ISRRT_COVID-19_book

community of peer-to-peer learning where students started interacting among one another
and dealt with queries among themselves. In these instances, I would merely check-in and
correct inconsistencies if there were any so that all students had the correct information.
It was also very important for me to have an online presence so that the students did not feel
that they were on their own and that I was alongside them in the journey. I designed my
teaching and learning materials in such a way that the materials could be utilised for selfdirected
learning in preparation for the synchronous session on MS Teams. The learning
materials were structured in such a manner that the instructions were clear yet guiding the
student through the content that they need to cover. In some instances, templates or
infographics were developed to help them navigate the content or to help with reinforcement
of various concepts. Directing students in a clear manner as to where they could find content
was an important consideration so that they spent less time in finding information and
focused more on engaging with the content in order to make sense thereof and internalise
the important concepts and learning points.
Regular self-assessment through multiple try, untimed, quizzes on MOODLE were also
incorporated to help students test themselves to promote increased student engagement
with the prescribed work. These regular opportunities allowed for them to assess their
knowledge. Specific, formative feedback were incorporated in these quizzes so that students
had automatic, timeous feedback in order for them to address any gaps in their knowledge
almost immediately before moving onto the next section of the module.
Another strategy implemented was to provide students to simply off-load. These sessions
were useful as it allowed me to learn from my students and then to adapt my strategies to
enhance their learning experiences even further.
Lastly, I created a weekly schedule in advance so that students could have a plan to help them
plan their engagement in module activities. This was done to assist them with managing their
time amidst everything else they had to do.
Conclusion
The coronavirus pandemic caused a major disruptive effect for both students and academics
which forced adaptation and adoption of new ways of being, learning and teaching without
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