaching Toolkit

Research and Instructional Technology Services, NYU Shanghai Library

Zoom

Live Demos, Critiques, and Lectures: Creative Solutions for an Online Studio-Art Class

Courses: Introduction to Studio Art, Projects in Studio Art

Instructors: Barbara Edelstein, Jian-Jun Zhang

Students enrolled: 15

Technology used: NYU Classes, Zoom, PowerPoint, Google Slides

Clinical Associate Professors Barbara Edelstein and Jian-Jun Zhang are teaching live art classes to 15 students using three computers, a camera, and a speaker in their classroom studio space on campus. The duo has been able to teach in the same space all semester because they also happen to be married, and have been socially isolating together. As most students are based in China, it is possible to provide synchronous demonstrations and live classroom discussions with help from NYU Shanghai’s Research and Instructional Technology Services (RITS) department and IT.

One screen shows Edelstein speaking, the second shows Zhang, and the third shows what is happening on the demo table so that students can simultaneously hear their professor’s voices and see their hands while they work. The third camera is useful in demonstrating, for example, different brushwork, ink, color, and line techniques.

jj teaching
Students watch Zhang’s live demonstration of techniques used in working with ink. 

Edelstein uses a fourth monitor to see her PowerPoint notes as she presents to the class. “If JJ is doing the demo, they see his hands on the table, they hear his voice, and they see me on the screen,” says Edelstein.

Students are able to follow along and try their hand at the techniques from home because the instructors worked with their art supplies distributor to mail out packets of art supplies to each student before the course commenced. The individual packs include specific types of paper, brushes, color, ink, and a plate for mixing.

art supplies packet
A table set up shows the contents of the art supplies packet that students received.

How to Teach Design Thinking Online with Three Simple Tools

Course: Design Thinking

Instructor: Yuan Yanyue, Assistant Arts Professor

Students Enrolled: 10

Technology Used: Zoom, Slack, Google Docs/Slides

In Assistant Arts Professor Yuan Yanyue’s Design Thinking course, students are introduced to the concepts of ‘design thinking’ and challenged to apply them to specific problems and bring about socially-responsible innovations.

Because the class is project-based and relies heavily on group work, Yuan was concerned that the move to a digital environment might affect her ability to facilitate teamwork among students — especially those based in different time zones.

Yuan's class
Yuan’s class of 10 students in one of Yuan’s bi-weekly live sessions.

Quickly, Yuan settled on using a combination of asynchronous and synchronous online tools.  From her home study in Shanghai, Yuan tapes lectures, leads live sessions, and conducts one-on-one office hours with her 10 students, half of whom are in China, while the other half are based in the U.S. 

Choosing the Right Technology and Using it Well

PrometheeSpathis

Course: Computer Networking 

Instructor: Promthee Spathis, Visiting Associate Professor of Computer Science

Students enrolled: 16

Technology used: Zoom, VoiceThread, and NYU Classes

Teaching remotely from Paris, France since the outbreak, Promethee Spathis says he has made it his personal responsibility from the start of the semester to be present for his students on a daily basis. His routine includes waking up at 3 or 4 AM to hold class three times a week for his 16 students — 15 of whom are currently based in China and one student in Tel Aviv.

Spathis says his goal is to recreate a learning environment similar to a regular classroom. Therefore, he has designed his synchronous sessions to include in-class interactions through discussion or open questions. Mondays are for lectures, Wednesdays for labs that include reports submitted as tests and quizzes via NYU Classes, and Fridays are for recitations which include answers to weekly home assignments. Each session is 75 minutes long. 

Live-streamed classes are conducted via Zoom. He finds that live interactions provide valuable feedback for adjusting lectures as he delivers them. For those who cannot attend lectures in real time because of a time zone difference, Spathis records all lectures for offline viewing or after-class review. Chat messages sent during class are included in the recording. Students also have access to a transcript of the entire lecture, which they can download, print, and review at their own convenience. 

Making the Most of Online Lectures: Live Streaming and Structured Small-Group Discussions

Courses: Methods of Social Research and China’s Foreign Policy

Instructor: Eric Hundman, Assistant Professor of Political Science

Students Enrolled:  Methods of Social Research: 23, China’s Foreign Policy: 16

Technologies Used: Zoom, Open Broadcaster Software, Slack, iPad with Apple Pencil

Eric Hundman is currently based in the United States and is teaching Methods of Social Research and China’s Foreign Policy as asynchronous courses to students based in China, the US, and around the world.

Hundman is experimenting with a blend of lectures, small-group work (which the students organize as they see fit), and structured discussion/feedback assignments. 

Methods of Social Research is structured as a lecture and China’s Foreign Policy as a reading-intensive seminar with introductory lectures. For his seminar on China’s Foreign Policy, Hundman posts a multipart discussion assignment after students complete the week’s readings. The students have a few days to respond to a handful of questions and are tasked with responding critically and professionally to one of their classmates’ posts. They also respond to classmates’ critiques of their own posts before the next class meeting.

OBS interface
Image courtesy of https://obsproject.com/

Teaching Languages Online: Videos, Live-streaming, Student-made Websites, and Real-time Interactions

Mixtape

Course: Elementary Chinese II

Instructor: Chai Jing 柴晶, Senior Language Lecturer, World Languages Program

Students Enrolled: 16

Technology Used:  Zoom, NYU Stream Kaltura Capture, NYU Classes, VoiceThread, GoFormative, Flipgrid, Padlet, Quizlet, Kahoot, Google Docs, Google Forms, and more.

After many discussions in late January and early February, the World Languages faculty settled on a mixed model of language teaching which involved recorded videos, live-streaming, and mixed online/offline multi-platform interaction. Tools they are using include Zoom, NYU Stream Kaltura Capture, NYU Classes, VoiceThread, GoFormative, Flipgrid, Padlet, Quizlet, Kahoot, and more.

Chai Jing and her colleagues in the World Languages Program have worked together to produce 65 teaching videos for their students within a week. They are planning to complete nearly 500 videos this semester — an undertaking that would usually take a semester or an entire year to complete. The videos also include interactive quizzes that test students’ progress over time. The content includes real stories, news, and anecdotes from today’s China to link classroom knowledge with real life.