You may decide that it’s easier to accommodate students in quarantine or isolation asynchronously by creating materials for them to work on in lieu of attending class. Alternatively, you might create a pathway for them to attend your class synchronously in Zoom. Each of these accommodations has its challenges, but we also recognize there are situations where it may be the best alternative.

Regardless of your class format, one simple option is to simply accommodate your absent students as you normally would pre-pandemic (e.g., sending lecture notes, meeting with them during office hours, etc.). Another is to hold a separate online class session or office hours for your quarantined or isolated students.

If neither of these options appeals to you, here are a few other ideas:

Asynchronous Strategies

All courses

• Create study groups at the start of the term (3-6 students each), and use them for quiz/test prep throughout the semester; when someone is absent, they have a study group to fall back on, get material/updates from.

Lecture-based courses

• Record your lecture using Panopto or Zoom so quarantined or isolated students can watch it on their own time.

• Provide your lecture notes or slides to quarantined or isolated students.

• Have your students attending your in-class lecture produce collaborative notes for the students who are unable to attend.

Discussion-based courses

• Use an alternative technology-based discussion tool (e.g., Brightspace discussions) and have quarantined or isolated students discuss as they would in-class.

• Hold the discussion with in-person students during regularly scheduled class time and record that discussion using Panopto or Zoom for quarantined or isolated students. Post the recording to Brightspace so they can watch on their own time. Consider how you might have them contribute to the discussion after watching.

Group activity-based courses

• Assign in-person group work during regularly scheduled class time. Place your quarantined or isolated students into a group (or groups) together and have them work together on the same activities in Zoom on their own time. Have them record their group work and submit it to you.

Smaller courses

• As an alternative to participation, ask quarantined or isolated students to write short critiques of readings to account for missed participation

Synchronous Strategies

Lecture-based courses

• Use the Bingflex model - lecture to your in-person students during your regularly scheduled class time and stream the lecture to quarantined or isolated students over Zoom at the same time. If you have a large and consistent number of quarantined or isolated students where managing a Zoom meeting could be difficult for you, reach out to the CLT to request assistance.

Discussion-based courses

• Hold the discussion with in-person students during regularly scheduled class time and have the quarantined or isolated students join the discussion via Zoom at the same time. Contact EdComm to request a microphone that is designed for this purpose. If you have a large and consistent number of quarantined or isolated students where managing a Zoom meeting could be difficult for you, reach out to the CLT to request assistance.

Group activity-based courses

• Assign the in-person group work during regularly scheduled class time. The quarantined or isolated students join the class and participate in the group work via Zoom. For the activities, the in-person students participate together and the quarantined or isolated participate with one another on Zoom.

Do you have a good idea to share? Let us know at clt@binghamton.edu so we can add it to the list.