Estimated reading time: 4 minutes, 51 seconds

Tips by @AUC Students for Teaching/Learning Online (esp during Ramadan)

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes, 51 seconds

In class today, I asked students to vote on what they wanted to talk about for the day, and we worked on a Google doc together with tips for students and faculty on online learning – especially as Ramadan approaches and students struggle to get their eating, sleep and focus/attention to work together to help them succeed in their courses. They worked in groups of 3-4 and produced the following tips. Each group decided whether to use their full name or just first name, and they created/chose images to go along with their contribution. So that’s what you’ll see below. Enjoy!

(apologies in advance for formatting issues – trying to get this out there in the world, rather than make it perfect. Copying from Google docs into WordPress makes it slightly chaotic)

Tips from Halla, Adham, Haya, Noha

This image was edited by students juxtaposing two images
Employee Desk Stress – Free vector graphic on Pixabay (Pixabay License)
(unsplash by rawan yasser) (Ramadan lanterns )

Tips for Students

1-Adjust your sleep schedule 

2-Be realistic about what you want to get done, don’t be too ambitious .

3-Plan work according to your schedule and set your goals on an online calendar to have visibility.

4-Watch mosalsalat to energize yourself

5-Factor in the days you’ll be eating out 

6-When planning your time leave some undesignated time slots because things pop up in Ramadan

7- Focus on allotting time for community service to ensure that you give back to the people as well as have good spirits (baraka).

Tips for Faculty

  1. Give flexible deadlines past midnight.
  2. Don’t overwork students while they are  fasting.
  3. Don’t force students to participate in class.
  4. Don’t give any due dates during EID.
  5. Make some classes asynchronous / have flexibility in attendance 
  6. DO NOT hold classes during 9pm and such times.
  7. Don’t force students to open their cameras.
  8. No classes should be held during the weekend.
  9. Make classes more engaging/ interactive focusing on using several methods of communication.
  10. If the content is too technical, it is to be pre-explained in a panopto lecture to act as a buffer prior to class.
  11. Consider self grading 
  12. Set up course with Ramadan in mind (harder content first for example or leave projects to Ramadan and content before hand if possible)

Tips from Heidi Aref, Mazen Hassan, Mariam Salem, Mostafa Awwad

For Students:

1 – Keep your phone in the other room when you’re studying

2 – Figure out a sleep schedule that works for you in Ramadan

3 – Always at least try to communicate with your professor

4 – Try to plan your week in advance (to the best of your ability)

5 – Eat a good suhur so you can function properly the next day

(“Lecture Hall” by uniinnsbruck is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0 https://search.creativecommons.org/photos/c48cde2a-bce1-4a9e-a7fb-c9aa289948c5, “ictQATAR Ramadan Greetings” by ictQATAR is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0 https://search.creativecommons.org/photos/513cad32-f711-45b3-be0b-a35a012f29d0)

For Professors

1 – offer attendance alternatives to live sessions in Ramadan (especially for early classes)

2 – have skill-based more than memorization-based exams

3 – communicate with your students about what they want to do in Ramadan

4 – try not to have multiple deadlines on the same day

5 – more group activities

6 – vary material in lectures (add a discussion, activity, video, etc. to change the pace)

7 – consider having one asynchronous and one synchronous class a week (for example, a recorded lecture and then a live class for discussion/question)

Tips from Islam Ibrahim, Nora, Salma El Sawalhy, Yasmina

Video Call, Video, Conference, Zoom, Online, Skype
(pixabay / Free for commercial use, no attribution required, mo)https://pixabay.com/photos/video-call-video-conference-zoom-5962733/

For students:

1- planning your week in advance and writing everything you have to do (use planner or reminder) 

2- Remove all distractions (close unneeded windows / turning off your phone)

3- Dedicate a room / space for taking online classes

4- Ask for help from TA or Dr 

5- taking small breaks 

6- changing the place (in or outside the house) you take your classes in

For teachers:

1- having flexible deadlines

2-giving options for the assignments

3- not forcing students to open their cameras

4- stop using algorithmic proctored exams

5- allow students to have the chance of getting a makeup exam 

6- All lectures should be recorded (Ramadan)

7- Professors should always stick to the time period dedicated to their class

8- Professors should consider giving short breaks during class sessions (Ramadan)

9- Implement engaging exercises as much as possible.(group discussions) instead of just reading the powerpoint slides (boring!)

10- Integrate different types of media to keep things fresh (readings, videos)

11- taking breaks in the lecture to talk about something different or listen to music or watch a video

Tips from AbdelRahman, Iman, Nadine, Reem

Students:

–      Maintain the same sleeping schedule. For example, if someone normally sleeps at 12, he could sleep from 12 till before fajr by an hour or something then sleeps right after fajr

–      Try to manage their time by waking up early to finish what they have and those who get tired they can take a nap in the afternoon

Faculty:

–      They should be flexible in deadlines w attendance

–      They should be understandable: a professor once gave us a final exam at 8:30 AM on a FRIDAY during Ramadan!!

–  A lecture per week to be a recorded one, and another live class so it could be a bit flexible

– Classes on campus to be cancelled: people who live in October

How to make classes enjoyable:

  • Non-stressful classes (where we have multiple assignments, bonuses to make-up for ones we have missed)

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