Online Teaching Resources

Teaching Botany Online

Many people are working from home for the first time, including teachers and faculty across the country. We have collected some resources that might provide useful information for teaching botany online, in addition to some general biology resources. While many of these resources are K-12, many also apply to undergraduate education as well.

General Information about Teaching Online

Resource	Notes
Tips for Teachers Transitioning to Remote Learning	This page has a whole host of tips and strategies for teaching online, in addition to links to useful resources.
"8 Lessons for Teaching over Zoom"	This post from the Dynamic Ecology website has excellent advice for teaching with Zoom.
"Resources for Online Teaching"	This excellent video demonstrates the critical HOW to teach online - from how to record lectures to editing, compressing, and uploading them.
"Keep Your People Learning When You Go Virtual"	This Harvard Business Review article discusses cognitive learning and socio-emotional learning and how both are important when switching to primarily online education.
Wiley Online Teaching Topics	This is a list of excellent articles ranging from "How to Lecture in the Online Setting" to a "Sample Weekly Schedule and Best Practices for Online Teaching"
Assessing Student Online Learning	The 3rd Water Cooler Chat from ESA has a whole list of useful resources on assessing what your students are learning during online teaching.
5 Low-Tech, Time-Saving Ways to Teach Online During Covid-19	This article in The Chronicle of Higher Education has some great tips for online teaching.
International Society for Technology in Education Book Sampler	This link goes straight to resources and support for online education.
9 Thoughts on Dealing with Online Learning in a Crisis	Byline: “Colleges and universities everywhere are rushing to move courses online and keep teaching and learning going during the coronavirus pandemic. Here's how to cope with what may feel like an impossible task.”
Why you should ignore all that Coronavirus-inspired Productivity Pressure	Adapting to this new “normal” for the next few weeks/months will take some adjustment. This article helps to allay some fears and provide solid advice for dealing with this crisis while trying to maintain some productivity.
How to Help Struggling Students Succeed Online	Learning online is not intuitive for everyone. This article provides some insights and suggestions on what your students are going through and how you can help them.
That Discomfort You’re Feeling Is Grief	Take it easy on yourself (and your students); this is hard for everyone. This Harvard Business Review article gives a great perspective on what we ALL are going through and how to navigate through it during this time.
How to Keep the Crashers Out of Your Zoom Event	Zoom is a great tool for telecommuting and tele-teaching, but it is not without hazards. Be aware of how you can keep yourself, your students, and your coworkers safe while using Zoom to be productive.If you are using Zoom to teach, these tips can keep you and your students safe.
Coronavirus: How to work from home, the right way	Set yourself and your students/coworkers up for success by creating a workspace at home.
Teachers share resources for teaching online during Coronavirus School Closures	Many teachers are teaching online for the first time, while others have been doing this for a while. This is a nice article on some of the communities that have popped up on social media to help each other out.
Updated: Free Resources for Schools during COVID-19 Outbreak	Is this list comprehensive? Maybe not, but it’s close.

Specific Information Related to Biology Education

Resource	Notes
Online Resources from the Society for the Study of Evolution	Various resources from curricula to textbooks to simulators to videos. Pick and choose what works for your needs.
NABT COVID-19 Updates	NABT has made various resources available to instructors, including updates on the COVID-19 pandemic and how it affects education.
OneZoom by The Linnean Society of London	A zoomable tree of life!
SimBio Remote Teaching Tools	FREE for the remainder of the spring teaching term. Webinars currently available to learn how to use the "inquiry-driven modules" within this resource. The modules and "delivery system are designed to be used either in class or at home, with tools to make it easy to set up, deliver, and assess student work. Students receive instant feedback as they work through our tutorial style labs and interactive chapters, and all of our modules include an auto-graded quiz at the end."
Colors of Nature	Resources on how to combine art and science: Various art projects using concepts in chemistry and biology.
Data Nuggets	Free Online Resources for Teaching Biology: Provides data sets for students to evaluate and manipulate to learn about data collection and analysis and how to develop conclusions based on data.
Biodiversity Literacy in Undergraduate Education	A community of biodiversity, data, and education specialists with resources for undergraduate biology curriculum.
LabXchange from Harvard University	”Online community for learning, sharing, and collaboration.” Create filtered searches for critical topics.
National Science Teaching Association (NSTA)	The organization supports and has great resources for science teachers.
NSTA “Daily Do”	Each day there is a new resource with discussion topics.
American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS)	Set yourself and your students/coworkers up for success by creating a workspace at home.
National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT)	Many teachers are teaching online for the first time, while others have been doing this for a while. This is a nice article on some of the communities that have popped up on social media to help each other out.
Nature Conservancy - High School Resource	High school lesson plans
Nature Conservancy - Middle School Resource	Middle school lesson plans
Nature Conservancy -Virtual Field Trips	Virtual field trips to coral reefs, a rainforest, China’s great forests, and more!
American Museum of Natural History (Curriculum Collections)	Many teachers are teaching online for the first time, while others have been doing this for a while. This is a nice article on some of the communities that have popped up on social media to help each other out.
Free courses from the American Museum of Natural History	Courses ranging from “Genetics and Society: A Course for Educators” to “The Dynamic Earth: A Course of Educators.”
American Museum of Natural History	The AMNH has so much information available.
Arizona State University - Ask a Biologist	Students or teachers can submit questions to biologists and get scientifically-accurate answers in return.

Specific Information Related to Botany Education

Resource	Notes
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh - Online Education Resources	Several free botany-related resources available.
Charles Sturt University Virtual Herbarium	Tutorials and interactive tests on topics including, virtual floral formula, Australian plant family recognition, gynoecium, floral symmetry, leaf morphology, and supermarket botany.
Jepson Herbarium Education and Outreach Resources	Handy guides to plant native to California.
Briliant Botany	This website is dedicated to making botany accessible to everyone. Including a YouTube channel and public events, this website also contains curricular resources and access to citizen science projects, pollinator resources, and tutorials.
Plants and Pipettes	This website/blog explores the world of plant molecular biology - what processes go on inside plant cells, and how do those processes affect us.
Plant Love Stories	Heads up: Plant appreciation stories right here! These delightful, insightful, and beautiful stories share the many ways humans love plants. And how plants make us human.
Expanding YOUR Horizons Virtual Plant Workshop	This is an excellent website for teaching botany that was created by graduate students at Cornell University.
PlantSystematics.org	Great resource for plant images, organized by family.
Cornell University Plant Anatomy Collection	"Anatomical slide preparations of a wide array of plant parts." Great for teaching plant anatomy and systematics.
Botany Depot	Resources on teaching botany in the 21st century, for all age levels.
LabXchange from Harvard University (Specific to Botany)	Filter your searches for topics and content type that interest you.
LabXchange from Harvard University (Specific to Plants)	Filter your searches for topics and content type that interest you.
Rare Plant Profiles from The New Jersey Natural Lands Trust	“Each student can choose one rare or endangered plant species for your area and do a comprehensive literature review.”
Field Botany Videos by Peter A. Van Zandt at Birmingham-Southern College	This Assistant Professor recorded videos of plants in Alabama, including how to identify them.
Open Educational Resources (OER) Commons Primary Botany Resources	Filter your searches for what you need.
OER Commons Plants Resources	Filtered search specific to “plants” in general.
Tree-Ring Expeditions	Online lab
Spring Wildflowers of Mid-Atlantic	Videos identifying spring wildflowers.
Cornell Plant Pathology Herbarium	Herbarium samples with plant diseases.
Spring Term Teaching Supplies for Botany	From Dr. Aaron Liston, Professor and Herbarium Director at Oregon State University.
Global Plants in the Classroom from JSTOR	Specific lessons in botany

Citizen Science

Resource	Notes
Plants Go Global	This excellent website provides easily accessible information on plants and botany to reduce global plant blindness.
iNaturalist	A citizen science smartphone application collates observations in nature.
FieldScope, via BSCS	This resource combines citizen science observations in nature.
BudBurst Citizen Science	Participants can record phenology data with fellow citizens and scientists.
Connecting Students to Citizen Science and Curated Collections	Students can contribute to scientists’ understanding of global biodiversity.