Blackboard Quick Start for Faculty Delivering Courses Remotely: Quality Matters Emergency Remote Instruction

NEXT STEPS: Guiding Students and Their Learning

The Goal: Continue to ease the transition and build confidence by helping students to establish social presence online, providing guidance and explanation similar to what you’d say in class, and considering best practices for remote teaching with technology.

Recommended Actions for Instructors:
(Check box when completed)

WHY?

Connection to QM Higher Ed. Course Design Rubric:

• Create a sense of community by encouraging and guiding learners to introduce themselves in the online classroom/platform and/or engage in online discussions.

Tip:  An early “introduction discussion” activity gets students involved with using the LMS discussion tool, which they may need for upcoming assignments. If the class has already begun, however, students may have already done an in-class introduction. In this case, consider a different angle for a “get to know you” discussion post, such as describing where they’re logging in from. Activities such as these may seem unimportant, but they can be vital in helping students feel connected to you and their peers in ways that build rapport and camaraderie.

Students who have not taken facilitated online courses may be unaware of the need to establish their own social presence and connect with others digitally.  This may be very important when the move to online is sudden or unplanned. Synchronous discussions can be held via institutionally-supported technology, such as web conferencing tools, or asynchronous discussions and collaborations can be done through the discussion tool, wikis, Google docs, or software such as Voice Thread.

HE SRS 1.9 | Learners are asked to introduce themselves to the class.

HE SRS 5.2 | Learning activities provide opportunities for interaction that support learning.

• Explain to your students how the learning materials help them complete courses activities and achieve the course learning objectives.  

Tip: Reflect on how you begin your F2F class sessions, and use that to create a module/unit introduction that is text-based or a short video that you record. You can post this as an Announcement or send via email. In this Module Introduction, explain to students how what they’re reading or watching that week connects to the course learning objectives.

In class, students rely on your introductions and contextualization of instructional materials, and the same is true online.  A short explanation of what material they’ll be interacting with that week, any particular areas of importance, and how they’ll use the material to do well on the aligned assessments will improve their ability to engage with the material.

HE SRS 2.4 | The relationship between learning objectives or competencies and learning activities is clearly stated.

HE SRS 4.1 | The instructional materials contribute to the achievement of the stated learning objectives or competencies.

HE SRS 4.2 | The relationship between the use of instructional materials in the course and completing learning activities is clearly explained.

HE SRS 5.1 | The learning activities promote the achievement of the stated learning objectives or competencies.

• Specifically explain how each assignment is related to the course objectives and how you will evaluate submitted work.

Tip: Just as you would in class, introduce an assignment using text, audio, or video by going over the instructions, providing relevant examples when useful/possible, and reminding students how the assignment is connected to learning objectives/outcomes. Include clear information, whether through an assignment prompt, rubric, or other means, about how the assignment will be graded.

In F2F classes, instructors often provide additional information about upcoming assignments.  Students will benefit from clear and detailed information about what to do, how you will evaluate it, and why.

HE SRS 3.1 | The assessments measure the achievement of the stated learning objectives or competencies.

HE SRS 3.3 | Specific and descriptive criteria are provided for the evaluation of learners’ work and their connection to the course grading policy is clearly explained.

• Provide learners with timely feedback to enable them to track their learning progress.

Tip: When teaching remotely, it’s important to include acknowledgement feedback as well – let students know, for example, that their assignments have been received. Additionally, provide informative feedback in a timely manner, so that students can use it to improve future coursework. If possible, consider including “knowledge check” types of activities via creating low-stakes, simple quizzes or simplified online discussions that reflect the activities you’d already planned for in-class work.

Students may feel disoriented without regular classroom interaction. In the online environment, much of your interaction with learners can be through robust and timely feedback. Additionally, when teaching at a distance, it is crucial to provide lower-stakes, formative assessments so both you and your students can proactively address any confusion before higher-stakes assessments. The use of smaller, formative assessments, like quizzes or discussions, can replace some of the planned in-class interaction, and can also give you timely insights into how students are learning.

HE 3.5 SRS | The course provides learners with multiple opportunities to track their learning progress with timely feedback.

LONGER TERM CONSIDERATIONS: Teaching Effectively in a New Environment

The Goal: Develop additional components of the remote course to enhance the learning experience. If you feel you might be teaching remotely longer than anticipated, begin to acclimate students to the “new normal” by designing learning units within the institutional LMS and/ or creating online-specific materials or assignments.

Recommended Actions for Instructors:
(Check box when completed)

WHY?

Connection to QM Higher Ed. Course Design Rubric:

• Consider using short multimedia pieces for interaction, and make sure students have easy access to any software, plugs-ins, etc. they’ll need to access the multimedia content.

Tip: If you’re comfortable, explore using video as a way to connect with your F2F students, by posting short webcam announcements, recording shorter online lectures, or giving students screencasted feedback for assignments.  Whether it’s existing video material or a new recording you create, however, refrain from sharing videos longer than 10 minutes. Instead, consider breaking these up into shorter chunks.

Multimedia can be used both for content and feedback (e.g., screencasted feedback, synchronous web feedback, etc.). Consider that students may have limited internet connectivity, and keep videos short, audio clear, etc.

HE SRS 8.5 | Course multimedia facilitate ease of use.

• Organize your course online to guide students along the learning path and help them progressively navigate through the course each week.

Tip: Focus on organizing weekly modules/learning units into folders that contain the materials and assignment information students will need for that week. If possible, also add explication and context by including a module introduction and/or summary, information on how materials and assignments are connected to learning objectives, and assignments prompts and/or rubrics.

Unclear navigation and disorganized materials present a significant barrier for all students. Creating an effective learning path in the LMS will reduce frustration for everyone and encourage students to be more self-sufficient. Consider organizing material by learning units/modules, and keep frequently-referenced items, such as the Syllabus and Course Schedule, in a separate folder, or linked in the left-hand navigation. Connect with the appropriate office at your institution to see if an LMS template exists for organization.

HE SRS 8.1 | Course navigation facilitates ease of use.

• Plan active learning opportunities and use course tools to meaningfully facilitate learners’ interaction and active learning.

Tip: Consider how students will continue to interact with one another, you, and course material by engaging collaborative tools (e.g., Google docs, Wikis, Voice Thread), synchronous tools (e.g., Zoom, WebEx, Collaborate, Skype), and tools for asynchronous, online interaction (e.g., discussions, blogs, journals).

Active learning and engagement are facilitated by the interactions your students have with you, the content, and each other. Keep the active learning of your classroom-based course going by bringing discussion and collaboration online.

HE SRS 5.2 | Learning activities provide opportunities for interaction that support active learning.

HE SRS 6.2 | Course tools promote learner engagement and active learning.

• Provide learners with information on protecting their data and privacy for tools introduced or recommended throughout the course.

Tip: As the easiest approach, keep all course work inside your institutional LMS. For anything outside of that where students will have to create an account, submit material, etc., ensure that FERPA and other institutional policies regarding student privacy are being followed.

Students may not be mindful of protecting their own data and may assume the institution has protections in place for online engagement.  Check on any related institutional policies regarding sharing data and privacy.

HE SRS 6.4 | The course provides learners with information on protecting their data and privacy.

• Provide appropriate citations and permissions for the materials you use in your course.

Tip: Focus on material and images that are Creative Commons licensed and learn more about Fair Use and other copyright laws by connecting with your institutional librarians. Share your sources of information to help students better understand proper attribution and how to avoid plagiarism.

Students will look to the way you use and acknowledge materials as an example. Materials you are putting online must demonstrate the academic integrity expectations you have of students through proper citations, references and use permissions. Especially in a time sensitive move to online, finding openly licensed material might be a solution.

HE SRS 4.3 | The course models the academic integrity expected of learners by providing both source references and permissions for use of instructional materials.