by 
| Name | Professor Gerardine Doyle – Accountancy
 Forward planning and utilising module templates allowed Gerardine to create a consistent, easy to navigate, experience for her students on Brightspace. Read on to find out more about Gerardine’s experience. |
| Module(s) | ACC40930 – Aviation Tax |
| Resource | Module template |
| Experience | Gerardine began planning for a blended / online delivery for the module ACC40930, Aviation Tax during Summer 2020. The module has an enrolment of approximately 50 students and is delivered in trimester 1. Having enrolled in the self-paced module, Module Design for Online / Blended, Gerardine started to review her module content and prepare revisions or additions needed for the new mode of delivery required in trimester 1 for the academic year 2020/21. In order to apply a consistent and well-defined structure to her online module, she installed the Brightspace module template developed for all staff of the College of Business and made available in the module, Module Design for Online / Blended.
Once the template was applied to the module, she edited the structure and content as necessary for her teaching. Implementing best practice in online module design, she amended the structure of the weekly learning units of two x 2 hour classes to three timetabled sessions including one 30 minute pre-recorded session of the theoretical/ conceptual topic for the week which was then followed by two online interactive classes. Gerardine also employed different methods of engagement such as creating a welcome video in order to create immediate connections with students in the online environment, discussion forums for module introductions and links to podcasts relevant to the module and topic of the week. Gerardine also held an open Zoom consultation hour each week whereby students could pop in for an informal chat (or listen to the conversation) about the module, assessment within the module or challenges students were experiencing in the online environment. This weekly activity helped to create a sense of community within the class when the module moved to online delivery. Before government restrictions tightened in Ireland in September 2020, some teaching did commence in a face-to-face format in trimester 1 (with social distancing and public health measures applied). Once restrictions tightened, all teaching moved to online delivery. Instructions and directions that may be given to students in a face-to-face lecture now had to be accessed solely via Brightspace and the virtual classroom. At this stage it became all the more important for module design to follow consistent layout and well defined structures to allow students to easily access their learning content. As Gerardine had already developed a well-defined structure for her module by using and editing the module template, the sign posting of content, assignment links and access to the virtual classroom were already available to students, mitigating stress and confusion in the sudden move to remote teaching. |
