Methods of Course Continuation

Use Blackboard as a central meeting point for your online course. Course sites are automatically created in Blackboard for courses listed in Cardinal Students with an instructor assigned.

To maintain instructional continuity using Blackboard, Instructors can:

Communicate with students

- Post announcements
- Send email copies of announcements, new content
- Notifications

Share course materials

- Upload syllabus (.pdf recommended)
- Upload materials and links to Blackboard

Establish asynchronous learning opportunities

- Present lectures (Panopto)
- Upload lecture files (PowerPoint, presentations)
- Create discussion forums
- Set up student groups - discussions, assignments, file sharing

Conduct synchronous participation sessions

- Schedule Google Meet sessions
  - Full class (during scheduled class time)
  - Small groups (student project/assignment meetings)
  - Office hours (1:1, small group instructor/student meetings)

Collect assignments

- Create assignments in Blackboard
  - Define file naming conventions
  - Assign points

Using Google Meet

Use Case Scenarios

Three possible scenarios addressed by this Plan include: 1.) faculty absences (less than two weeks), 2.) student absences, and 3.) extended instructional disruption (> two weeks):

Case 1: Faculty Short Term Absences (<2 weeks)

Faculty should prepare a minimum of two weeks of lecture material in advance in the event of short-term absences or emergencies.
Contact a fellow faculty member or a capable graduate student and make arrangements for them to conduct your class for the expected duration.
Another option is to prepare a self-directed module that gives your students the opportunity to learn more about a specific topic or topics that may be covered in class but not in great detail. This option is most easily implemented because it may be used at any point in the semester.
Faculty using Blackboard may make lecture notes available with accompanying text, audio, and/or video.

Case 2: Student Absences

Due to the nature of the novel coronavirus, students may be advised to be absent from class. Faculty should not penalize students for such absences and should make every effort to help students catch up on missing course materials and assignments. Students should self-report illness to Student Health Services by email (CUA-StudentHealth@cua.edu) or phone 202-319-5744.

Case 3: Extended Instructional Disruption (> two weeks)

In the event that the University must transition to an online environment, or interrupt normal course delivery, for an extended period of time (> two weeks), faculty should develop an individual course Plan including:

Preparing Lecture Materials
- Convert hand-written lecture notes into PDF documents. University copiers have capabilities to scan hard copy documents into PDF documents.
- Use electronic documents and add audio narration so students can understand them more easily. Two recommended methods to add audio to lectures are:
  1. Use Panopto software to record a simultaneous screen capture and voice narration of lectures. Panopto is integrated into the Blackboard system, and can also be used as a standalone application. See Panopto Resources for more information.
  2. Powerpoint has options to directly record voice narrations to PowerPoint slides. Use the “help” feature for instructions.
Uploading lecture materials to Blackboard
- Blackboard is a valuable resource that facilitates remote course delivery and management. Upload lecture materials in Blackboard by going to https://learn.cua.edu and logging in using University credentials.
- Help for Blackboard can be found by clicking on “Cardinal Lean FAQs” on the welcome screen page.
Delivering course content synchronously via Google Meet.

Consult Technology Support for Instructional Continuity for additional suggestions and help for technology options.

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