Originally triggered by the Covid restrictions on in-person teaching, our education and recruitment outreach programs have worked together to support classrooms no matter where they are. Now, the hybrid model has become firmly established.
Our combined virtual outreach provides opportunities for students to learn about mineral resources, mining, and careers in the industry whether they are in the classroom or at home. The virtual presentations follow interactive activities that teach students about science and engineering concepts used in mining with informative presentations and Q/A sessions that help students understand how they can pursue an education that will lead them to a career where they can apply those concepts daily. These presentations are led by the outreach coordinators Mario Muñoz (recruitment), and Chris Earnest (education).
In those presentations, students can naturally progress from learning how important minerals are to their lives, to discovering the many professional and educational opportunities available to them in the mining industry. For example, during our mining and chemistry presentation Chris shows students how much copper they use every day and uses basic chemistry concepts to refine copper from copper ore right before their eyes. Mario then explains how students can continue studying and applying those concepts to become metallurgists and mineral processing engineers. A teacher who participated in our presentations this fall praised this approach saying, “Students are usually ignorant of what opportunities exist in the academia and, unless the academia reaches out to students, it is difficult for students to learn ahead of time what opportunities for their professional and academic growth exist. This presentation has certainly given motivation to some students to pursue with more determination higher education.”
Adapting our activities and presentations to virtual space allows us reach students whether they are learning from home, the library, or in the classroom. Virtual presentations also make it possible for us to connect students to industry professionals and college students much more easily. Where once physical distance, scheduling, and available classroom facilities limited the reach of our outreach program, going forward, our virtual offerings will complement our in-person outreach and allow us to serve students no matter their situation.
In today's "hybrid-learning" environments teachers are now expected to create exciting digital content at the drop of a hat. These 10 easy-to-follow tips can give your videos that extra shine.
- Lights toward your face! - Lights behind you make it harder for your camera to see your smiling face. Keep yourself from being lost in the shadows and don't sit with a window or a lamp behind you. Find a place where you can sit in front of the window, or move that lamp behind your camera so it can light up your face.
- Mic up! - Laptop microphones can pick up all sorts of background noise, from crying children to dishwashers. A cheap lavaliere microphone or a set of headphones with a built in microphone can go a long way to making your voice nice and clear.
- Hydrate! - You may not be standing in front of 30 students for hours on end, but you are still using your voice. Don't forget to drink plenty of water to keep your throat nice and moist.
- Powder puff! - Both boys and girls will find that a little foundation on the nose, cheek bones, and forehead can keep you looking cool and calm instead of shiny and sweaty. A little goes a long way to keeping the glare down.
- Look up! - It is easy to get lost in your screen while recording. Don't forget eye contact! Treat the camera like it's your student's eyes so that when they look at your video, you are looking right back at them. You can tape a picture of your class right above the camera to help you remember.
- Write a script! - Save yourself time editing out your "ums" and "aws" and plan what you are going to say. Just like a lesson plan, have your ideas and props at the ready before you hit the record button.
- Smile! - A video lacks a lot of the emotional context you and your students are used to in a classroom. You don't have to overdo it, but make a smile your resting face. A neutral expression can look positively dour on camera.
- Charge the night before! - Make sure to charge up the batteries on your camera/laptop/smartphone/whatever the night before your shoot/lesson. Nothing ruins a productive day more that having the device you were sure was charged suddenly turn itself off.
- Create a background! - You may be stuck in your kitchen, but your students don't have to know that!. An old sheet hung on a string can provide you a space to decorate with pictures relevant to your lessons while helping to "rope off" your filming space at the same time. Taping pictures behind you can help to recover some of the interactivity of classroom lesson by giving you something towards which to focus your student's attention. Once you are done filming the sheet can be folded away so you can relax outside of your work space.
- Take a break! - Is your smile starting to fade? Is your voice cracking? Sick of staring into the void? Don'f forget to take a break to keep yourself fresh for the camera. Have a snack, take a nap, do something fun. If you are doing a live lesson, your students will need a bit of respite as well.
Bonus Hint: What to do while your video is rendering. - IT never expected you to need to render video when they assigned you that 5 year old hand-me-down laptop. So while you are waiting for your computer to crunch the numbers try one of these productive activities: finish your novel, take a hike, wash the car, walk the dog, pet the cat, play with the kids, watch TV, play a video game, practice your instrument, make a pot of coffee and drink it, or just relax and pat yourself on the back for a job well done. You've been working hard to adjust to circumstances no one expected so take a well deserved break.