Thank you to our webinar panelists for their expert advise and to our inquisitive participants who asked great questions!

On this page:

The Human Aspect

  • Remain calm and be kind to yourself and your students! Even with all the guidance, resources, tools and tech, you will face a variety of challenges and things will go wrong. Take the time to connect on a human level; students are likely also overwhelmed.
  • Don’t try all the tools at once; try one and if you feel comfortable, try another. There’s no need to be an expert and if you don’t have time for Kahoot games or other new tools, don’t stress. Acknowledge that this will not be the best online course of your life.
  • For departments with learning assistants and TAs, they can be very helpful in moderating Zoom breakout rooms.
  • Borrow and learn from your fellow faculty! Ask to virtually attend other colleagues’ classes and learn from each other. You can add other people to your classes as observers in Canvas.
  • Consider if you will allow connections from a mobile device. Not all students have computers at home, so they may need to use computer labs or mobile devices. Be flexible with allowing students to use mobile phones, apps or whatever they need to complete assignments. Bandwidth will be stretched, so students may experience intermittent access. Zoom works on tablet and mobile devices. For students who need to borrow a computer, direct them to check out CU Bookstore laptop rentals as well as view OIT's guidance (see section: Can OIT provide laptops to students for remote learning?). Otherwise, OIT Computing Labs may be available.

Basic Setup

  • Use headphones to avoid echo in the virtual room.
  • Find a quiet place where you can talk with a tidy backdrop for video recording and chats.

Assisting Students

  • For students who don't have a computer at home, are there some they can borrow?
  • If students are struggling with the connection and video, is it better to switch to phone?
    • You can definitely try that. If the connection makes it impossible to continue with the instruction, consider trying asynchronous sessions.

Class Meetings

  • For those wondering how many synchronous and synchronous meetings should be held per week, students enrolled in a 5-credit Spanish course will have 3 synchronous and 2 asynchronous meetings per week. This is one example of a schedule that could work for your unit’s courses.
  • Create a schedule to share with your students. Keep a routine and use low stake assignments. Keep things simple and check to see if all students have access. Not everyone can now attend class, so this is not the time to push synchronous meetings.
  • Have a backup plan. Record and upload the session so students who can’t join live can still get the information. At the same time, don’t worry about recording everything (like breakout sessions/rooms); think about your level of work during this stressful time.
  • Are you expecting the students to meet on Zoom every scheduled class? Or will some classes not involve a Zoom meeting?
    • That’s up to your plan. You can have synchronous (via Zoom), asynchronous sessions or a combination of both.
  • What suggestions do you have for the attendance policy or should we even take attendance? Should it be based on students’ presence in the Zoom classroom?
    • One option is to check the report after the Zoom call to see a list of participants. This could be an attendance check. If you are worried about a student, you can check when they last logged into Canvas.

Assignments and Grading

  • Use the Canvas homepage for important links and information. Be clear with important dates and set clear expectations for when assignments are due and how to submit. Explore tools like Google Docs, VoiceThread and Flipgrid.
  • Consider pre-programming assignments ahead of time. These can be announced daily/weekly. Reminders, calendars and emails can be set up in advance. There are many tools that integrate with Canvas like videos, Quizlet and VoiceThread, but keep it simple for you! Rethink how you do graded assignments as well as how you weight an assignment. Also offer more credit for engagement/interaction with language and vocabulary. (Note: Quizlet integration has been disabled in Canvas. While you can no longer embed Quizlet quizzes into Canvas--students can’t use Quizlet within Canvas--you can instead add Quizlet links to pages, assignments and modules. Simply add the Quizlet quiz link to a page/ assignment/ module, and then the students can navigate--leave Canvas--to Quizlet’s website to access the quiz. If you had intended on using Quizlet for assessment or grading, we recommend using the Canvas Quizzes feature, which has similar functionality to Quizlet.)
  • We need to think about how we are grading. Campus is working on coming up with a central university system for assessments. Stay tuned to campus channels for more information.
  • Participation is a big factor in grading a language class. We will need to rethink attendance policies since students have children, different schedules and other things coming up that inhibit them from showing up. Flexibility should be given with concern to attendance and should be replaced with participation based on VoiceThread, for example.
  • Can we design cheat-proof assessments?
    • For written submissions and assignment uploads in Canvas, enable Turnitin. 
  • How can I administer/proctor quizzes and tests? Is “open book” style the only option?
    • “Fill in the blank” type of quizzes are more susceptible to tempt students into looking up the answer online or use an online dictionary or translator. Creating a type of exam that requires more than just “translating” would be best. Real-time conversations might give you a better insight of the student’s progress. We know OIT is working actively on this. (Note: Quizlet integration has been disabled in Canvas. While you can no longer embed Quizlet quizzes into Canvas--students can’t use Quizlet within Canvas--you can instead add Quizlet links to pages, assignments and modules. Simply add the Quizlet quiz link to a page/ assignment/ module, and then the students can navigate--leave Canvas--to Quizlet’s website to access the quiz. If you had intended on using Quizlet for assessment or grading, we recommend using the Canvas Quizzes feature, which has similar functionality to Quizlet.)
  • What is a good and efficient way/tool for students to submit assignments and for us to grade and give feedback on written/typed assignments?
    • Canvas apps work well for assignments. The "comments” feature in Google Docs might be an option, too. 

Tech Considerations

  • Mix it up! Try a variety of formats, i.e.: discussions, group work, video and audio links to outside resources, or pre-record mini-lectures to take the pressure off a live class.
  • Set expectations regarding netiquette and making sure that students aren’t monopolizing the conversation in synchronous Zoom chats. Be direct. Also think about keeping each student’s video on, so students stay accountable with their online behavior.
  • Online video lessons should be no longer than 2-3 minutes for grammar and no more than 5-7 minutes on other topics. For example, Coursera videos are never longer than 10 minutes. For copyright reasons, it is recommended that we upload recorded Zoom sessions to My Media. At the same time, videos uploaded to YouTube allow students to use the closed captioning tool.
  • Zoom allows you to share your screen and present a slide deck through PowerPoint, Google Slides, etc. Your students can do the same for presentations to the class.

Canvas

  • How long do you recommend the online lessons last?
  • Will each Canvas course have enough storage capacity to upload all our recorded videos?
  • Canvas has a feature called Conferences. Does anyone have any experience with this feature?
    • We’ll include some feedback from colleagues in this section. So far, it seems Conferences is run by a company called BigBlueButton and in case of extreme increases in usage could cause performance issues. OIT can support your needs for Zoom.

Zoom

  • How do you connect to Zoom?
  • There is a feature called “breakout rooms” that might be useful for synchronous “discussion groups.” Could you perhaps run through that?
  • How do we change the settings of Zoom so the students are allowed to record their breakout room conversations and upload them to Canvas?
  • What’s the best way to get everyone’s attention in Zoom? (I teach ASL, and typically I knock on the table or flip the lights, but in Zoom, is there a way to direct students’ attention to me?) The hands don’t “speak.” Would Zoom pick up my “waving?” Could I force-pin myself in students’ view?
  • Is it possible to call on a particular student to answer my question orally on screen in Zoom?
    • Yes, you can call them via chat in advance, if you want. You can also ask individual pairs to speak and mute everyone else.
  • I have a student who tends to monopolize the discussion, how do I make sure she allows others to participate? Is there a polite way of doing that?
    • Same as in class sessions. Also, asynchronous assignments (like in VoiceThread) and breakout options could be a good solution. You can always opt to mute someone.
  • How do students give presentations in Zoom?
    • They can share their screen with the room, and run the chosen program for their presentation. 
  • How is a LA's (learning assistant) role transformed in Zoom? Is there a Zoom feature that automatically shuffles the LA between the breakout rooms after a few minutes in each?
    • The Learning Assistant can choose to drop into a breakout room whenever needed.

Additional Tech Tools

  • What’s a good way to encourage students to stay engaged?
    • As in an in-person setting, changing gears frequently will help. Incorporate different types of exercises and a variety of prompts (audio, video, reading, writing, collaborating, etc.) 
  • I’m interested in interactive games. Will Kahoot and Quizlet live work with Zoom? Are there other options?
    • Both work in Zoom. All you have to do is run them on your computer and share your screen with the students. They can access those programs through their computers, too. Remember to share the link using Zoom chat, for example. (Note that Quizlet integration has been disabled in Canvas. While you can no longer embed Quizlet quizzes into Canvas--students can’t use Quizlet within Canvas--you can instead add Quizlet links to pages, assignments and modules. Simply add the Quizlet quiz link to a page/ assignment/ module, and then the students can navigate--leave Canvas--to Quizlet’s website to access the quiz. If you had intended on using Quizlet for assessment or grading, we recommend using the Canvas Quizzes feature, which has similar functionality to Quizlet.)
  • With Google Docs, can the instructor see all of the Docs? How can we implement them and does each student have their own?
    • Yes, you can see all the Docs as long as the student and you share the link. You can create a folder and put them all together. 
    • Google Docs allow all students to work collaboratively on the same Doc. You can share the link to a Doc with the whole class and ask them to resolve an exercise together. The beauty is that you see in real time how they are completing the assignment and the result is a collaborative piece. 
  • What is VoiceThread?
    • According to OIT’s website, VoiceThread allows people to have asynchronous group conversations around images, documents, videos and presentations they upload to the site. Once a user shares a VoiceThread, others can comment on it verbally (with a microphone or telephone), with text, by uploading an audio file or by recording a video with their webcam. Additionally, others can review the comments and see who made them. It is free for CU affiliates. 
  • I love your little whiteboard. Does campus have some available for checkout?
  • Please send information on the model of the document camera.