Diana Vera-alba: So again, welcome. My name is Diana Vera-Alba. I will be going over our webinar this morning, entitled Tips and Tools for Teaching Online. And I want hopefully for you to go away with this with some tools, as well as a way to enjoy teaching online.
I'm currently an instructor at San Diego Community College District. I'm an OTAN subject matter expert. And a little bit about myself, I've been an online instructor, teacher, and trainer since 2012. As an educator, I've been a distance education educator, hybrid instructor, and a fully online instructor-- or a combination of all three of these at the same time.
As a student, I have taken many online courses. I've gotten online certifications. I got my multiple subject teaching credential cleared online. And I did a whole master's program online.
So I put an asterisk there because I think it's really important. If you've ever taken any type of online class, even a webinar like this, think about what you liked and what you didn't like, because that's how I created my online courses.
So for today, our agenda, I have some resources to help you transition. We're going to start off with a video called 8 Lessons Learned from Teaching Online. We're going to talk about differences of remote teaching, what that means and what it looks like.
What does it take to be a great online instructor? What tech skills are needed to be a great online instructor? And where can I find additional help for these maybe newfound tips? Where can I get this help?
So we'll start off with the video.
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JOANNA DUNLAP (VIDEO CLIP): High-touch touch is more important than high-tech. When a student is in crisis, or a student wants to brainstorm an idea, and when they need a question answered, I want to be efficient. And one of the best ways of doing that is using the telephone.
And so that's a real high-touch way that has been really effective for me. And I had really avoided it for a long time. Because I thought, no, that's really not the technology of online education. But everything is the technology of online education.
PATRICK LOWENTHAL (VIDEO CLIP): Establish social presence using digital storytelling. When you start in a face-to-face classroom, when that professor comes in you're looking at their clothes, the way they act, the jokes, the stories, all these things. We size up who they are. So for me one of the things I leveraged, or I relied on, was the power of storytelling. And so the power of storytelling-- telling stories is a great way to establish your presence and to help students get to know each other as real people.
JOANNA DUNLAP (VIDEO CLIP): Use technology intentionally. I think we get so excited, I know I do, about new tools and new digital communities and social media tools and technologies that we can use to really enhance what we're trying to achieve with students in our courses.
But we sometimes let the tool drive our decision making, as opposed to going back to our learning objectives and saying, what do we really want to achieve? Does the tool help us achieve that? Just because we get really excited.
PATRICK LOWENTHAL (VIDEO CLIP): The power of external resources. There's tons of resources out there, that if you just take the time to look, it's amazing what you can use to supplement your online courses. And so you don't have to do all the work yourself. It doesn't always have to be contained in the LMS or in the textbook. And hopefully through that, also help and teach your students that there's great resources out there if you just spend the time.
JOANNA DUNLAP (VIDEO CLIP): Make your expectations explicit-- being explicit in your directions, in your expectations, in everything that you are trying to achieve with students that so often we keep that secret, we keep that hidden as faculty. We know what it is. Sometimes we don't even know that we're keeping it hidden.
PATRICK LOWENTHAL (VIDEO CLIP): Make it really easy for students to find out what is it they have to do that week, when is it due, what are the points, what's it worth, those types of things.
JOANNA DUNLAP (VIDEO CLIP): Fun and playfulness and the unexpected, doing something that's different can really jolt them and re-energize them and re-engage them in a way that allows them to express themselves creatively. So that it's not just writing an essay, but let's write a screenplay that demonstrates your understanding of these concepts. So anything that adds a little playfulness, I think, just re-engages people and makes the online experience not feel so cookie-cutter.
PATRICK LOWENTHAL (VIDEO CLIP): You have to log in regularly. You probably should plan at least five days a week to be logging into your course Now, that doesn't mean you have to log in all day, five days a week.
Sometimes people, I think, misconstrue that and will say things like, well, online learning is just so much more work than face-to-face. I don't necessarily buy that. But it's very distributed. The faculty that I know that are the most successful, in my own experience, has been they log in regularly to their courses.
The power of personal feedback. One of the things that I find that students really value, and that they take away from, is when they get specific individual feedback that's meaningful. And by not just giving feedback, but giving audio/video feedback.
I've had students come back to me and really comment on how it was very meaningful to hear even the inflection in my voice, and that they could actually walk away with the positive comments. Whereas a lot of times when you just type stuff out, the negative just comes through.
Diana Vera-alba: OK. Thank you for focusing on that video. That really does give us an introduction to what it is like to teach online. So what are some differences that you know or you think might be included in remote teaching? So I want you to think about those as we go through this next section of the webinar. Think about what some of those differences are in remote teaching.
So remote teaching can be different than online teaching. Online teaching, just like classroom teaching, is built on pedagogical models. And that's not necessarily what remote teaching is. But it can be.
Remote teaching can be delivered through online, on an LMS such as Canvas, Google Classroom, Blackboard, Google Sites, Schoology, or just a website. Remote teaching can also be by email. It can be with apps that you assign students or you ask students to use. Or it can be on a cell phone.
So what does it take to be a great online instructor? Well, first off, it's not going to happen instantly. Think about when you first started teaching. You were excited to be in the classroom. You had possibly just come out of your teacher education program.
And then all of a sudden you have this classroom full of students. Were you awesome and great on the first day? That is great if you were. But oftentimes it's over time. It's over practice. It's over experience that you do become a great instructor. It's the same thing online.
Some of those best practices that online teachers like to focus towards, or teachers in general-- well, first off, it was mentioned in the video to be present. And that means logging in. Again, it doesn't mean that you're going to be online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. But you should log in to your course.
I'll give you an example. Like I mentioned earlier, I was an online student before I became an online instructor. And that was by choice. I wanted to take some courses online. It was convenient, which is a very good reason that many of our students in a regular online class would take a class.
But I had an instructor who had this great syllabus, was obviously very organized. She basically dumped her whole curriculum, that whole semester week by week, in the LMS, at that time we were using Blackboard, and just left it to us. So it was almost like those old transcription mail courses, where you get this work-by-mail, and then you complete it and you turn it back in, and no contact with the instructor whatsoever.
Well, that's how this class was. And it was probably the worst experience I've ever had. Because if any of the students questions-- the instructor was just not online ever. So the students started a little blog amongst ourselves where we were helping each other out.
First of all, it was, "where's the instructor? Oh, my gosh. Where do we ask our questions?" And then we just started helping each other on this blog because this instructor was not present at all, other than the curriculum that she left there. So be present. I mean, that was an extreme case, but be present. That's definitely important.
The second one, set expectations. In the video it was mentioned to set explicit expectations. And that's great. If you want to tell your students "I won't be available after 7:00 PM," or "I won't be available between 1:00 and 2:00," those are clear explicit expectations. So make sure you set those expectations with your class.
Nurture a supportive online community. And that's also really important. In the video it was mentioned to give personal feedback. There are some great tools out there that let you give audio and video feedback. If you have an LMS like Canvas, Canvas has it embedded in the grading feature. But if you don't, there are great free tools out there where you can give students that feedback and nurture that supportive online community.
And then think before you write, or send in this case. Before you post an announcement, before you send out an email read it and reread it. Because as you know, sometimes when we receive emails or even text messages, the feeling that you had does not transpire. And somebody might either get offended or really not understand the message you were trying to say. So think before you send or post.
And then ask your students for feedback. It's kind of like in the classroom where we have students complete an exit ticket as they're leaving. Especially initially, ask your students for feedback. What did you think about that assignment?
I meet with my students once a week in my online reading class every Monday night. And the first 15 minutes we're discussing how the assignment was from the previous week, what they liked, what they didn't like. And that helps me support them in their learning.
And then let students do the work. And by this I mean let them have student-led discussions. That's one example. Just like in this presentation, you can also have students share their PowerPoints with the class and let them lead a portion of that weekly class. Then you're creating community within your students and within your class.
Some of the things that I believe that are really important to be a great online instructor is patience, and patience with yourself as well-- patients with your students and patients with yourself. And if you're honest about that, if you're honest about-- hey, guys, this is my first online class-- I know I did that before. And then all of a sudden the tension was alleviated, because it might have been my students' first online class. Being patient with each other is really important.
Communication, as I mentioned already, is super, super important. There are many great communication tools. I personally use an app called Remind. You might have heard of that before. If you use an LMS, some of the LMS have email feature on there.
But I personally-- I like Remind because it's an instant message to my cell phone. I can quickly respond to a student if I'm not at my computer. I can give them a timeline. "Hey, I'm not on my computer right now, but I'll get back to you within the next 2 hours, or within 24 hours." Again, set that expectation as part of that communication.
And then continuous education on our part, on your part. When I first started off as an online instructor, there weren't as many tools. And I probably don't use most of the tools that were available to me when I first started. And once you get into online teaching, I think you're really going to love it.
I really loved it. And I continuously try to go to conferences or even jump on a webinar if I see it, to see what the latest and greatest is. So continuous education is so important, just in our field altogether. Organization is important, organization of your materials.
However you decide to post those materials, whether it's on an LMS or an email or whatever it is that you decide to use-- organization, just like in the face-to-face classroom, is really important. And then be creative. Creativity, like what was mentioned in the video, to have a fun, playful assignment helps re-engage students. And that's so important in online teaching.
So we're going to take a look at each of these five a little bit further. Communication with your students, what does that look like? Communication should be continuous. As was mentioned, it's not that you're on the computer 24 hours a day. But you should be on the computer at least checking in, checking to see if students are completing the assignment.
Maybe you forgot to post a part portion of the assignment and students are saying, "hey, teacher, you forgot this part." So continuous communication with your student is very important. And then think about short communication and long communication. So by this I mean a quick email, an announcement, or even a webinar like this with products such as Zoom or Google Sites or something like that.
Setting expectations-- and you can do this in your syllabus, just like you would in your classroom, if you decide to designate office hours or if you decide to post something within 24 hours or a response within 24 hours. That way students know what to expect, they're not sitting there and waiting.
And then use apps for communication. Again, I use Remind. I love it. It's a phone app. It's a messaging app. But you can use Skype or Dropbox, or Zoom. So there's lots of different apps out there. And use whatever is comfortable for you.
And that's not to say that next semester or the next class you're going to use a different app. But pick an app or one or two pieces of communication that you're going to use regularly with your students. And that way you're setting that expectation, once again.
And then again, continuous education on your part. Never stop learning. I mean, we heard that one in our teacher education courses, that you're getting into a program or you're getting into a career where you're constantly going to be educating yourself. And that's the fun part. That's what keeps us-- that's what keeps me going at least.
So do take advantage of any training. OTAN has great trainings. Your district probably has some training. And even YouTube tutorials-- there are great YouTube tutorials. And there are some instructors that I like following online. And they're quick, easy. They show you the latest and greatest or just maybe one tip for online teaching, or some new tool that they're using that they're excited about.
And again, don't expect to be an expert. I have been doing this for a while, and I certainly don't feel like an expert yet. But I feel that with the continuous learning and continuous education, I've become somewhat of an expert, at least in my district.
And then practice and try it. There may be some tools out there that you saw at a presentation and you were, like-- "wow, that was great, but I don't know. It sounds really complex. I don't know if I can do it."
Just try it. And if you fail, get up and try again. We've all done this. I think we've all failed at some point or another or another or another, and we just keep trying. So don't give up on yourself. Just keep moving.
Melinda Holt: Diana, I'm going to interrupt just for a second. You mentioned something, and someone has a question. I don't want to miss it. Who do you follow online? Who are those teachers that you follow that you think their videos are good? Because, folks, not all videos are created equal.
Diana Vera-alba: Right. I have many. And at the end, if you'd like, I could share some. But yes, I do have several. And sometimes it's just a-- if I have a question. For example, I saw somebody using Loom for feedback. And I thought, wow, that sounds really cool. But I still didn't quite understand how to use it.
So I use YouTube the way I use Google. And I just kind of-- in the search box in Zoom, write "how to use Loom to give student feedback." And then poof, all these videos pop up just like if you google something on Google. All these things come up.
And then I just typically like to go to the shorter videos. I don't want to watch a 30-minute video. That's just me. But I'll look for some quick and easy videos, and maybe I'll watch five or six of them. And then if I see an instructor that I really like, then I just click on Subscribe.
Before I click Subscribe, I look at their other videos. And instructors that are on YouTube usually have a YouTube channel. I have a YouTube channel, but it's kind of by accident because I create screencasts for my students. But I do have a small YouTube channel.
Many of us on YouTube will have this. And then you can look at the rest of their videos. And that's how I gauge whether I want to keep watching this person. And if you subscribe, if you click on that little Subscribe button on YouTube, there's also a little bell. And you'll get a reminder every time this instructor posts the new video.
So that's how I do it. And then I created a library. So if there's a video that I really like, I save it to my library. And then I call it something like "how to blah, blah, blah-- whatever it is." Just like you could create a music library on YouTube, I create a video library on YouTube. But I can't share my I love my library at the end if you'd like.
So going to organization. organization is really important, just like in your face-to-face class. For example, using an agenda like I did at the beginning of this webinar, the agenda just kind of walks you through what I'm going to go over. I do the same thing with my students.
Like I said, I meet with them once a week on Mondays. And I start with a PowerPoint or a Google Slide presentation. I post it before the time that we meet, so that students know what we're going to discuss ahead of time. That way they can come in with questions based on the agenda.
And then keep it simple. Your organization should be easy to follow. I use Canvas with my district. So I organize my class by weekly segments. But some instructors organized by unit-- the units that they're working on, for example, in a book or something like that.
And then, use numbers for reference. So this picture on the right-hand side is a clip of my organization. So if you look at the top it says 7M Zoom. 7M means week 7. So this was a week 7 Zoom meeting, at the very top.
And I use it the way you would use an agenda. So right under the 7 is 7.1. That's the main topic, you could say, the reading strategy we went over. And then I indent. And then everything below that is an activity or something they have to do, referring back to that main idea of that reading strategy.
So some of them are things they have to read. Some of them are videos that they have to watch. Some of them are quizzes they have to take. So the numbering system really helps.
Because if I forgot something, or if a student has a question about something, instead of them sending me a message saying, "I didn't understand this week's assignment." Well, there's three or four or five different assignments. But if they say, "I didn't quite understand the chart on 7.1.2. Can you please give me more information?"
Or classic Diana, I post the item, and I think it looks great, and then I forget to publish it for the students. So they'll send me right away-- "you didn't publish the quiz, please post the quiz." So these are little things.
And then they'll give me the number instead of just saying, "that quiz, I didn't understand it" or "I can't open it," they'll tell me exactly the number. So that's how I use it, like an outline, the way you would use the numbers. But use whatever makes sense for you and makes sense for your students.
Again, creativity, have fun. And make your assignments fun and exciting, include videos. I love using TedTalks, having students watch a TedTalk video and then have a discussion about it right after and maybe a quiz or vocabulary.
I teach ESL. So prior to them watching the TedTalk video, I'll post a Quizlet with vocabulary. Or you can use quizzes or any other type of vocabulary tool prior to them watching the TedTalk. And then after the TedTalk or YouTube video or screencast, I'll have a low-stakes quiz, nothing beyond five questions. Just a quick low-stakes four or five-question quiz so that I can see if they really understood the gist of the message in the video or the assignment that I gave them.
And then there are lots of apps available. You can use Zoom. You can use Kahoot. And just the other day I went on a Kahoot webinar. I was like, wow, Kahoot online, how do you use that? And it was so easy. You use it with Zoom, Skype, or Hangouts just like you would in class.
So then I was like oh, yeah, that makes sense. And it was just a really quick, short Kahoot webinar. So if you missed it, you can find it find it for sure on YouTube or see how other teachers use Kahoot online. USA Learns is great. That already has videos and quizzes for ESL students.
And then ReadWorks is another great one that I use. It is online articles for students. And this program, ReadWorks, has quizzes that students can use.
In the video it was mentioned that you can use these apps outside of your LMS. So outside for me, outside of Canvas, I could create a classroom in ReadWorks. And I could create a classroom in Quizlet. And it's OK for students to use these programs outside of your Canvas.
So what tech skills are needed, as far as for myself as an instructor and for my students? When you think about your skills, hone in on your existing skills and embrace your new skills. What are you good at in the classroom and how can you transfer that into an online environment? Think about that.
Maybe you're a good communicator. You can hone in on those skills and have this great environment where you're communicating constantly with your students and they're able to communicate with each other. Technology literacy is really important.
So if you're not real confident in that area, start taking webinars and quick trainings. And like I said, YouTube is full of really quick, short trainings on many different types of tools and many different types of things. So start looking for those.
Time management is really important. I know that when I get really into whatever it is that I'm doing, whether it's an online tool, I tend to spend a lot of time in it and really dive in. But keep track of your time, and that'll help you not get really worn out.
And then always assess and evaluate your students. Like they mentioned in the video, personal feedback is really important, and meaningful personal feedback. There are some great programs. Like I mentioned, I saw a teacher talk about Loom and how she uses this video tool to give feedback to her students. And I was really interested in that. So I went on YouTube and started looking for how to use that tool.
And then teaching students to apply new concepts with the tools they have. Many of our students have computers or tablets or even cell phones. And some of my students have computers, tablets, and cell phones. And they prefer to use their cell phones because they can easily download that app that I'm teaching on.
My students use Canvas. They can download Canvas to their cell phones. Me personally, I want this big giant 17" screen. But students don't mind using the screen on their cell phones. So work with them. See which apps-- that's what I always try to do.
If I'm introducing a new application-- what does this work on? Will it work on cell phone? Will it work on tablet? Or is it only for computers? And I let students know that. So I try to be as communicative as possible on what features are going to work on their cell phones and what tools are going to work on their cell phones and which tools are best for their computer. But I do that research when I'm on that website or that web tool.
And where can I find additional help? Well, I've already mentioned YouTube online. But OTAN has some great weekly webinars. Or you can request a Subject Matter Expert for your staff. You can request a webinar for your staff. There are many great online resources. This is a live link. I'm going to go over those in just a moment.
Your district, you can get help. Many times, your district offers some kind of tech training, YouTube tutorials, which I love. Or you could just google it. And when you google, at the very top you can click on Videos, if you want to watch a video. Or you can just read about it.
So let me go over to this online resource really quick. So here we are at the OTAN website, and you have some buttons here at the top. So the second button over is Training. So this is where I was mentioning the face-to-face or online workshops. But this button here that says Resources, there are lots and lots and lots of resources.
And one in particular is called Teaching with technology. So if you click here and scroll down a little bit, you will have some sub-categories. So you have Adult Basic Education, High School Equivalency, High School Diploma, and ESL. So I'm going to click on ESL.
And then to the left you have the title of the resource and what technology you need for this resource or what's included in this resource. And you can scroll down, and there are many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many resources. You can see here at the top, there's 353 resources. But if you want to filter them, we do have a filter here off to the right.
You can filter by level. You can filter by subject. You can filter by standard. And then click Submit. So if I want Intermediate High, and I want some Writing Activities-- and let's say we're on the topic of employment, and I click submit, then now this narrows it down to 266 results. So you can keep filtering or just start looking through these resources.
You see that they're highlighted in blue. So if you click on one of these resources, it's going to take you to a separate site where it'll show you the website. It'll give you a description, how to prepare, how to use it, what levels, the standards. Some of the different resources have longer description or more information. So you just want to take a look at these and start browsing and see what you like.
Melinda Holt: And, Diana, we have a question while you're getting there. Can we take these activities and/or worksheets and put them on our Canvas pages? Absolutely.
Diana Vera-alba: Yes.
Melinda Holt: You can download anything that's there to be downloaded, or you can link to them, so either way.
Diana Vera-alba: Always, always, always practice self-care. We do this as teachers. We put so much into our students and our lessons and our time. But practice self-care. Just remember that remote teaching is different, or online teaching is different, and that's absolutely OK.
Be kind to yourself and be kind to your students. You're both learning together. And if you communicate that with your students, I think there will be a bond there that you possibly maybe didn't have before. But this learning together environment, and communicating that with your student, I think is really important.
You will not recreate your face-to-face class, and that's absolutely OK. Online or remote learning is not face-to-face. And you shouldn't try to put that much pressure on yourself that you're going to recreate that. But it can evolve into something wonderful, definitely something different-- a different experience for you and your students.
And expect to make mistakes. That's absolutely OK. Just like the mistakes that we all make in our classrooms, that's absolutely OK. And enjoy what you're doing. I really, really, really love this platform because there's a creativity that I have online that I don't necessarily have in a face-to-face environment.
So I really, really enjoy that aspect of it. Plus I'm kind of techie, so I really, really get excited when I have a new tool to share with my class. So for any questions or further training requests, you can contact OTAN at support@otan.us.
Melinda Holt: And, Diana, we have a question. I didn't want to miss it. Regarding students limited in tech and ESL, I've had a good experience with USA Learns for lower levels, also to connect to students in these times. What would you think of Facebook? 100% of my current students use it in one class for chats or to help them with each other. So what are your thoughts on Facebook being used?
Diana Vera-alba: So I have used Facebook in the past. Not my personal Facebook, I create a private Facebook account for my students. And this is a good communication tool, a great communication tool. It's a great way to post things. I used to post job fairs that were coming up and things like that.
The nice thing about it is if you're the creator of this page, you can have control over allowing students to post things. And I would definitely do that. If you do want to allow students to post, I would filter it so that you get to see the item and approve it before they post it. But yes, definitely, if you don't have an LMS, Facebook can be a great place for you to post assignments and use it in that format.
Melinda Holt: OK. What would you use to schedule weekly student appointments for Google Meet? I want students to be able to see what time slots have already been signed up for and what's still available.
Diana Vera-alba: I use a Google Sheet. And you can use a Google Sheet or you can use-- because that's [audio out]. And as students add to the time slots, you can see it live. So yeah, I would definitely use a Google document, whether it's a Google Doc or a Google Sheet.
Melinda Holt: And what do you think of Duolingo?
Diana Vera-alba: I love Duolingo, and I always tell students about it. I would say it's kind of like a beginning to maybe intermediate. I now teach advanced. But even my advanced students like the vocabulary in it and just that fun, interactive gaming part of it. But yeah, Duolingo is definitely a great tool that they can use very easily on their cell phone. In fact, I think it's best used on your cell phone.
Melinda Holt: Diana, do you know where the OTAN Resources Guide is on the OTAN website? And if you don't, I'm going to hand you over to Anthony Burik. And, Anthony, I'm going to go off-mic as soon as the OTAN website comes up. And you can walk Diana through that. So, everyone, Anthony Burik is one of our other Project Specialists here at OTAN.
Anthony Burik: So I just want to take a couple of minutes, with Diana's assistance here because I've noticed in the chat that people are asking about a lot of tools. And Melinda will also, in a few minutes, tell us about some upcoming webinars that we have scheduled that will cover some of the tools in question.
But let's just take a look at what we have on our website so far. If you go to the OTAN website, otan.us, actually our news story, which is listed there-- and we're going to do something similar for next week. This will give you a list of what we have upcoming in terms of webinars.
And I also typed a note in the chat about our open office hours. I think Melinda's also going to talk about that in a second. But just in terms of the scheduling of things coming up with OTAN, this would be a good place for all of you to just check-in, maybe every day or every couple of days. Just to see what we have coming up, so if there's something that's of interest to you, you can go ahead and register directly by clicking on the links to the session. So this would be the first place to start.
Then in the upper right-hand corner, you'll see our COVID-19 Field Support button. So at OTAN, we're trying to centralize a number of resources that we feel will be relevant for all of you in the field to keep knowledgeable on what's coming and what's going on and things like that.
So Melinda asked me specifically about the resource guide that we've developed. So at the very top, Diana, under the OTAN heading-- so it says, COVID-19 Field Support. And then the first heading is OTAN. And then the first item there is the OTAN Resource Guide. So if you go ahead and click on that guide-- OK.
So this came out of a news item that we created. And this just gives you a little bit of a sense of how the guide is organized. We really felt it was important not only to just give you a list of items, which can be overwhelming-- and I get that sense from the chat that some of you are totally overwhelmed by the number of things that Diana mentioned.
So we've created a list. But we've also tried to add some support materials, whether it's a video or maybe an article to read, so that you at least have a sense of what the tool is and how you might get started with it. So, Diana, if you go ahead and click on that link that's right in the paragraph there-- thank you.
So basically, for the moment, this is the place where we are trying to list a variety of teaching items that are out there that you might consider using. And then, for example, some of you were asking about videos. Some of you are asking about LMS. Some of you were asking, "how do I get started with online teaching?" Things like that.
So let's scroll down to page 2. Because some people, for example, were asking about like Google Classroom. Did I list it? Yeah, OK, it was there. So on the guide, like I say, we're trying to come up with a list of what we feel would be some of the tools that some of you would use for this online learning, remote learning, distance learning period.
So again, we list the item first on the left-hand column. And then in the right-hand column, again, we're trying to give you some materials that you can use to get started. It doesn't matter, you don't-- these are just videos that are either on our YouTube channel. Or they're or other items that are on the OTAN website. So you don't need any kind of Gmail account or anything like that to look at these videos, read the materials.
So we would suggest that maybe, for some of the questions you've asked, take a look at our Resource Guide first. See if there are specific videos or articles that you could read to help you get started. And then if you have more specific questions, please email us. Or Melinda, again, is going to give us a list of some of the upcoming webinars that we have.
There are a couple of different ways we're trying to support you all. This resource guide is a 24/7 guide. It's going to be updated as we get more materials. And then you'll also want to look at the OTAN website in order to get a sense of what we have upcoming over the next week or so.
Melinda Holt: So I made reference to some Zoom trainings. Zoom does its own trainings. And we have watched the video so that we understand how to use it. And yes, Diana is going to share names. The Zoom link is up here somewhere in the chat, use that.
Or go to zoom.us, and click on Training. And there's a bunch of videos on how to get started, how to start a meeting, how to invite people. Like I said, we don't have to create that training because it's already created for you. And it's really a good training. Diana, you were going to share a list of your YouTube go-tos.
Diana Vera-alba: So one of the videos that I just discovered-- and this was from TDLS. I was watching Stephanie Thomas' presentation. But PowerPoint School is awesome. And this guy is really, really fast. But he creates these great animated PowerPoints. So that's a great one.
Here's the How to Host a Kaoot Live. This video is, like, 1 minute 30 seconds. That's how easy it is to create this Kahoot live. And many of us are familiar with using Kahoot in our classroom. And I couldn't believe how easy it was to do this live online. So that's just from Kahoot. You can subscribe to Kahoot on YouTube.
Here's another one, Zoom for Students in Under 5 Minutes. Oh, my gosh. That was super-easy as well. Let's see. Here's one of mine. I create screencasts for my students, because like I mentioned, I use Canvas. So in this 1 minute 58 second video I showed students how to embed an image into their Canvas discussion.
Ed Tech is also great. Here's one for Ed Tech. Like Melinda mentioned, Zoom has their own YouTube channel. So here's another one for Zoom. There's music in here too. Oh, here's ESL writing videos. So those are really, really great as well.
So just start using Zoom the way you would Google. If I googled "how to use Zoom with students-- oh, there was one on Facebook, with Facebook Live. Look at that. Somebody asked about Facebook earlier, and here are videos on how to do that with Facebook.
So that's how I use YouTube. I use it the way I would use Google to google something or to find an answer for something. And then you get all these videos-- Zoom Webinars add Facebook & YouTube Live Streaming. And you'll start noticing the instructors that pop up quite a bit. And then you can also go on their channel and just click on their name.
Like this person here-- or this person has the WP Elevation. That's their YouTube channel. And then if you click on it, it'll give you all of their videos if they have a YouTube channel.
Melinda Holt: A lot of you wanted to know how to use Zoom. OTAN uses Zoom's Training Center. So right here, Getting Started. You get started with Windows or a Mac. You're starting the Zoom Desktop Client-- how to do all of those things that we're doing right now. It's a step-by-step, and they give videos for some of them.
It's really a good series. And there was no point in us having a Zoom training. We just sent our trainers here as well. We said, hey, watch this and you'll learn how to do it. So use this if you want to know how to use Zoom.