For Shannon Butler, a professor with 杏吧原创鈥檚 Sprott School of Business, teaching at a new university meant a big change. And it truly was a change: Butler went from teaching upper-year classes of 45 students to first-year courses with more than 100 students each.

鈥淭here are definitely challenges in the classroom to engage students in a bigger class,鈥� says Butler, who began teaching at 杏吧原创 last fall.

First-year students are experiencing a shift in their lives when they first come to university, Butler explains, and they need an adjustment period of encouragement to complete their work and stay on task.

鈥淏ut I love teaching first year because there鈥檚 more I can do with the material. The material isn鈥檛 as technical as third year and there鈥檚 more flexibility with how you can present it and what you can do with it,鈥� she says.

One of those creative ways of disseminating the material included Butler鈥檚 foray into the flipped classroom model. While that was her previous style of teaching during her years at Western University, it was the first time both her introduction to accounting courses at 杏吧原创 have been taught that way.

Her flipped classroom meant providing students with videos ahead of class to review, with the goal of them coming to class ready to work through problems rather than receiving a standard lecture.

鈥淚 find that makes better use of your time with the students to work hands-on with them. That way, they can watch the videos whenever and how many times they want,鈥� Butler says.

With accounting courses being so problem heavy, Butler knew a flipped classroom model would be a good fit. Students could stay at their desks to work, while Butler would circulate to provide any help and take issues up as a group if necessary.

While most of the fall course was smooth sailing, Butler says there were challenges trying to get first-year students to use this model. To fix this, she started off class with a small review of the videos the students were tasked with watching before jumping into the work.

She also made good use of a document camera app on her phone that she could take around the classroom to work on problems with students, all the while broadcasting it live onto a screen. In the winter semester, she also used an iPad Pro with a stylus to project the written problems she was taking up.

As a newcomer to Ottawa like many of her younger students, Butler found the flipped classroom helped both her students and herself.

鈥淔or first-years, it鈥檚 a good way to get to know [professors]. I like to try to let my students know that I鈥檓 a person and approachable. [The flipped classroom] helps with that.鈥�

Earlier this year,聽Butler was honoured with a 2016 Excellence in Teaching with Technology Award, which celebrates instructors who have used technology in the classroom in unique and innovative ways. Her experience with flipped classrooms, as well as her interactive, technology-driven class set-up, helped her secure the award.

Not one to rest on her laurels, Butler is trying something new with her students this semester: a live, electronic landing page where Butler and her students can contribute simultaneously. The technology, Padlet, is similar to a Google Doc, where anyone with the correct link can access the live document and write text or attach photos instantly.

With the school year just beginning, Butler hasn鈥檛 been able to explore this technology thoroughly with her classes yet, but she says her initial forays have been successful. And she knows that with each semester she鈥檒l use her experiences to learn constantly.

鈥淚 always like to do things differently. Always.鈥�

By Emily Cook, TLS staff writer

When exploring the possibility of online learning, some people are concerned that the online environment lacks the social interaction and engaging atmosphere of a classroom experience. But professor Anne Tr茅panier is proving that online courses can be engaging, interactive and hands on.

Tr茅panier began teaching in 杏吧原创鈥檚 School of Canadian Studies in 2010. After bringing her lectures online, she was recognized with a 2015 .

Tr茅panier says that while the format of her lectures changed, she wanted the course message to stay the same, and for the environment to be stimulating with group work, research and hands-on activities.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not the regular thing one would expect from an online course,鈥� she says.

鈥淭he key challenge for me was to be able to create a safe space for the students to grow their ability to think.鈥�

Camtasia and cuLearn are among the different types of technology Tr茅panier says she uses to make her courses interactive, along with incorporating documentaries, interviews with professionals and virtual museums.

鈥淚 wanted [students] to be able to interact deeply with the material, so not just having superficial use of information,鈥� she says.

According to Tr茅panier, an important component of online teaching is to be organized with each lesson so students know how to succeed. She says she鈥檚 also found it helpful to reward students with marks for logging in and completing reviews and quizzes.

鈥淭he repetitive, simple, well-organized lesson format permits learner-centered teaching,鈥� she says.

In her courses, Tr茅panier says she provides three types of feedback: personal, group and automated. Automated responses are programmed for quizzes to provide students with resources to find answers to questions they got wrong.

Tr茅panier also has students participate in online group research. She has students search for scholarly sources and once they鈥檝e made their submissions with an explanation, they can see contributions from the rest of the class.

鈥淚t鈥檚 like a mini Google from the class, and it helps for the upcoming essays,鈥� she says.

For professors considering online teaching, Tr茅panier says that in addition to the time it takes to prepare the course, support from your department and a good relationship with an instructional designer are key. Tr茅panier says the designer makes the ideas a reality.

鈥淵ou don鈥檛 need to be tech savvy, but you need to be responsive and listen to the designer,鈥� she says.

Despite the hurdles, Tr茅panier says there鈥檚 a lot of potential for online teaching.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of freedom online,鈥� she says. 鈥淚鈥檓 more of a guide, I鈥檇 say, then just someone who delivers information.鈥�