Below we outline some tips and resources about making a quick transition from a face-to-face course to an alternate/online environment. This guide is not meant to serve as an online teaching resource/program/training. Rather, it is designed to provide resources on how to quickly adapt a course and teach remotely under exceptional circumstances.
General Principles
- Prioritize compassion – students may be experiencing significant stress for many different reasons.
- Be flexible – Understand that unusual circumstances will require you to remain flexible in your teaching methods and activities. Strive for flexibility in your teaching methods and with your students.
- Remain calm and supportive in all your communications with students.
- Understand students’ unique situations – for example, international students in may be under significant stress (summer plans, anxiety about family back home, financial uncertainty or even an inability to return home).
- Access – keep in mind that not all of your students might have access to the technology or fast enough internet access to connect all the time. Accommodations may need to be made in these circumstances to allow everyone to complete the necessary activities.
- Be student focused – Remember that teaching is about student learning. Students are at the heart of what we do.
- Be proactive – Being prepared now will ensure that you are ready for any potential disruption.
- Go back to your outcomes – Think about what are the essential outcomes your students need to meet by the end of the semester.
- Keep it simple – An online course can take 18 months to design and prepare effectively. The goal right now is to help students meet the outcomes of your course.
- Consider Asynchronous Frist – Asynchronous may provide the most flexibility for you and your students. There are a number of ways to delivery content such as email, Moodle, discussion forms, etc.
What are you trying to do online?
Communicate with Students
- Talk early, talk often. Let your students know what you’re planning. Without creating panic, invite your students into your conversations about ways forward.
- Ensure students know how to contact you and that you have their proper contact details. Ensure students know how to contact one another. Consider making alternative modes of contact available.
- If you have an established pattern and channel of contact, continue to use that. If not, now is the time to establish this.
- Talk to your students about their level of connectivity and digital engagement.
- Consider that many students may be accessing content primarily or solely on their phones.
- Ideally, use Moodle announcements, discussion boards, university email. Using what’s already in place saves your energy for other tasks.
- Think about hosting virtual office hours.
Create a Communication Plan
Once you have identified communication channels for you and your students, their accessibility needs and type of communication asynchronous (not concurrent in time) vs synchronous (communication in real-time), consider how students will send you course related questions and how you will respond to those questions. Remember this is important because you will not be available to answer questions face-to-face. Lastly, decide how assignment feedback will factor into your communication loop.
Carefully walk your students through the plan and the course site.
Asynchronous
Are synchronous meetings really needed? Disruptions that are major enough to force closures can also be major enough to significantly impact people’s schedules and availability (Moore & Hodges, 2020).
Articles on Using Forums
Synchronous
Is it really important that students be present live, at a specific time, for a lecture? If so, then try recording lectures students can listen to on their own time. Also set up reoccurring live sessions throughout the week where students can join you for virtual office hours to ask questions and get further guidance and support (Moore & Hodges, 2020). SEE: suggestions under Lecture and Video Capture below.
Share content with students
- Ensure your teaching materials are saved to your own computer/cloud account.
- Make asynchronicity your friend – using asynchronous tools such as emails, Moodle, dropboxes, or discussion boards are often the simplest and most easily accessible tools for ensuring that all students are able to participate.
- Ensure that any content you share is easily accessible to all students.
SEE: Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
Familiarize yourself with Moodle
SEE: Moodle Answers
- Again, carefully consider accessibility (e.g. mobile-friendliness) of any content you prepare.
Flipgrid
Free to educators and easy sign-in with UofL account.
Microsoft Sway
A free Microsoft app to create online presentations
Lecture and Video Capture
Two teaching spaces have been set up in E519 on campus. These spaces are isolated, clean and has essential equipment to help you teach with alternative delivery methods. You can book one of these spaces using the link below.
Book E519 Teaching Spaces
Youtube
Moodle does not handle large videos very well (and if everyone uploads large videos to the system it compromises the entire system). To prevent creating issues (and to create a better playback experience for students) we are currently recommending that you send a direct weblink to your Zoom video within Moodle or that videos be uploaded to YouTube as private videos and then embedded into Moodle. This resource will walk you through the steps of inserting a YouTube video into Moodle.
Set up a Youtube account and upload videos [PDF]
Powerpoint
It is important to note that if you are recording or delivering lecture live, many of our students have accommodations due to visual or auditory issues. Turning on transcription for your PowerPoint presentation is quite easy to do and allows for a live transcription of your lecture (which is accessible to all of your students) and is then captured in the recording as well. Here is a tutorial on turning this feature on in Office 365 PowerPoint.
Zoom
The University has secured licenses of Zoom to help with both synchronous delivery of classes as well as recording lectures for asynchronous delivery. Faculty can access their Zoom space by going to https://uleth.zoom.us and clicking on the Sign In button (login with your U of L credentials).
PDF guides to using Zoom
- Faculty
- Students
- Zoom resources for moving to alternative delivery
Microsoft Stream
Microsoft Stream is an application that is included with Office 365.
Guide to get started with Microsoft Stream
Creating a group for class/section
Assess students
- Start thinking about how you are going to collect student assignments.
- Consider how you may need to shift assessment strategies.
- Consider how you might reformat final exams to be take-home exams or assignments.
SEE: Transitioning Assessment Strategies
Labs, studios, and other place-based teaching
- Start thinking about alternatives to teaching that requires a specific place and may not easily be done remotely. Check your departmental guidelines.
- Go back to your course outcomes and consider other teaching strategies and assessments that may get students to meet those overarching course outcomes.
Basic Steps
Review your learning outcomes to see what essentials need to be met. Clearly communicate to students how students can achieve the learning outcomes within each assignment or task. Again, decide how will students receive feedback.
Revisit & Communicate Learning Outcomes
Review your learning outcomes to see what essentials need to be met. Clearly communicate to students how students can achieve the learning outcomes within each assignment or task. Again, decide how will students receive feedback.
Course Content
Students
Students will need to access course materials (assignments, readings, videos etc.). Students will also need to know how to submit assignments.
Instructor
You will need to decide where to house your course content and how to deliver your course material. The Teaching Centre and IT will be instrumental in supporting you in this area.
Copyright
The University Copyright Advisor provides guidance and permissions services for University of Lethbridge faculty, students, and staff in matters involving copyright. To discuss copyright questions or concerns, please contact the University Copyright Advisor at copyright@uleth.ca. Or you can visit their website for more information.
https://library.ulethbridge.ca/copyright/copyright
Transitioning In-Person Courses to Online
https://library.ulethbridge.ca/copyright/#s-lib-ctab-15624588-1
The information provided on their website is offered as general guidance only, not as legal counsel.
Attendance
How to Support Students Who May Not be Attending Class
Stay calm. Talk to your department Dean. Treat isolated attendance cases as you would any student emergency. Encourage students with who are self-isolating to register with the UofL. Be flexible and pre-plan how you will make course materials available to these students and how they might complete course exams.
How to Continue Teaching if You are Unable to Attend Class
Be flexible and pre-plan how you will make course materials available to all of your students and envision how you can make exams accessible in the event you are unable to deliver them face-to-face or the Testing Centre in inaccessible. SEE suggestions under Access Students above.
Transitioning Assessment Strategies
This document is designed to identify a few different methods for dealing with a potential closure of the Test Centre and the inability to give face-to-face exams to your students. Regardless of which of the following options are to be employed, it is important to communicate these changes to the students impacted.
Tools and tech support links
Communicate with Students
Moodle Learning Management System (LMS)
Outlook Email
Email may be the place you feel most comfortable. Consider building a mailing list per class to help manage your student addresses.
Polling Tools
Poll Everywhere
Socrative
Google Drive
Google Hangouts
Share Content with Student
Moodle Learning Management System (LMS)
Moodle is the University of Lethbridge’s supported Learning Management system. It has a vareitly of online tools you can use for online course delivery.
Google Drive
Synchronous Web Conferencing
The University has secured licenses of Zoom to help with both synchronous delivery of classes as well as recording lectures for asynchronous delivery. Faculty can access their Zoom space by going to https://uleth.zoom.us and clicking on the Sign In button (login with your U of L credentials)
Create Your Own Content
Microsoft Office Suite
A collection of office applications including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Be aware that Publisher and Access have no direct counterparts on Macs or with Google Apps so accessing those file types may create problems for some students.
- How to use the accessibility checker in Microsoft Office
- How to make a PDF in PowerPoint
- How to upload a video to Microsoft Stream
Google Suite
The Google Suite is a set of free tools closely aligned to Microsoft’s Office suite. These tools offer increased flexibility for viewing across devices and provide increased options for online collaboration.
Adobe Creative Suite
A collection of cloud applications including Illustrator and Photoshop. These tools offer increased flexibility for creativity when creating content.
- Troubleshooting in Adobe Office Suite
Assess Students
Transitioning Assessment Strategies
Design rubrics for quick assessments
References
Kappa Omicron Nu. (2018). Rubric samples for higher education. Retrieved from https://rubrics.kon.org
Norman, M. (2020). Transitioning to an online class. Center for Teaching and Learning, Wiley Education Services. Retrieved from https://ctl.learninghouse.com/transitioning-to-an-online-class/
Public Service Commission of Canada. (2015). Best practices for unsupervised testing. Retrieved from https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/canada/public-service-commission/migration/plcy-pltq/guides/tools-outils/pdf/pract-prat-eng.pdf
Moore, S., & Hodges, C.B. (2020). So you want to temporarily teach online. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2020/03/11/practical-advice-instructors-faced-abrupt-move-online-teaching-opinion
Virginia Commonwealth University. (n.d.). Keep on teaching. Retrieved from http://altlab.vcu.edu/rapid-response/