Teaching Remotely

Please note: These resources were compiled to support our quick pivot to emergency remote teaching during the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in our area, in the spring of 2020. While we hope some of this content may be of continuing value, these pages are not being updated and may contain outdated information.

As you begin to teach your course remotely, consider what you already do in your course. You will not be able to recreate your classroom, so don't expect that you can. However, think about your priorities and ways to meet your learning objectives online.

Communicate with students.

One of the most important things you can do when teaching remotely is stay in close contact with you students. Clearly communicate any changes you make to your syllabus, policies, assignments, due dates, etc. They too are stressed by the disruption. Make your expectations clear and transparent.

Classlist Tool Quick Reference Guide (pdf)

Announcements Tool Quick Reference Guide (pdf)

Create an Announcement (video)

Use Replace Strings for Personalization (video)

Classlist - Contact Learners (video)

Email FAQ

Tips for Learning During a Disruption (resource to share with your students)

Distribute course materials and readings

One of the most important things you can do for students to ensure course continuity is to post course material on Brightspace.

Content Tool Quick Reference (pdf)

Content FAQ

Deliver lectures

There are a number of ways you can deliver lectures remotely, either synchronously or asynchronously.

Brightspace Virtual Classroom (free version)

Brightspace Virtual Classroom Features (review this chart for changes coming May 8, 2020)

Brightspace Virtual Classrooms Knowledge Base

Zoom Web Conferencing

How to Activate and Access your XULA Zoom Web Conferencing Account (pdf)

Where can I find the Zoom link in Brightspace?

How do I schedule a Zoom meeting in Brightspace? Note: The first instruction on this page is inaccurate. It says we have to set up a Zoom link in our course, but ours are already automatically set up in our courses (Thanks, ITC!).

Zoom 101: In Meeting Controls (Basic)

Make Zoom Cloud Recordings Available to Students (pdf)

Zoom Help Center

Comprehensive Guide to Educating through Zoom (pdf)

Tips and Tricks for Educators Using Zoom for Virtual Meetings (pdf)

7 Zoom Screen Share Tips Every User Should Know! (video)

How to create Zoom meetings for study group sessions (pdf)

Tips to secure your Zoom meetings (pdf)

Tips to deter Zoom-bombers

Run lab activities

Although not all labs can be conducted remotely, there are some alternatives you can consider.

Virtual laboratories in teaching and learning science

A collection of virtual labs from MERLOT

List of online lab simulations and lab resources (organized by discipline and course type)

Lab simulations from Harvard's LabXchange

STEM simulations from PHET

Foster collaboration among students

Discussions Tool Quick Reference Guide (pdf)

Create and Manage Discussion Forums

Discussions FAQ

Collect assignments

Another basic function you will want to be able to do is to collect student work. Collecting it in Brightspace is much more efficient than having student email assignments to you individually.

Use the Assignments Tool to Simplify Assignment Collection

Assignments Tool Quick Reference Guide (pdf)

Assignments FAQ

Give quizzes

Depending on your content, you might want to give quizzes within Brightspace. There are a number of ways you can minimize cheating on online quizzes, but one of the best ways is to use open-book quizzes. Also, here are fourteen simple strategies to reduce cheating on online exams that you should consider.

Quizzes Tool Quick Reference Guide (pdf)

Quizzes Resource

Creating Quizzes

Test/Quiz Question Generator

Quiz FAQs

Post grades

Students will want to know their grades, so it is recommended that you set up your grades in Brightspace. In fact, this is a great thing to do for your face-to-face classes as well!

Grades Tool Quick Reference Guide (pdf)

Understanding the Grades Tool (video)

Setup Your Grade Book

Grades FAQ

The information on this page has been developed, in part, by adapting material, with permission, from the Indiana University [1] website. The “Keep Teaching” content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License by the Trustees of Indiana University.