Keep Teaching Remotely During an Emergency

Tips to accomplish your course goals without meeting in person.

Guidance from the Department of Education on using online courses to temporarily accommodate students includes, “instructors must initiate substantive communication with students, either individually or collectively, on a regular basis.”

Key Steps to Take

Establish Online Presence
Make your Canvas course available to students:

Submit an Online Conversion Help Request


Student taking notes infront of a computer displaying a teacher's lecture

Communicate with Students Using Canvas

Suggestions for keeping in touch:

  • Communicating with Students using Canvas Announcements
    This is the easiest way to communicate with all of the students in your class. You can use announcements to:
    • Send a written message
    • Record and upload a video
    • Distribute files
    • Link to web resources or other course components
      Note: Students have the option of changing their notification preferences in Canvas and may not receive announcements outside of Canvas. Encourage them to set Announcement Notification to at least a daily notification of announcement posts.
  • Canvas Conversations  (message)
    Send a text-only message to your students. You can add one attachment.
  • Email
    If you need to email all of your students, and you don’t want to use Canvas, you can get a list of email addresses for all of your students in Banner and use your regular email client to send/receive messages.
Deliver a Lecture Asynchronously

Record yourself or a presentation:

Deliver Live Interactions

Meet virtually. Consider implication carefully:

  • Zoom
    Use for one-on-one conferences or office hours for students who have confirmed they have computers, internet, or phone access.
    Zoom is the USU-supported method for web conferencing. It allows for students to join from a computer or connect to the audio by calling in from a telephone. There is no toll-free number for the dial-in option.
Distribute Class Materials

Provide students with readings, worksheets, or resource files:

For downloadable files, keep the file size as small as possible.

Library Resources

A good place for content:

Accessible and Inclusive

Ensure your materials are accessible for all students:

  • If you have been informed by the Disability Resource Center that you have a student with a disability in your course, be mindful of any accommodations you have been asked to make.
  • Make sure your online content is accessible. The way you make your content available and communicate with students can make a big difference in making sure your online course materials are accessible and inclusive for all students and helping to ease concerns and anxiety during a difficult time. Accessible Remote Teaching Resources.
Engage in Class Discussion

Make the most of asynchronous Q&A:

Virtual Office Hours

Continue meeting with students one-on-one:

Collect Student Assignments

Collect students' digital work:

Return Assignment Feedback

Keep students progressing:

Assess using Quizzes and Exams

Multiple-choice, true/false, essay, and more:

Grading

Keep records up-to-date:

If you start using Canvas mid-semester, you might want to create some "On Paper" assignments to enter previous grades so students will know where they stand in the course overall and to allow you to calculate final grades.

Additional Info

Keep in mind that during an emergency, students may not prioritize their schoolwork. Be realistic with expectations for what can be achieved online, especially if students are not experienced, online learners.

Courses deemed ready for students to participate will have the following:

  • A tentative course schedule
  • A communication and availability plan for students
  • Office hours via Phone or Zoom
  • Directions for finding, accessing, and navigating the content
  • Instructor readiness: Instructor knows how to use the tools they need to use
  • Resource access: Instructor has access to the tools they need to run their course

Staying 1 Day ahead of schedule:

  • Exams are online, and if proctoring is necessary, Proctorio is set-up
  • Lectures are recorded at least one day ahead of schedule
  • Assignments are set-up
  • Necessary discussion methods are set-up

Support Information for High Volume Periods

IT Desktop Support

Contact your IT Desktop Support person for:

  • Hardware issues
  • Audio/video troubleshooting
  • Email, Banner, and other basic technical issues

IT Service Desk

Contact https://it.usu.edu/ for:

  • Login issues (including DUO, password issues)
  • Zoom meeting troubleshooting

Center for Innovative Design and Instruction

Contact CIDI for:

  • Canvas
  • Video (MyMedia, Media Gallery, Kaltura)
  • Proctored testing
  • Zoom set-up