Remote Learning Resources

The University’s teaching remotely website provides guidance on setting up tools such as Canvas and Zoom to enable online instruction. Additionally, the office of Academic Technology Solutions (ATS) will be offering trainings on using Canvas and Zoom for remote teaching.

As you all work hard to move content online and adapt your pedagogy, remote learners also need to prepare to access and make the most of this new format for instruction. The university has created a learning remotely website to address concerns your students may have.

For pedagogical guidance on remote teaching, please review the following:

• BSCD - Remote Teaching Models
• Teaching Resources
• Chicago Center for Teaching Guide
• Humanities Remote Learning and Teaching

getting started

Please be reminded that with the quarter starting one week later on April 6th, your whole course will be 9 weeks, instead of 10. Before you begin, ensure you've completed the following:

• Survey your students' tech capabilities
  • You should already have set up your Canvas site, which means you can now email your students to say Hi with an encouraging message and ask the following questions:
    • Do you have access to a computer with a reliable high-speed internet connection?
    • Does your computer have a microphone and camera?
    • Will you be able to participate in live classes during the scheduled class time?
    • Are there any other personal details or technical problems that we should know about before the class gets underway?
  • Please note that in surveys ~10% of our students do not have access to high-speed internet at home, and we will have to make accommodations so that these students can learn with the group, so it is important that you know the details about your students’ needs.
• Tell students to set up their Zoom accounts 
  • Make sure your students know that they need to claim their UChicago Student Zoom accounts.  Please help them prepare by sending an announcement via Canvas that lets them know they need to claim their UC student account before the start of the class. This is a University wide policy to ensure only UChicago students participate in our classes.
• Secure your Zoom rooms
  • You may have heard about Zoom-bombing, in which uninvited participants crash a Zoom meeting. This has impacted remote teaching/learning at other institutions and has apparently been an issue at UChicago. I recommend you look at and implement the security recommendations here.
• Make your syllabus visible on Canvas
  • Add your syllabus to Canvas as soon as possible and ensure visibility to all students. View instructions on how to change these settings of your course on Canvas here.
• Incorporate Zoom and Panopto into your Canvas site
  • Please see below under 'Pre-recorded lectures' for more details.
• Contact students about the first class meeting
  • Email your students (and announce on Canvas) your expectations for the first meeting of the class.  The class should meet in its regularly scheduled time – do not arbitrarily move it as this may create conflicts in students’ schedules that will be difficult to resolve.
• Don't fundamentally change the total enrollment limit
  • You can always admit a few extra students if necessary
• Chicago Center for Teaching (CCT) workshops
  • The CCT is running University-wide gatherings to discuss best practices in teaching. To enroll, follow this link.

As we go

• If at all possible, have the first meeting of the class be "live" in order to forge a connection with your class
• Be aware that there may be technical problems and have a back-up plan if Zoom fails - Don't try to fix these problems during class time and let students know what to do if they lose connection
• Think about adjusting your content and set reasonable expectations for yourself and your students
• Think about your assessment plan, like take-home exams, timed open-note exams, or papers/projects that can be submitted for deadlines, and consider having students sign an honor code
• Be prepared to grade generously and be responsive and compassionate to the special circumstances of your students or to their heightened stress levels
• Please be conservative about including COVID-19 as a topic in your class - allow options for students who need a COVID break
• Be as responsive as you can to student emails

pre-recorded lectures

video conferencing for two-way communication

PLEASE NOTE: 

If you would like to record Zoom lectures, save the file locally to your computer. Saving to the cloud could result in lost files or delayed retrieval.

Open office hours

Open office hours are a hallmark of UChicago education, and especially important to MA students who rely on ready access to faculty at this time of year as they are developing their thesis.

• This step-by-step guide will show you how to use Zoom to schedule recurring weekly online office hours that are open to any UChicago student with an active CNET ID. Following these steps will allow you to create and share a link with students can use to access your online office hours, using Zoom’s Waiting Room function to manage traffic.
  • When you have created the link, please share it with the faculty affairs administrator in your department, and they will post it to your bio page on the department’s site.

Again, the decision to schedule in this way is at your discretion, but in light of these extraordinary times, Dean Woodward encourages you to please consider doing so.

online discussions and breakout video sessions

Both Canvas and Zoom have interactive features to enable student participation:

• Communicating with Students in Canvas
• Tools Built into Zoom for Engagement