Keep Teaching Re-Imagine your Class

Regardless of the mode of delivery, the focus needs to remain student-centered and on achievement of the learning objectives. In planning, this is an opportunity to re-think the content, activities, and even assessments from a new point-of-view.

Below is a simple approach that might help frame your mindset during the development and execution of an effective plan.

  • Review your syllabus
    • Adapt your syllabus and your course to focus on being flexible and to best achieve student learning regardless of the modality.
    • Realize that plans may need to evolve based on developing circumstances. Therefore, additional changes to your syllabus and course may become necessary (policies, due dates, assignments, technology, changes to grading structure, etc.).
    • Utilize your syllabus, email, HuskyCT announcements, and discussion boards to provide students with as much detail as you can.
  •  Review (or establish) your course, module, and session learning objectives
    • Having learning objectives will guide your decision-making on how to proceed with your course.
    • Well written, measurable, student-centered learning objectives not only allow you to choose the best activities and content for your face-to-face class but they also allow you to be more intentional and directed as you choose learning strategies that lend themselves to remote online delivery.
    • Learning objectives will serve as a guide for what is most important for the students to learn and for you to accomplish in your teaching and facilitation.
    • All activities and assessments should align directly to your learning objectives.
  • Establish a plan for what aspects of the course will need to be transformed and which can be transferred
    • Many activities in the course will need to be transformed for the digital environment.
    • Consider which activities do not lend themselves to the remote environment and decide what different approaches could be used that will still meet the course and module learning objectives. This will include ways to present content, conduct activities, and assess learning.
    • It may be possible to directly transfer some experiences to the remote environment.
    • While working to creatively brainstorm possible methods to transform the course, take advantage of the expertise in your department to discuss ideas, successes, and lessons learned with colleagues.
    • Access support materials on this website, the EdTech website, and the eCampus website.
    • Attend workshops hosted by CETL.
    • Contact CETL for individual consultation.
  • Plan and create your assessments
    • Rather than using quizzes and tests, consider incorporating discussion posts, assignments, group projects, and authentic assessments.
    • Authentic assessments ask students to perform a task and use the knowledge from the course in a way that is relevant to the skills required once they have finished the course or graduated.
    • Consider if you can administer an open-resource assessment or how you will monitor student behavior.
    • Consider asking students to develop assessment questions and projects for their peers with the answers to these problems.
    • Create multiple types of assessments that measure the same objectives.
    • Describe what students will need to know or be able to do and how they should complete and submit the assessment when explaining new assessments.
    • Let students know how, if at all, the new assessment(s) will affect the way course grades are calculated (Note: Try to keep these changes minimal)
    • In all cases, share with students that this is new for you as well, and solicit their feedback to clarify assessment expectations.

Check out our Assessment page for more details

Consider these assessment tools:

HuskyCT tools

  • Discussion Boards are a great way for students to demonstrate their grasp of material and for the faculty to correct misunderstandings about your course material.
  • Assignmentsallow you to create, edit, collect, and grade assignments submitted by students
  • Tests and surveysallows you to enter questions, create pools of questions, measure student knowledge, and gather information on student learning.
  • SafeAssigncompares submitted student work against a database of websites and previous paper submissions, and generates an “originality score” that can help determine whether a student’s submission matches other sources.
  • Lockdown Browser (with or without Monitor) prevents students from open browsers or other documents during an online exam; Monitor creates video of student during exam as deterrent against cheating

Other tools

  • Flipgrid videos are a great way for students to demonstrate their grasp of material using video submissions plus they allow students to learn from the submissions of other students
  • Kaltura quizzes allows embedded questions in Kaltura videos to prompt learning of material during viewing
  • Polling (Webex, Teams, Collaborate, iClicker) allows for engagement with the material and the class during synchronous sessions
  • E-Portfolio (Portfolium) provides a platform for students to demonstrate their growth and best work, while reflecting on how experiences assisted in their learning
  • Create your content and activities
    • Delivery of class content and student engagement activities will look very different in the remote environment.
    • Utilize software available through UConn, such as HuskyCT, Kaltura, WebEx, and Teams. Instructors and students also have access to a wide range of other software, such as Microsoft Office application through the UConn Software Catalog or through UConn Anyware.
    • Replicating laboratory activities can be a challenge. Consider these options:
      • Consider moving part of the lab online, such as video demonstrations of new techniques, online simulations, data analysis, or pre/post lab work. Any components of the lab that require the physical lab space may need to wait until access to the lab is restored.
      • Investigate online resources and virtual tools to help replicate the lab experience. Video demonstrations of lab or simulations are often available online but so are virtual labs. Many of these are available at little to no cost on homeschooling website, YouTube, or various teaching sites. Also textbook publishers or sites such as Merlot offer materials that may help replace parts of your lab.
      • If students will be unable to collect data, consider providing raw data for students to analyze. Videos or live demonstrations of the data collection process can help students to understand how the data was collected.
      • Remember to replicate opportunities for instructors to interact directly or indirectly with the students. If videos of lab components are provided, embed questions into the video. Consider providing discussion prompts or holding online discussions or demonstrations.
      • Be aware that students may not have access to all software used in the lab.

IN-PERSON

ONLINE ALTERNATIVE

TOOLS FOR CREATING

TIPS and SUGGESTIONS

Lecture Recorded Videos Kaltura/ Kaltura Capture
PowerPoint
  • Keep presentations short (<15 minutes)
  • List presentation topics on the first slide.
  • Add video-based quiz in Kaltura.
Live interactive lecture Collaborate

WebEx

Teams

  • Live lectures must occur during scheduled class meetings.
  • Each tool offers polling, screen sharing, break out groups, recording.
Discussion Section Live meetings Collaborate

WebEx

Teams

  • Live discussions sections must occur during scheduled class meetings.
Small Group or Full Class Discussions Live discussion Collaborate (using Breakout Groups)

WebEx

Teams

  • Live discussions must occur during scheduled class meetings.
  • Each tool includes screen sharing, polling, break out groups, recording.
Asynchronous discussion HuskyCT discussion board

FlipGrid

Group Projects/Presentations Live collaboration Collaborate

WebEx

Teams

Asynchronous collaboration Google Suite (Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc.)

HuskyCT groups tool

G Suite Sharing Settings for Groups
Office Hours Synchronous meeting Collaborate

WebEx

Teams

Telephone

Each conferencing tool includes:
  • screen sharing,
  • polling,
  • breakout groups,
  • recording.
Q&A Session “Ask the Professor” discussion forum HuskyCT discussion board Instructors should “Subscribe” to the forum to receive email notifications for new posts.
Live Meeting Collaborate

WebEx

Teams

Students could read/watch/do activity prior to the Q&A session to increase participation
iClicker Polling Student response system iClicker Cloud

Collaborate polling

WebEx polling

Teams polling

For information about educational technology tools available at UConn, check out the EdTech website.

  • Provide class materials
    • Utilize HuskyCT to post course materials.
    • Mobile-friendly formats such as PDFs, MP3 and MP4 files, will help students that are using mobile devices. Consider saving other files, such as PowerPoint, to PDFs, which are easier to read on phones and tablets.
    • Videos require extensive bandwidth so choose your media wisely and deliver it from a streaming service like Kaltura, rather than embedding it directly into HuskyCT (Note: all HuskyCT sites have a size limit so embedding videos directly into HuskyCT, rather than through Kaltura, will use up space quickly)
    • Make sure student know when new material is posted. HuskyCT announcement tool can be an effective communication tool for this purpose.
  • Communicate with your class
    • Communicate early and often, even if you do not have all the details of your reimagined course figured out yet.
    • Set the expectation for how you plan to communicate and how often, along with how best to reach you and how quickly they can expect a response from you.
    • When you receive individual requests for information, consider sharing the response with the entire class; this will ensure everyone has the information necessary and reduce the number of times you answer the same questions.
University technology options for communicating with your class
  • Email
  • HuskyCT tools
    • Announcements provides time-sensitive information to the entire class at once
    • Course messages provides private communication within the course
    • Discussion board provides a forum to post information for the entire class and answer questions; some faculty create a frequently asked questions forum
  • Develop a plan for student authentication
    • The University must implement procedures to verify that the student who registers in an online or remote course is the same student who participates in and completes the course and receives academic credit.
    • NECHE accreditation standard 4.48 and Federal requirements under Sec. 602.17(g) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 require the University to verify that a student who registers in a "distance education or correspondence education course"is the same student who participates in and completes the course and receives academic credit.
    • At UConn, courses listed as Distance Learning (DL) or Online (WW) fall under the federal guidelines listed above. To meet the federal and accreditation standards, faculty should follow these guidelines.
  • Meet Student Accommodations and Make Resources Accessible
    • In moving to remote online teaching we need to still be mindful of the need for student accommodations. Be prepared to be responsive to requests for accommodation but also try to make your content accessible ahead of time.
    • Considerations for meeting accommodations and making resources accessible:

To learn more about accessibility: https://accessibility.its.uconn.edu/

Consider these assessment tools:

HuskyCT tools

  • Discussion Boards are a great way for students to demonstrate their grasp of material and for the faculty to correct misunderstandings about your course material.
  • Assignmentsallow you to create, edit, collect, and grade assignments submitted by students
  • Tests and surveysallows you to enter questions, create pools of questions, measure student knowledge, and gather information on student learning.
  • SafeAssigncompares submitted student work against a database of websites and previous paper submissions, and generates an “originality score” that can help determine whether a student’s submission matches other sources.
  • Lockdown Browser (with or without Monitor) prevents students from open browsers or other documents during an online exam; Monitor creates video of student during exam as deterrent against cheating

Other tools

  • Flipgrid videos are a great way for students to demonstrate their grasp of material using video submissions plus they allow students to learn from the submissions of other students
  • Kaltura quizzes allows embedded questions in Kaltura videos to prompt learning of material during viewing
  • Polling (Webex, Teams, Collaborate, iClicker) allows for engagement with the material and the class during synchronous sessions
  • E-Portfolio (Portfolium) provides a platform for students to demonstrate their growth and best work, while reflecting on how experiences assisted in their learning
  • Create your content and activities
    • Delivery of class content and student engagement activities will look very different in the remote environment.
    • Utilize software available through UConn, such as HuskyCT, Kaltura, WebEx, and Teams. Instructors and students also have access to a wide range of other software, such as Microsoft Office application through the UConn Software Catalog or through UConn Anyware.
    • Replicating laboratory activities can be a challenge. Consider these options:
      • Consider moving part of the lab online, such as video demonstrations of new techniques, online simulations, data analysis, or pre/post lab work. Any components of the lab that require the physical lab space may need to wait until access to the lab is restored.
      • Investigate online resources and virtual tools to help replicate the lab experience. Video demonstrations of lab or simulations are often available online but so are virtual labs. Many of these are available at little to no cost on homeschooling website, YouTube, or various teaching sites. Also textbook publishers or sites such as Merlot offer materials that may help replace parts of your lab.
      • If students will be unable to collect data, consider providing raw data for students to analyze. Videos or live demonstrations of the data collection process can help students to understand how the data was collected.
      • Remember to replicate opportunities for instructors to interact directly or indirectly with the students. If videos of lab components are provided, embed questions into the video. Consider providing discussion prompts or holding online discussions or demonstrations.
      • Be aware that students may not have access to all software used in the lab.

IN-PERSON

ONLINE ALTERNATIVE

TOOLS FOR CREATING

TIPS and SUGGESTIONS

Lecture Recorded Videos Kaltura/ Kaltura Capture
PowerPoint
  • Keep presentations short (<15 minutes)
  • List presentation topics on the first slide.
  • Add video-based quiz in Kaltura.
Live interactive lecture Collaborate

WebEx

Teams

  • Live lectures must occur during scheduled class meetings.
  • Each tool offers polling, screen sharing, break out groups, recording.
Discussion Section Live meetings Collaborate

WebEx

Teams

  • Live discussions sections must occur during scheduled class meetings.
Small Group or Full Class Discussions Live discussion Collaborate (using Breakout Groups)

WebEx

Teams

  • Live discussions must occur during scheduled class meetings.
  • Each tool includes screen sharing, polling, break out groups, recording.
Asynchronous discussion HuskyCT discussion board

FlipGrid

Group Projects/Presentations Live collaboration Collaborate

WebEx

Teams

Asynchronous collaboration Google Suite (Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc.)

HuskyCT groups tool

G Suite Sharing Settings for Groups
Office Hours Synchronous meeting Collaborate

WebEx

Teams

Telephone

Each conferencing tool includes:
  • screen sharing,
  • polling,
  • breakout groups,
  • recording.
Q&A Session “Ask the Professor” discussion forum HuskyCT discussion board Instructors should “Subscribe” to the forum to receive email notifications for new posts.
Live Meeting Collaborate

WebEx

Teams

Students could read/watch/do activity prior to the Q&A session to increase participation
iClicker Polling Student response system iClicker Cloud

Collaborate polling

WebEx polling

Teams polling

For information about educational technology tools available at UConn, check out the EdTech website.

  • Provide class materials
    • Utilize HuskyCT to post course materials.
    • Mobile-friendly formats such as PDFs, MP3 and MP4 files, will help students that are using mobile devices. Consider saving other files, such as PowerPoint, to PDFs, which are easier to read on phones and tablets.
    • Videos require extensive bandwidth so choose your media wisely and deliver it from a streaming service like Kaltura, rather than embedding it directly into HuskyCT (Note: all HuskyCT sites have a size limit so embedding videos directly into HuskyCT, rather than through Kaltura, will use up space quickly)
    • Make sure student know when new material is posted. HuskyCT announcement tool can be an effective communication tool for this purpose.
  • Communicate with your class
    • Communicate early and often, even if you do not have all the details of your reimagined course figured out yet.
    • Set the expectation for how you plan to communicate and how often, along with how best to reach you and how quickly they can expect a response from you.
    • When you receive individual requests for information, consider sharing the response with the entire class; this will ensure everyone has the information necessary and reduce the number of times you answer the same questions.

 

University technology options for communicating with your class
  • Email
  • HuskyCT tools
    • Announcements provides time-sensitive information to the entire class at once
    • Course messages provides private communication within the course
    • Discussion board provides a forum to post information for the entire class and answer questions; some faculty create a frequently asked questions forum

    • Develop a plan for student authentication
      • The University must implement procedures to verify that the student who registers in an online or remote course is the same student who participates in and completes the course and receives academic credit.
      • NECHE accreditation standard 4.48 and Federal requirements under Sec. 602.17(g) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 require the University to verify that a student who registers in a "distance education or correspondence education course"is the same student who participates in and completes the course and receives academic credit.
      • At UConn, courses listed as Distance Learning (DL) or Online (WW) fall under the federal guidelines listed above. To meet the federal and accreditation standards, faculty should follow these guidelines.
    • Meet Student Accommodations and Make Resources Accessible
      • In moving to remote online teaching we need to still be mindful of the need for student accommodations. Be prepared to be responsive to requests for accommodation but also try to make your content accessible ahead of time.
      • Considerations for meeting accommodations and making resources accessible:
        • One of the most common accommodations is extended time, particularly for exams and quizzes. This can be accomplished in HuskyCT for exams and quizzes by adding an exception: How to Accommodate Extra Test Time and/or Allow a Different Test Time - Teaching and Learning - UConn Knowledge Base
        • Ensure all videos and multimedia are accurately captioned. Kaltura offers machine captioning but it will need the instructor to correct for accuracy.
        • Provide a transcript for audio files.
        • For images, such as pictures, illustrations, and charts, provide meaningful alternative text to convey the purpose.
        • Avoid using color or color changes alone to convey meaning.
        • Write meaningful link text with links embedded in text describing the link’s destination.

    To learn more about accessibility: https://accessibility.its.uconn.edu/