In the event that the Canisius campus (and its classrooms) are closed, you will need some essential hardware to teach. Basically, that's a PC or laptop that runs Windows or Mac OS X software. That PC should also include:
When you bring your laptop home at night, bring home the power cable, too.
Laptop PCs generally have microphones and speakers built in, but these vary in quality. Purchase a microphone headset for recording and web conferencing.
These are only two examples:
Other models and brands will work just as well, too.
If you are recording screencasts, a microphone and headset is essential. These are useful to have around for various purposes. For public health reasons, purchase one instead of borrowing it.
If you already have a Mic preamp, microphone, and headphones, perhaps for music recording, these are excellent choices for recording or web meeting, too.
If you don't own these, buy a microphone headset instead.
Depending on your course and discipline, teaching online with a smartphone only may not be practical. But it can be useful for periodically checking emails, course content, and other web resources. Plus, it can be a great video recorder if you do not have a webcam attached to your computer.
Your students might (need to) use a smartphone to access course content. Since they don't build and maintain course content, they need less features than you do. Most of our web resources (D2L, Google Apps) are mobile-responsive, but keep things mobile-friendly if you use software unique to our discipline.
You probably don't need a webcam for recording lectures. A basic audio file might do, or perhaps a screencast using slides. For web-conferencing a web-cam is helpful but not essential, since students can hear your voice and see your screen if you share it.
But if you'd like to record yourself writing on a whiteboard, or perhaps just your hand writing on a notepad, you can purchase a webcam, such as a Logitec c615 or c920, and a boom arm (here's an example; there's many options). Or, you can obtain an arm to hold your smartphone, and use it's onboard camera.