How will you deliver content?
- Instructional technology: Purdue provides a host of tools and software that can assist teaching and learning by supporting interaction and collaboration, feedback and assessment, and instruction and content delivery. Explore these technologies here to learn how they might help your students and you now, as well as support remote instruction.
- Brightspace: Every course needs a Brightspace shell. The course shell you build in Brightspace is the core entry point, central communication, and connection to all materials, activities, assessments, and links to other tools that students need to successfully meet course outcomes. Post any content that is part of the path to successful completion of the course to one of the Brightspace learning management systems (LMS). This includes, but is not limited to course learning outcomes, syllabus and revised schedule, assignments and other assessments (quizzes, exams, etc.), and grades. Take advantage of the Brightspace tools to provide updates, feedback on assignments, and opportunities for virtual engagement between students, and with you. If you use other content management systems (e.g. course or personal website), move essential content to Brightspace. Check to be sure that your students have set up BoilerKey Two-Factor Authentication (Duo Mobile smart phone app or hardware token); click here for more information.
- Delivery: Asynchronous (recommended) delivery is easiest for students and you, and provides stable content regardless of the reliability of anyone’s Internet access and speed. This type of delivery allows students to access course content on their own time. Lectures can be recorded now on campus or at home. Download programs like Camtasia and Kaltura to record, edit, and upload videos to your course site. Camtasia allows you to incorporate videos and images you create, merge and edit them, and add music or text callouts. Deliver a virtual lecture with Camtasia by recording your computer screen and your voice. A step-by-step guide is available here. A guide to adding video to your Brightspace course is here.
- Delivery: Synchronous can be used sparingly and with limitations because some of your students and/or you may need to work remotely. Even if you have previously conducted web-conferencing successfully using tools such as Purdue-supported WebEx, doing so for courses requires significant planning. In addition, some students may live in low-internet bandwidth areas and/or have interruptions in Internet service. If you need synchronous delivery for limited use, make your preparations and practice with your students before the need arises. Learn more about Purdue-support WebEx here. If you use a web-conferencing tool, record your session and upload it to the course site. Most web-conferencing tools allow for this option.
- Course materials: In order for students to continue following along in the course if they need to work remotely, they need access to course materials. Post items such as handouts, readings, presentation slides, and assignments on the course site. Please follow copyright law when posting materials online. Investigate your options for embedding or linking course materials when teaching online and whether your situation allows for copyright exceptions. Post your syllabus and schedule, and revise them allowing for the disruption in the lives of your students and you. Consider what materials, assignments, and assessments are essential to successfully achieving the course learning outcomes. You may need to be flexible with submission deadlines, within the parameters of the academic calendar. Consider linking to relevant LSIS research guides to help students locate additional or alternative materials to support students achieving course learning outcomes. Purdue Libraries’ Remote Access Resources Guide will direct you to Libraries’ materials and support for you and your students as you work remotely.
- Accessibility and Accommodations: Students registered with the Disability Resource Center (DRC) will share their Course Accessibility Letter (CAL) with instructors, electronically, via myPurdue. The accommodations remain in effect, but how they are implemented may need to be adapted for an online environment. Here are some steps to take that demonstrate your commitment towards accessibility and accommodations for your course.
- Stay in touch with students for whom you have accommodation letters to discuss updated plans for your course. Instructors have the right to privately communicate with students that have a CAL on file and ask for more details about implementation of a specific accommodation. For example consider asking questions like: “What document format will best meet your needs? (Word or PDF) or “I believe I have set the LMS to allow for your extended time on this exam. Let me know if you run into a problem right away.” If needed, you may contact a student’s Access Consultant in the DRC at DRC@purdue.edu.
- Captioning for students with accommodations is available. The Disability Resource Center provides professional captioning on Purdue instructional videos for students with captioning-related accommodations listed on their CAL. Contact them at DRC@purdue.edu. Contact your department for other captioning requests.
- When creating and uploading documents to your course, think about if the content is accessible. If your students request that your documents be made accessible, look at these sites for guidance in Word or PowerPoint.
- If you have any additional questions, reach out to the Disability Resource Center. The DRC staff will be maintaining regular business hours (8 a.m.-5 p.m.) to support both faculty and students throughout the semester. The DRC Access Consultant is listed on the CAL. You are welcome to contact them directly and will find their direct dial number by clicking this link: https://www.purdue.edu/drc/about/staff.php. You can also send an email to: DRC@purdue.edu.
- Labs, recitation, field work: One of the more challenging parts of teaching a course when there is a building or campus closure are the outside course components, such as labs, recitations, field work, and site visits. To mitigate the effects of losing the in-person interaction and hands-on experience afforded through outside class components, consider establishing alternate, but equivalent activities for your outside class components. In conjunctions with our colleagues at Indiana University, we suggest the following for creating hybrid or hy-flex courses:
- Putting components online: Labs often require specific procedures or hands-on work. When that is not possible, find online videos or video-record your own demonstrations and post to your Brightspace. Connect students with online simulations. Provide analysis break-downs of data, etc. and save what is necessary for when students can return to the physical space.
- Use virtual labs or simulations: Virtual labs or online simulations can provide a similar experience to the hands-on experience. Provide students with a structure for engagement with the simulations and what to submit via the course LMS. The PhET website provides simulations for online engagement in Biology, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, Mathematics, and Physics. For construction or civil engineering-specific simulations, where you might normally conduct field site visits, there are online simulations to walk students through various processes. For example, letsbuild.com has examples of construction simulation games, and construction simulations are located on InteliBuild’s YouTube channel. nanoHUB has a number of visual simulation tools, lectures, and lesson plans focused on topics in chemistry, electronics, materials science, engineering, quantum mechanics, and nanotechnology.
- Examples of external resources:
- The PhET website provides simulations for online engagement in Biology, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, Mathematics, and Physics.
- For construction or civil engineering-specific simulations, where you might normally conduct field site visits, there are online simulations to walk students through various processes. For example, letsbuild.com has examples of construction simulation games, and construction simulations are located on InteliBuild’s YouTube channel. nanoHUB has a number of visual simulation tools, lectures, and lesson plans focused on topics in chemistry, electronics, materials science, engineering, quantum mechanics, and nanotechnology.
- Examples of external resources:
- Providing raw data for students to analyze themselves: In a case where students collect and analyze data, you can demonstrate how to collect the data and provide students with the raw set of data to analyze on their own. This allows them to practice the data collection phase themselves till they return to class.
- Exploring alternate software access: It is not always possible to have access to specific software on all of your students’ personal computers, tablets, or phones. In the event a separate lab space cannot be set up for students to engage with the software, consider finding an equivalent accessible to all students.
- Increasing alternate interaction: Outside class components often offer a more individualized experience. The use of discussion board tools in Blackboard or Brightspace, or message boards like in Microsoft Teams can allow for off-site interaction until students return to your labs and recitations.
- Open Educational Resources (OER): is a term describing a wide array of textbooks and course material (e.g. presentations, simulations, assessments) that has been created and shared for educational purposes, often with Creative Commons licensing. For details and a brief list of repositories, click here. nanoHUB is a free and open platform for computational simulation, education, and collaboration in nanotechnology, engineering, data science, materials science, chemistry, and related fields.
- For ideas developing a teaching plan for fall, specifically around the design challenge for creating hybrid and hyflex lab and experiential course components, see these archetypes by registering for IMPACT X Access.
Contact Us...
For questions about teaching remotely or Purdue-supported technologies tied to your course, email innovativelearningteam@purdue.edu.
Contact ITaP Tech Support (itap@purdue.edu) if you have issues with: Logging in to Brightspace or WebEx; accessing BoilerKey or email; or to address phishing questions. Tech Support is also still available by phone 765-494-4000.
Students should direct questions about your course to your Purdue email. They may also reach their academic advisor through BoilerConnect, or go to the updated Academic Advising Remotely webpage.