Communication

Arrange your course material into weekly topics using Modules or Pages

Include clear reminders of the tasks each week

Embrace consistency - have all the due dates as similar as possible

Technical tips

We strongly recommend sending out a weekly announcement with reminders and schedules. This helps students pay attention to important aspects of the course and to improve their time management. It also helps avoid any ambiguities or oversights that occur when we make a verbal announcement.

• Using Canvas Announcements means that there is a record of all of your communication.

• Students adding the class after the announcement is sent out will still be able to see what has been communicated - this is not the case with ordinary emails.

• Ask your students to check their notification settings to be sure that they see your announcements.

Add all assignments and events (office hours, synchronous lectures, assignments) to Canvas Calendar so that the students can consult a single dynamic calendar. Having a dynamic calendar allows for changes and updates as you get a feel for remote instruction.

• Aim for predictability and consistency - have assignments or readings due at the same time each week. Find a balance between your prerogative to make changes and your students’ need to know what is expected - e.g., finalize each week’s schedule by 9pm Sunday and then stick to that.

• Clearly name all events - use "Tony's office hours" not "PSC001 SS2 2020"

• Changes to events on the Canvas Calendar do not completely flow to/from Zoom or Assignments - changes made in one place may not flow to the other.

We recommend that you explicitly state at the beginning of the term that your course policies and procedures, including grading, are subject to change. A statement about this should be in your syllabus (at a minimum), and you might also post it at the top of your Canvas home page.

Here’s an example:

• The situation with the coronavirus pandemic is continually changing. As a result, there is a good chance that we will need to make some significant changes to the structure of this course as the quarter unfolds (which is permitted under UC policy). This includes possible changes to the assignments, exams, and grading. I understand that this may create difficulties for many students, and I will try to make as few changes as possible. I aim to give you as much notice of changes as I can. Any changes we make will be designed to deliver the best and most equitable instruction that is possible under the circumstances.

Give appropriate choices (or at least the illusion of choice)

• The sudden changes in the final exams in Winter 2020 reminded us all that we are much happier if we can make choices for ourselves. Many students loudly complained about changes when they felt that they had no choice and more happily accepted changes when they felt that they were given choices.

• As much as possible, allow students to choose to continue the class as laid out in your syllabus. For example, even if no one takes an optional final, don't remove it as an option.

Take the opportunity during any synchronous meetings to remind students of course policies or content.

Over the term, students will forget the details of your syllabu and are likely to struggle with time management. Starting most synchronous meetings with a 'Syllabus Scavenger Hunt' (where you challenge the students to find some relevant piece of information about the class) can serve as useful reminders and preempt many emails.

If things go sideways with Zoom, you may need an alternative means of real-time communication (e.g., telling them that you are switching to Live Room). The Chat tool in Canvas can work for this.

• If it is not already enabled for your course, go to Settings > Navigation and drag Chat from the bottom list to the top list

• On the first day of classes, tell students to go to the Chat tool if things go wrong during a lecture (and then remind them mulitple times)

You can create a listserv for your class that allows you to email your students directly, rather than going through Canvas. You may want to do this and send the students an initial message a day or two before the start of classes telling them to turn on their Canvas notifications so that they receive all future messages.

• • You will need a list of every section's CRN, which you can get from schedule builder .

  • You then create the Sympa email lists at https://lists.ucdavis.edu/classlists/

    • Answers to questions when creating email list:

      • Should mail to the list be moderated? Yes

      • Who can send to the list? Owners only

      • Should the list be concealed from 'lists' requests? Yes

  • Once the listserv has been created, you will receive instructions via email telling you how to use it

The university recommends that you include the following statement (or something like it) on your syllabus. Because students often don't read syllabi, you might want to have it in an announcement, on your Canvas home page, etc. If you really want students to pay attention to things like this, the best option is a Canvas quiz at the beginning of the quarter that forces them to read and exhibit comprehension of the policy.

My lectures and course materials, including PowerPoint presentations, tests, outlines, and similar materials, are protected by U.S. copyright law and by University policy. I am the exclusive owner of the copyright in those materials I create. You may take notes and make copies of course materials for your own use. You may also share those materials with another student who is enrolled in or auditing this course this quarter. You may not reproduce, distribute or display (post/upload) lecture notes or recordings or course materials in any other way — whether or not a fee is charged — without my express prior written consent. You also may not allow others to do so. If you do so, you may be subject to student conduct proceedings under the UC Davis Code of Academic Conduct.