I was familiar with Microsoft OneNote as a method for keeping my own notes and resources and thought that it could be used as a means of storing and presenting teaching materials. Instructional materials displayed in a file directory 2. File directories have no context beyond the name of the file, so to understand the curriculum tutors needed to open the files and use them in conjunction with the timetable and supplementary files.

As can be seen from the screenshot, the materials are not easy to navigate, nor are they visible without opening each file to see what it contains. Figure 1 shows an example of a file directory from a memory stick. Timetables and marking criteria were printed and handed out separately. In the in-person teaching environment, instructional materials were downloaded onto memory sticks and given to tutors. One of my concerns about moving online was how to share the instructional materials with the new tutors to ensure they were usable, accessible, and intuitive. Transitioning from teaching face-to-face, to teaching online can be stressful and demanding (Dhilla, 2017). Although all the tutors were experienced in face-to-face teaching, in June 2020 most had little experience of online teaching. Because of the large cohort on the summer courses, the department employs many temporary tutors.

In March 2020 I became a course coordinator, and the priority was to transition the Pre-Session summer course from an in-person, to an online course. What exactly was the shift in culture and/or organisational practice that you wish to highlight?

Susan Caie explains how the University of Aberdeen used OneNote to make instructional materials easily available for online teaching. Using OneNote in Microsoft Teams to support the transition from face-to-face to online teaching

Ms teams one note