Getting Started

Please use this prioritized checklist to start transitioning your course to an online format with the greatest of ease possible.

Communicate Immediately

The first, and most important step is to communicate your plan to your students. This should be done as soon as possible if not already. A sample communication has been prepared for you to copy, paste, and edit to fit to your needs.

Delivery Method

THE BIG QUESTION: Will the class lecture content be delivered to students synchronously (scheduled live via video conferencing) or will it be asynchronous (video content students view at their convenience)

Synchronous Delivery

Students attend a scheduled, live session via video conferencing. You can either utilize WebEx or Google Meet for this delivery method. Either of these options allows students to login to the meeting link at the scheduled time, see you and their classmates, hear the instructor, and participate in the live class discussion. This is very similar to teaching in a face-to-face course.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Scheduling synchronous sessions during your regularly scheduled class time to prevent over-stepping on the students class schedule for other courses.

Asynchronous Delivery

The instructor pre-records lecture content in a video format for the students to view at their convenience. Video links or embed codes can then be posted to your Blackboard course. Two recommended tools for video create are Camtasia (university owned machine; on-campus only) or Screencastomatic to pre-record your lesson videos. Both options allow you to record your screen, your webcam, and your audio at the same time.

Camtasia Installation: The university has a site license for Camtasia to open all the features not included in the free trial on their website. To request the installation, please submit an ITicket through the Help Desk at helpdesk.valpo.edu. Camtasia can only be installed on university-owned machines and will only run when you are on campus or accessing our network via Valpo's VPN.

Screencastomatic: A free tool for recording video, screen, and audio simultaneously. There is a limit of 15-minutes per video. Videos can be directly uploaded to your YouTube channel (already on your Valpo Gmail account). This software and tutorial videos can be found at https://screencast-o-matic.com/

IMPORTANT NOTE: Video recordings should only be 15 minutes or less. Stick to the facts, do not repeat or over-explain in the video. They have the ability to pause, rewind, and rewatch.

Hybrid Delivery

This method is a combination of the aforementioned delivery approaches. Students may meet via WebEx or Google Meet once a week as a class. The other time can be used to do readings, discussion boards, projects, etc. Usually courses may have one or two "sync sessions" online synchronously and the other time is used on asynchronous activities. The pros and cons of each of the above models apply to hybrid courses.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Scheduling synchronous sessions during your regularly scheduled class time to prevent over-stepping on the students class schedule for other courses.

Consistent Tools

Consistency of tools used is key for students. Students will be accessing courses differently and adjusting to the online courses. We do not want to raise their frustrations.

VITAL and IT are strongly encouraging the use of the following tools categorized below. Any variation from these tools will not be supported by either office. Regular course tools, or softwares, which are used will be supported as usual.

Blackboard Layout

Syllabus Revisions

Portions of your current course syllabus may no longer be relevant or appropriate for the quick shift to online instruction. This may be something to discuss on your first day back to "class." You can accomplish this online through a discussion board, or synchronously through conversation. See the "First Class Online Lesson Plan" page for more details.

Once you have these developed, post them as an addendum or modified syllabus in the section where your current syllabus resides. Be sure to inform students whether this will be a temporary modification during the online course time, or if this will be the new setup through the end of the semester.

Relax Policies

Keep in mind, students will experience the same stressors as you when adjusting to in a quick switch over to online courses. Additionally, they may be ill, have friends or family members affected, have limited access to technology or software, etc.

It is recommended to relax your late work and attendance policies during this time. Work with students individually to ensure their success. This may include outreach emails, phone calls, or online office hour appointments.

Absolute v. Discretionary Material

In the time of transition, time will be lost and some content will not convert well to a distance learning environment. Be sure to look back to the course learning objectives (SLOs) to determine what content falls into the discretionary category and consider removing it to keep the main objectives in tact. Cover the absolutely necessary content for what students need to know to finish the course.

This can be a difficult process for us as faculty. We designed the course and believe that every bit of it is necessary. Consider the following steps in determining what content may be absolute versus the content which may be discretionary.

1. List out your lessons, topics, assignments, etc. You may already have a course schedule you developed at the beginning of the semester.

Recommendation: Create a spreadsheet and place the lessons in one column. Create a priority column and a sequence column. Use these columns so that the list can be resorted easily by each column.

2. Prioritize the list by what is most important to least important. Ignore the sequence of the lessons in this step.

3. Eliminate lessons in the order of priority from the least to the most important.

This is the most difficult step ask yourself the following questions:

3. 1. • Will the students knowledge of the subject be severely impacted by removing the content?

      • Is this content a required for compliance with certification requirements, accreditation, or other guidelines or requirement?

      • Is this an absolute requirement of the students future career?

4. Will the important lessons require prerequisite lessons.

   1. Slim the prerequisite lessons if possible.

   2. Give each prerequisite lesson a priority and add them to the prioritized list.

5. Resort the list into sequence.

6. Place prerequisite lessons back into the list.

Hopefully, you have been able to remove enough discretionary lessons from the plan. You may need to repeat this process again during the remaining part of the semester. Evaluate, adjust and communicate the changes on a regular basis.

Communication Plan

Ongoing communication with your class is the most critical activities to keep students engaged during the online portion of your course. After your immediate communications with students and you have completed the above steps, you are ready to do some planning for the remainder of the online portion of the course. It is important to schedule your communications on your calendar and follow the schedule.

When developing your communication plan, you are seeking "goldilocks conditions." We want to communicate regularly without being to sparse or too frequent with communications. You can always make exceptions for important information or when emails are not necessary. Below are some examples of communication scheduling strategies:

• Every Monday & Wednesday

• Once a week

Content could include any combination of the following:

• After an assessment to provide a class summary of overall improvement strategies and/or kudos.

• Beginning of the week with a summary of the week ahead.

• Important announcements or due dates

Try to condense content into your scheduled emails without sending an email when things cross your mind. Tell the students when they should expect regular emails from you.

Once a week, evaluate students who may need individual outreach. Try to make a phone call those students rather than an email. Doing so will raise their level of concern and accountability and will add to the connection to the student. Be sure to record this interaction in Starfish or raise a flag for students so the advisor can keep up the communication outreach, too.