Additional Resources

The following web sites and documents offer a variety of suggestions and "better practices" for remote teaching. Many are specific to the schools that produced them, but all offer useful advice that can be adapted.

See also: Xavier Library's index of resources that have been made available during the COVID-19 epidemic

Instructional Continuity Planning

An instructional continuity plan is a plan to ensure that learning can continue even when face-to-face meeting is not possible.

• Quick Start Guide for Developing an Instructional Continuity Plan (CAT Food Blog)
• Preparing to Teach During an Interruption: Strategies for Maintaining Instructional Continuity Workshop (CAT+FD Workshop)
  • Workshop Presentation Slides
  • Workshop Recording (8/29/2018) - 46 minutes
• Instructional Continuity Planning Worksheets (Washington College)
  • ICP Planning Guide worksheet (pdf)
  • ICP Planning Outline worksheet (pdf)
• Instruction Continuity Plan Examples (Georgetown University)

Emergency Remote Teaching

Remote teaching is the use of technology to allow teaching and learning to take place during a temporary emergency.

• Teaching Effectively During Times of Disruption (Jenae Cohn and Beth Seltzer, Stanford University)
• Resources for Online Meetings, Classes and Events (Nancy White and Facilitators for Pandemic Response Group)
• Remote Exam Kit (Office of Academic Innovation, Portland State University)
• Best Practices for Online Tests (Center for Teaching Excellence, Pepperdine University)
• Putting some of your course content online in a hurry? We have resources for you! (Stacey Johnson, Vanderbilt University)
• Going Online in a Hurry (Michelle D. Miller, Chronicle of Higher Ed)
• Prepare to Move Online (in a Hurry) (Nathan Greeno, Inside Higher Ed)

Brightspace Resources

Brightspace is the Learning Management System (LMS) used by Xavier and is the best pedagogical technology to start with during an emergency.

• Brightspace How-to Guides (CAT Food Blog)
• Brightspace Tips (CAT Food Blog)
• Brightspace Help (D2L)
• Brightspace YouTube Channel (YouTube)
• Brightspace Community (D2L)
• Which Brightspace Tool should I use? (Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning, Memorial University)
• Embed Web 2.0 Tools in your Brightspace Course (Millersville University)

Resources for Technology Tools

Beyond Brightspace, there are a variety of technologies that can be used to provide teaching, learning, and assessment.

• Blog, Wiki or Forum - which should you use? (University of New South Wales - Sydney)
• 50 Web Tools (CAT Food Blog)
• Be Ready for Mother Nature with VoiceThreads (CAT Food Blog)
• Technology for Academics (Sue Frantz, Technology for Academics)
• Virtual Laboratories in Teaching and Learning Science (Scientix Blog)
• Learning Outcomes/Technology Tools Matrix (University of New South Wales - Sydney)

Accessibility Resources

When using technology to teach, try to ensure that materials are accessible to all students.

• Accessibility in Education (CAT Food Blog)
• Brightspace Accessibility Information
  • D2L Committed to Accessibility in Education (D2L)
  • About Accessible Courses and Accessible Course Content (D2L)
  • Brightspace Accessibility and Navigation (D2L)
  • Accessibility and Navigation in Brightspace - Learner Guide (D2L)
• Tips for Creating Accessible Content
  • Headings (CAT Food Blog)
  • Text Formatting (CAT Food Blog)
  • Descriptive Links (CAT Food Blog)
  • Alternative Text (Alt Text) (CAT Food Blog)
  • Describing Complex Images (CAT Food Blog)
  • Lists (CAT Food Blog)
  • Tables (CAT Food Blog)
  • Creating Accessible Course Content In Microsoft Word (D2L)
  • Creating Accessible Course Content In Microsoft PowerPoint (D2L)
  • Six Tips For Making Online Courses Accessible (D2L)
• Introduction to Web Accessibility (Web Accessibility in Mind)
• Open Education Resources (OER) and Accessibility (Merlot)
• Universal Design for Learning (CAST)
• Web Accessibility (Purdue University)
• Microsoft Accessibility Resources (Microsoft)
• PDF Accessibility: Best Practices (Adobe)

Corporate Freebies

During the COVID-19 outbreak, some telecom and software companies are offering freebies and discounts. This list may be updated.

Internet access

• Spectrum to offer free broadband and WiFi to students without it
• Comcast Is Offering 60 Days of Free Internet for Low-Income Families Right Now

Software

• Top Hat platform free of charge for professors and students who have current, active classes (see below for more on Top Hat)
• TechSmith Snagit (screen recording tool) and TechSmith Video Review (asynchronous collaboration) free to use through June 2020
• SoftChalk offers free access to its online lesson creation and student interaction tool
• NationBuilder is offering free software and services to governments, agencies, and NGOs engaged in COVID-19 direct relief and emergency response efforts
• IBM SPSS Statistics Trial

Top Hat tutorials

• How to set up an asynchronous course: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSWLk27SOp0&amp=&feature=youtu.be
• How to set up a synchronous course: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9BwIzm_aPI&amp=&feature=youtu.be
• How to leverage Top Hat for remote lecturing in general: https://support.tophat.com/s/article/COVID-19-Teaching-Remotely-with-Top-Hat
• Here is a link to register for webinars: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/rt/7792985879952776962

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.