Temporary Transition to Remote Learning Guidance

CTLI Recommendations for Faculty

1 - Plan:

• Identify the most important information you were going to present today.
  • If that must be presented synchronously, then use Zoom.
  • If there are materials associated with that information, use D2L to post them. If you have not yet used D2L, you must activate the course before students can access it.
• Assign meaningful work.
  • You do not need to replicate the entirety of the planned class, but it is still valuable to give students meaningful work to complete. Here are some suggestions:
    • Hold a meaningful synchronous online meeting via Zoom.
    • Post a reading, and assign a notetaking or annotation activity.
    • Find a YouTube video and suggest students watch it.
    • Post a discussion forum in D2L where student engage with each other about a core course topic: Create a Discussion Forum and Topics
    • Post planned slide deck for the day and have students write 3 questions they have about the content in the slides[KH1.1], (Remember, share as PowerPoint file to avoid accessibility issues associated with PDFs).
    • Ask students to find and share in D2L 1 news story from the last week that is pertinent to your course.

2 - Communicate:

• Post an announcement with your clear plans and instructions in D2L using the D2L Announcements Tool: Create an Announcement
• This early in the semester, course rosters change often.
• The most reliable way to reach all your currently enrolled students is using the "Email Students in a Class" tool on the Registrar's Instructor Systems site. Use that tool to craft a message to your students. Include in the message links to any zoom meeting you set up, and links to your D2L course site. Clearly tell students what steps they need to take.
• For more info on remote communication with your students, check out this Remote Communication with Your Students Quick Guide.
• Ask if students have any specific accommodation needs, or if there are concerns about connecting remotely (recommend the library or Union if they don’t have access to internet).

3 - Monitor:

• As the day goes on, note what common questions students seem to have. Re-use your communications from before (e.g. "Email Students in a Class" tool, D2L Announcements) to post a follow-up FAQ.
• Monitor MSU official communications and news reports and share relevant updates with your students about the building closure and plans for the next class session.

Support services:

• CTLI's website has a suite of instructional resources and points of communication.
• For more detailed information on hybrid and remote learning, you can reference Hybrid and Remote Learning Support.
• For more guidance on Instructional practices, see this additional information on hybrid and remote learning.