Online Learning Resource Guide for Faculty
This guide is intended to provide faculty with materials to transition their courses to online instruction. It offers resources on how to think about online instruction as a method, key tools to help as you begin this process, and contact information for Research, Instruction, Technology staff who can help.
This guide is inspired by the Covid-19 Resources for Alternative Modes of Learning by Smith College.
Table of Contents
General Resources for Online Teaching
Assignments (Posting and Collecting)
Resources to Address Student Concerns
General Resources for Online Teaching
- A Crash Course for Switching to Online (SLAC oriented) (Amanda Henrich)
- Bringing Your Course Online (Humanities Commons)
- “Rule of 2s: Keeping It Simple as You Go Remote for COVID-19 (Plymouth State)
- Keep Teaching During Prolonged Campus or Building Closures (Indiana University)
- Tips for Learning During Disruption (Dr. Caleb McDaniel and Dr. Jennifer Bratter)
- Covid-19 Resources for Alternate Modes of Learning (Smith College)
- Teaching Remotely in Times of Need (Torrie Trust)
- Teaching Online With Care (Jacqueline Wernimont and Cathy N. Davidson)
- “Pivoting to Online Teaching: Research and Practitioner Perspectives” (EdX Course)
Description: Students will benefit from clear instructions on how they can interact with you in an online environment. This includes guidelines for email, office hours, and group study. You will want to write up some suggestions for how students can reach you during virtual office hours and group study using Zoom (for instructions, see below) or phone calls, and what kinds of communications are appropriate for email. This may also afford you the opportunity to reframe how you will assess participation in class and set new norms based on the platforms you choose. For example, if your main means of communications with students is email you might ask students to email with regular check-ins, or offer instruction on how to participate in Zoom discussions by raising their hands, etc. (further resources available below)
Tools: Email (Outlook) | Moodle | Zoom
Resources:
- E-Communication and Guidelines (Jose Antonio Bowen)
Description: Moodle is a convenient means of organizing and sharing class materials with students. If you have not yet set up a Moodle site, now is the time to do so. Use the below materials to get started, or contact your instructional technologist. If you’re already using Moodle, you may find it useful to learn new features such as the Zoom integration which can support class discussions or real-time teaching and the assignment/quiz features (see below)
Tool: Moodle
Trinity Resources:
- Moodle Resource Center
- “Remote Instruction Idea Exchange” (Available via Moodle)
- Moodle course where faculty and ask questions, swap ideas, and share resources
- “Introduction to Moodle” Workshop Video
- “Moodle Assignments and Discussion Forums” Workshop Video
- “Moodle Quizzes and Exams” Workshop Video
- “Moodle Gradebook” Workshop Video
Other:
- Main Documentation Page (Moodle)
- Resources (Moodle)
Description: Instructors can organize forums for students in Moodle or hold discussions using Zoom.
Trinity Resources:
- “Introduction to Zoom”
- “Zoom Breakout Rooms”
- “Using Zoom in Moodle”
- Moodle Resource Center
- “Moodle Assignments & Discussion Forums” Workshop Video
Other:
- “Forum Activity” (Moodle)
Description: Some instructors may find email the most efficient way to answer student questions. For audio/video consultations, faculty can offer office hours using Zoom.
Tools: Email (Outlook) | Zoom
Trinity Resources:
Other:
- “E-Communication and Guidelines” (Jose Antonio Bowen)
- “Using Zoom for Office Hours” (Penn State)
Assignments (Posting and Collecting)
Description: In addition to email, Moodle offers an easy way to collect and organize student work.
Tools: Email (Outlook) | Moodle
Trinity Resources:
- “Moodle Assignments & Discussion Forums” Workshop Video
- “Create an Assignment” (Moodle Resource Center)
- “Giving Extra Time for a Quiz or Assignment” (Moodle Resource Center)
Other:
- Assignment Activity (Moodle)
- Assignment Quick Guide (Moodle)
Description: Moodle and Kaltura Video streaming offer means of assessing student work. Moodle offers a means to administer exams and quizzes while instructors can also use Kaltura to create video quizzes they can upload to their Moodle site.
Trinity Resources:
- “Moodle Quizzes and Exams” Workshop Video
- “How to Make a Moodle quiz/exam”
- “Creating a Kaltura Video Quiz”
- “Kaltura Video Streaming”
- Updated continually with guides to using Kaltura in Moodle/teaching
Other:
- “Quiz Activity” (Moodle)
- “Assess Student Learning” (Indiana University)
Description: Please contact RIT staff to discuss the best methods of transitioning to lab activities in an online environment. Below you’ll find crowd-sourced activities and options from peer institutions.
Other:
- List of Simulations and Virtual Labs
- Crowd-sourced list of simulations and virtual labs in: Anatomy and Physiology, Biology, Cell Biology/Genetics, Chemistry, Civics, Comparative Neuroanatomy, Environmental Science, Geology, Math, Physics, Physiology, Engineering, Epidemiology, etc.
Description:Considering the kinds of assignments and points of assessment in your online class, you will want to determine appropriate means of providing student feedback and keeping communication open. If your class consists of mostly written assignments, for example, you may want to provide feedback using track changes in Word documents. Verbal feedback may also be useful, in which case, you may want to arrange a window for drop-in office hours on Zoom.
Tools: Word |Email (Outlook) | Zoom
Resources:
- “How to Give Your Students Better Feedback with Technology” (Chronicle of Higher Education)
- “How to Provide Meaningful Feedback Online” (Inside Higher Ed)
Remote Access to Software, Servers, and Library Resources
Virtual Desktop allows students to access and use Trinity lab applications from their own devices.
To access Trinity servers from off-campus, use the appropriate VPN client (Windows | Mac). To access a specific computer, use Microsoft Remote Desktop (Windows | Mac).
Accessing Trinity library resources does not require VPN, but can be done simply through an EZProxy connection.
Description: Trinity is committed to providing accessible teaching materials. All materials should be made available in accessible formats, and we use SensusAccess to make this possible along with various means of providing captioning to slides and videos. You can assess your students’ ability to engage with your remote instruction by providing course materials in advance of the transition to online learning and scheduling a meet up to test Moodle discussion boards, Zoom discussion sessions, or other new technologies they will use. Ask students to submit any further accessibility documentation for any supplemental accommodations they may need for the remainder of the semester. Please contact the Student Accessibility Resource Center with any questions on accessibility.
Tools: SensusAccess | Kaltura | Zoom | Trint
Trinity Resources:
- “Make Everyone More Accessible with SensusAccess” Tutorial
- “Kaltura: Ordering Captions” Tutorial
- For transcription service, RIT offers Trint. Faculty should contact a RIT staff member for access.
Other:
- Accessible Teaching in the Time of Covid-19 (Aimi Hamraie)
- Generating and editing transcripts of a recorded meeting (Zoom Help Center)
Resources to Address Student Concerns
Access to Internet
- Free Xfinity hotspots for 60 days (Comcast)
International Student VISA Questions:
- “Guidance for interruptions of study related to Coronavirus” (Department of Education)
- Clarification for international students concerned that remote learning conflicts with their residency requirement.
- For updates, visit “COVID-19 Information and Resources of Schools and School Personnel” (U.S. Department of Education)
Description: Providing students with reliable, real-time information on the state of the COVID-19 virus is one means of acknowledging the reality of this situation and managing anxieties around it. You might add links to continually updated sources of information to your revised syllabus and check in with students about this as you reintroduce your class when it launches online.
Trinity Resources:
Other:
- CDC Prevention Methods
- WHO COVID-19
- WHO Handwashing Technique Video
- Coronavirus Information Literacy (Josh Wells, via Danya Glabau)
- “How Canceled Events and Self-Quarantines Save Lives, in One Chart.” (Eliza Barclay, Vox, 10 Mar. 2020)
- . “The Three Phases of Covid-19 – and How We Can Make It Manageable.” (Siouxsie Wiles, The Spinoff, 9 Mar. 2020)
Description: Students will now be working through your course materials in a new context and may benefit from these wellness materials to manage this new learning environment and any and all new anxieties that accompany it.
- Self-Care on Summit: Resources to Support a Healthy Self-Care Practice
- Digital Wellness: Resources for Managing Stress and Nurturing Mental Health
Trinity Resources:
Other:
- Managing Anxiety and Stress during COVID-19 (CDC)
- Stressed about COVID-19? Here’s What Can Help (Johns Hopkins)