Tools

Some faculty prefer to learn about tools, first. Below is a table showing the major toolsets available to you, and how you can consider using them.

D2L: Heart of an Online Course

At Canisius, any course that operates hybrid or online will use D2L as it's core space for course information, management, and even interaction. Even if you must translate your class into an online course on short notice, D2L's basic features (file sharing, assignment collecting, possibly asynchronous discussions) are best. Your students use D2L in their other courses, and are already familiar with it. And trying to operate a class, or multiple classes via email alone is cumbersome, at best.

You can find D2L tutorials that cover most tools and operations at the Self-Paced Training Resource, as well as in the Methods section of this site.

Google Drive (and Apps)

Google Drive and related productivity tools are excellent for exchanging files, and making student collaboration over the web possible. Visit our Communications Method page for detailed tutorials, but consider this video for an idea of how students might use Google Drive.

Also, Google Drive is excellent for hosting and streaming audio and video files.

Screencasting (& webcam)

A screencast is a video where your voice, any any content or actions displayed on your computer screen, are recorded. COLI loves screencasts for tutorials, but they are also useful for recording simple slide-augmented lectures or digital tool demonstrations. Even short messages to your students, just showing your D2L course space on-screen, can be helpful in keeping them up to speed in your course without adding more to their overburdened email accounts.

PowerPoint is great for recording your slide-based lectures.

Screencast-O-Matic is a favorite for Canisius users. This can record essentially anything on screen, for when you need to show or demonstrate things other than PowerPoint slides.

Quicktime and iMovie on the Mac are also a great combination for screencasting.

Here's our Guide to Screencasting.

Bear in mind that, if you elect to record screencasts, you need a working microphone and speakers for your PC or laptop.

Web Conferencing, Web Meeting, or Live-Remote

These all basically mean the same thing: you and others meeting in a virtual space on the web where you can hear and possibly see each other via microphones, speakers, and webcam. You may use a desktop or laptop computer, or mobile device to participate.

While this sounds attractive for moving a face-to-face course online, there are important caveats that should have you considering asynchronous methods as well, or as a backup plan:

If the situation that closed your classroom is region-wide, greater web traffic might mean congestion and erratic or limited bandwidth. This can stall or stop web conferencing.
If the situation puts more demands on your students' lives, especially during daylight hours, attendance may be impractical.
You are dependent on reliable audio. Test your microphone and speakers before relying on web-conferencing.

Our web-conferencing toolsets are:

Google Hangouts Meet. Simple and easy to use.
Zoom. Allows recording of meetings.

Continuity Guide

Bouwhuis Library is as helpful and relevant to us in our online or remote courses, as it is when we are on campus. At their Continuity Guide, you can find links to their databases, research guides, and how to work remotely with library staff.

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