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Instructional Resources for Library Instructors: Activate your one-shots

Active learning classroom

Active learning takes students' engagement to the next level. Instead of the traditional classroom setting where students passively listen to the instructor's lecture, an active learning classroom drives student collaboration and participation in group discussions. It actively engages students' critical thinking and problem-solving skills in the classroom.

You might have already integrated everyday active learning activities like "think-pair-and-share" in your in-person or online classroom. However, incorporating active learning activities could be challenging for specific one-shot instructions depending on the teaching topic and require additional practice for instructors. This guide will serve as a helpful toolkit to integrate active learning techniques into your one-shot instructions.

Watch this 1:05 minute video on Active learning, "Think-pair-share" in the classroom:

Reference: ACUE Teaching Excellence. (2016, May 16). Active Learning in Small Groups: Classroom Demonstration (Excerpt). Association of College and University Educators. Youtube: https://youtu.be/fdhQpDOXag0?feature=shared

Active learning library

The Active Learning Library showcases examples of active learning activities you can use in your classroom. It describes the types of activities that can be integrated into your classroom, examples of how it is incorporated, and the tools you need to make it happen. 

Workshop Presentation and active learning demostrations

Watch this 5:20 minute video on the demonstrations of active learning in different classrooms:

Reference: CIRTL MOOC (2015, September 10). Examples of Active Learning: An introduction to evidence-based undergraduate STEM Teaching: Active Learning. Boston University. Youtube: https://youtu.be/Ol3WabrXcR4?feature=shared.

Instructional tools adoption

Instructional technologies support an active learning classroom by providing instructors with the tools to facilitate active learning activities and bridge the communication gap between students learning online, in person, or hybrid. 

There are factors to consider when adopting new instructional tools into your classroom:

  • Access & Equity: Students can easily access the tools without creating additional accounts, and the tools can be supported across different platforms, software, and devices. It is also good to inquire with your faculty liaisons whether students understand how to use the tool or have access to those tools before implementing them into your classroom.
  • Ease of use: Students and other instructors can pick up the tools quickly and spend a minimal amount of time demonstrating the use of the tool. A good approach is to include tutorials on the use of technology as pre-work in the faculty's LMS before students get to your classroom. 
  • Participation: Multiple students can interact with the tool simultaneously and across multimodal sessions (online, in-person, and hybrid).
  • Flexible and scalable: Tools that can be flexible and accommodate different class sizes that allow students to communicate through different styles of presentations (audio, visual, or textual) and supports instructor and student communications and interactions. 

Lastly, when adopting a new tool or technology into your classroom, it is good to familiarize yourself with new tools and practice them before implementing them into your session. Ask your colleagues to help you through your one-shot lessons. If you have questions about integrating technology into your one-shot lesson, contact Teaching&Learning@library.ucsb.edu for help and recommendations. 

Instructional tool video tutorials

Poll Everywhere: A series of short video tutorials on using the tool to present the poll to your students in class. (https://www.polleverywhere.com/videos/tutorials/creating-polls) 

Jamboard is going away on December 31, 2024. If you are a user of Jamboard and need assistance with the transition. Please contact Teaching and Learning or Google to help you transition your Jamboard to other whiteboard applications such as Miro, Lucid, or FigJam. 

Canva tools to create presentations and lessons for your classroom. (The video lasts 10:16 minutes). 

Reference: Canva (2024, February 14). Unleash Your Teaching Powers with Canva's Free Lessons. Canva. Youtube: https://youtu.be/Wykph3VA6ro?feature=shared.  

Watch this tutorial about Nectir, a tool subscribed by UCSB! (The video lasts 5:10 minutes)

Reference: Nectir (2022, September 7). Nectir Walkthrough. Nectir. Youtube: https://youtu.be/VdSE8nfYBw0?feature=shared.

References