This is a brief overview of decisions and preparations for instructors who need to teach a class session or two remotely, when circumstances like inclement weather make it difficult to get to campus. To manage cognitive load and keep the focus on student learning, this guide focuses on options that involve potentially more familiar and less demanding technologies.
Feel free to email centerforteaching@bc.edu for further assistance, and contact your department for questions about what is expected of instructors when classes are cancelled.
What priorities will you focus on, what would it be useful to address if you can?
What can be accomplished asynchronously, through tools like a recorded lecture, discussion board or Assignment in Canvas?
What, if anything, needs to happen in real time, so students can ask questions and interact in the moment with you and each other?
What will you consider students responsible for doing or completing in order to demonstrate their learning and/or communicate with you about any delays or issues on their part?
If necessary, add additional materials to the course Canvas site
Link readings or other content in a module or somewhere else that will be easy to find (resource: Option to Organize Content). Lectures can be recorded and made available through Panopto in Canvas course sites (resource: Create a Panopto Recording)
Determine any communication norms you want to establish regarding student use of audio, chat, cameras, hand-raising, etc. (resource: Facilitating Student Participation on Zoom).
Design a back-up plan for both you and your students in case anyone runs into technical problems, considering again what you can accomplish asynchronously (resources: Equity Concerns in Zoom).
Decide if you will record the class meeting and if so, whether to make the recording available to the class or just those who can’t attend, and how you will share the link, keeping in mind privacy expectations (resource: Recording in Zoom)