COVID-19 has forever changed formal education.ย The forced changes provided many challenges and obstacles.ย Some faculty quit.ย Some faculty learned enough to survive.ย But some faculty, like Bob Heaps, embraced the challenges and created a truly special and memorable online learning environment for his students!
Bob has been teaching history courses since the 1970s and all of those years of teaching were in traditional face-to-face courses.ย However, even though Bob had never used Canvas prior to the Spring 2019 semester, you would never know that if you visited his course.ย
Bob created and posted more than 20 different videos of him guiding students through learning content, and each of the videos use a different Zoom background that compliments the material he is discussing. ย Bob added GIFs and sound to birthday announcements and congratulatory announcements on assessment success.ย He made bitmojis, and unicodes (๐คธ๐ฝ ๐ช ๐) to give personality and warmth to his course. Instead of just scanning transparencies and posting the scan, he conquered Sway to create beautiful presentations that have a storybook feel. In fact, Bob became so good at doing so many things, the CTLE asked him to make a video on how he created his own lecturing videos!ย Take three minutes and see what Bob has to sayโฆ.
Not to take away from Bobโs accomplishmentsโฆ it should be known that Bob was not alone; he had help.ย An EPIC shout-out goes to Bobโs wife Dianne ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐!!! If it wasnโt for the many hours that Dianne committed to helping Bob, Bob might still be working on creating his Fall 2020 class vs. relaxing, spending time with family, and already making improvements to his Spring 2021 class.
The CTLE applauds Bobโs dedication to learning and to teaching, which is why Bob has been awarded a certificate of recognition for Outstanding Dedication to Learning and Teaching from the CTLE.ย If you know of someone who has gone above the call of duty they too can be recognized for their achievements.ย Just take a few minutes and complete the Certificate of Recognition form.ย ย
In addition, if you would like to see more quick videos that have great tips, visit the CTLE play list; everyone can find something they can use.ย