Our collection of some of the most popular guides from experienced online and distance learning educators.
The Online Teaching Survival Guide
Judith V. Boettcher and Rita-Marie Conrad
The Online Teaching Survival Guide is a highly rated guide is a comprehensive introduction to teaching classes online. The book covers core principles for structuring the online class, managing the overall running of the class, and interacting with students throughout the course. The material is grounded in evidence-based research and is intended for both new instructors transiting online as well as existing teachers who are looking to refine their approach.
Essentials of Online Course Design
Marjorie Vai and Kristen Sosulski
Essentials of Online Course Design focuses on core considerations when designing online courses, drawing on best practices to help ensure a well-structured course. The text covers core concepts of course design from the form and nature of the material delivered to the assessment and feedback from the course.
Small Teaching Online
Flower Darby and James M. Lang
Small Teaching Online considers the “small and strategic changes” that are can help transform online teaching and increase student engagement with the course content. The text covers approaches for increasing student engagement within online learning, with consideration of building a community, giving feedback, and the importance of making connections between course content and their experiences.
Teaching Effectively with Zoom
Dan Levy
Teaching Effectively with Zoom offers detailed, practical advice for teaching via Zoom, drawing on the authors experience as well as interviews with students. Published in July of 2020, the book is an up-to-date companion to assist educators transition to teaching on the platform.
The Distance Learning Playbook, Grades K-12
Fisher Douglas, Frey Nancy, and Hattie John
The Distance Learning Playbook offers practical advice specifically targeted at the needs of school teachers, combined with video companions to supplement the material in the book. Focused on the needs of a classroom environment, this highly rated guide covers a lot of considerations involved in delivering classes to K-12 students, with video material given advice from a diverse number of teachers and perspectives.
Affiliate Disclosure: In-line with many online publications, we may receive an affiliate commission for purchases made through links on this page.
Related articles
Disable Webcam Mirroring in Zoom
While mirroring your webcam is often a useful feature on Zoom – with your preview the mirror-image of how it is recorded – there are occasions when it is more natural to disable this and see your preview the way participants do. This article explains how to disable the mirroring of your webcam in Zoom.
Display 49 Participants in Zoom Gallery View
Although the default settings in Zoom limits the number of thumbnails displayed in the gallery view to 25, this can be increased to 49. This article explains how to increase the number of participants displayed and the technical requirements to do.
Familiarize Yourself with Zoom Controls
If you want to effectively manage a Zoom call it is important to understand Zoom’s controls. In this guide we cover all aspects of the calls – where the buttons are and what they do.
Using hotkeys in Streamlabs OBS
Hotkeys (or shortcuts) are a convenient way of managing your stream in Strealabs OBS – allowing you to switch scenes or change settings without while still concentrating on your main task. In this guide, we’ll explain how to configure your hotkeys.
The Role of Zoom’s Breakout Rooms
Breakout Rooms can be one of the most effective ways of integrating discussion and student engagement into classes – explore ways of integrating them in your classes.
Changing Zoom’s Resolution
The resolution of your video classes can have a big impact on the overall experience – high resolution makes everything feel crisper and closer to in-person discussions. The guide illustrates how to change the resolution of Zoom calls, reducing pixelation from default settings.
See a Participant View of Zoom
It can be useful to see Zoom as your students do – this makes it easier to know what they are likely seeing at there end and provide guidance and instructions. This article shows how Zooms looks from the student perspective.
Using Chat in Zoom
Zoom’s chat feature can be a great resource – but are also a potential distraction when teaching. Learn how to selectively use it within your class, or disable it to avoid interruptions.
Using Streamlabs OBS with Zoom
Streamlabs OBS is a great way to turbo-charge your Zoom calls, allowing you to display overlays on your content. This article outlines the easy approach to connect Streamlabs to OBS.