AV and IT leaders must keep in touch with online instructors

At Kansas State University-Olathe, even before COVID-19 closures, about 80% of the classes were conducted by videoconference with the main campus about two hours away.

The IT team, therefore, likes to stay in touch with instructors to provide feedback on their presentations and help them make adjustments when problems arise, IT Manager Nate Scherman says.

“Our goal is for everything to be easy to use so they can be teaching as naturally as possible, even though students are video-conferencing.”

Scherman recommends that instructors not rely too much on screen shares or PowerPoints when delivering remote instruction.

Read other stories in our Sound Quality in Distance Learning series.

“For many distance students, just seeing a PowerPoint can get monotonous if they don’t see people and have that feeling of interaction,” Scherman says. “We tell instructors they should stay on camera as much as possible.”

Read the other stories in our “Sound Quality in Distance Learning” series:

1. 5 steps for making online learning sound great
2. You need top-notch microphones for distance learning.
3. Instructors must realize it’s a performance.
4. So, train those presenters!
5. Instructors must learn to multitask.