Home Office Infrastructure

These videos may help you think about how you can set up a home office for teaching remotely without purchasing any additional devices for anyone owning a smartphone.

• Link to short videos about using your phone as a document camera
• Here is a longer tutorial on the document camera workflow for teaching remotely
• Smartphone stands: Example 1 and Example 2 (or choose another one that you like!)

Canvas

The Canvas learning management system can be useful to both instructors and students. If you have not used Canvas before, be patient with yourself as you learn. These instructions should make the process easier. If you already use Canvas, this might be an opportunity to think differently about possible uses or learn something new.

• Canvas Instructor Guide (Everything you would ever need to know about Canvas use.....and probably too much information if you are looking for quick solutions. We have curated instructions for the most useful functions in Canvas into relevant sections listed below)

• Link to short videos about installing Canvas on your phone

Zoom: Use & Security

Zoom is a platform for online video and audio conferencing. It has reliable features such as screen sharing and recording that may make it useful for online teaching, depending on what your teaching goals are.

All UT faculty, staff, and students can now access a licensed Zoom account, use their UT EID and password to login, and use Zoom within Canvas if desired. Go to this link to download the software and set up your account: https://zoom.its.utexas.edu/

Getting Started:

• To get started quickly with Zoom, see these instructions for How to Use Zoom to Hold Class and/or Office Hours. This document has several great tips learned through experience.

• "Zoom: Practical Aspects" webinar from Tuesday, March 24th

Recording link: Contains video file, audio file, and chat box transcript, audio transcript coming soon

Google slides: Slides used during presentation.

Tips for use:

• Passwords to access videos: Default settings were changed by Zoom, and then changed back by UT, to require a password to view videos. If you made videos between April 11th and April 13th until about 3pm, follow these instructions for each recording session to make it available for your students to view without a password:
  • Go to https://utexas.zoom.us/recording
  • Click the Topic name (link) of the recording in question.
  • Click “Share” in the upper right corner.
  • If “Password protect” is activated (blue), click it to toggle it off (gray).
  • Click Close.

• Zoom is in Canvas - In Canvas, you can now find Zoom in the bottom of the left panel. Meetings made in a Canvas course are shown on the Canvas calendars of everyone enrolled in the course. An email notification will not be sent, so make sure your students know how to access the meeting (eg. via the Canvas calendar, through the Zoom link in Canvas).

Suggestion: To avoid overwhelming students' calendars, consider making meetings outside of Canvas.

• Use your phone as a document camera - 

Method 1: Log into Zoom on your phone

Short videos about installing Zoom on your phone and using it as a document camera.

Method 2: Share your phone screen

Instructions here

• Zoom settings and how to give access to people using non-UT accounts - Zoombombing is a word used to describe when an uninvited guest in a Zoom meeting, such as a class, disrupts the meeting by sharing offensive material. There have been some incidences of Zoombombing at UT. In response, the University has adjusted the Zoom settings for all UT accounts. Some settings are locked. Others can be changed by the host of the meetings if desired. See the document below for details about Zoom security settings and how to adjust them when necessary.

Zoom Security Settings & Adjusting When Necessary

• Holding private meetings - You may need to speak with a student privately in office hours or advising appointments. Because of the need to lock certain Zoom settings to improve security, it is no longer possible to place students into a Zoom waiting room and admit them one at a time into a private meeting. to hold private meetings with students, consider these options:

Method 1: Invite individual students to different Zoom meetings, each with a unique meeting code. This might be attractive if you are holding only a few private meetings. (Do not use your personal meeting room because the meeting code stays the same and anyone with the code could pop into the meeting at any time.)

Method 2: See these instructions for using Zoom breakout rooms for private meetings.

Panopto

Panopto is an online video creation, management, and organization tool. It is integrated with Canvas and may be a good solution for you if you are posting videos for students to watch on their own schedule (asynchronous instruction).

Here are some resources to help you become familiar with Panopto:

• UT iSchool Guide to Panopto

• Panopto webinar dates (sponsored by the Faculty Innovation Center)

• Getting Started with Panopto (text support from Panopto)

• Video support from Panopto

Including this video about using Panopto with Canvas

• Using Panopto to Teach Online (UT's School of Information guide)

Proctorio

Also, see "Assessment and Grading" below for more comprehensive information about the tools available for assessment.

We are generally recommending that faculty not use exam proctoring if that is compatible with your philosophy of teaching. Some drawbacks to proctored exams as well as some alternatives are outlined at this link:

Drawbacks to proctored exams and some alternatives

If you decide you would like to try exam proctoring, a proctoring tool is available in Canvas. Proctorio works with Canvas Quizzes and requires students to use the Chrome browser on a computer, not a tablet or phone.

• The School of Nursing uses Proctorio and they have developed resources that might be helpful for you. (Note:The technology support staff in Nursing do not have the bandwidth to support CNS faculty.)

Communicating with Students

In the next few months, you will not be in the same classroom with your students at regular times. Therefore, there will be an increased need to intentionally communicate with your students and the mode of communication may be different from normal.

What should I communicate to students?

• Guiding Principles for your class

One example document (reported in the Chronicle of Higher Education here)

• University and college leadership has been regularly updating our students about resources available to them during the transition to remote learning and studying off campus. The documents below provide suggested resources to help your students manage the transition to online learning.

Student-facing resources: Consider sharing with your students

Preparing for Remote Learning (document with resources and ideas to share with your students)

Keep Learning (Information from Texas One Stop) 

Texas One Stop (FAQs and updates that are useful for students)

Student Guide to Zoom (from McCombs)

PDF Scanners & PDF Mergers (create PDFs from handwritten work)

Mental Well-Being (CMHC website)

Student Emergency Services

Services for Students with Disabilities (so they can seek appropriate accomodations)

Supporting Students During COVID (from UT Austin Steve Hicks School of Social Work)

How can I communicate with students?

• Canvas has several convenient, reliable methods of communicating with students. Students are accustomed to using Canvas, so they are likely to see communications coming through Canvas.

Canvas Announcements provide an easy way for communicating with your class and alerting them to new content, an assignment etc.

Create an Announcement

Edit an Announcement

Add an attachment to an Announcement

Canvas Discussions are a useful way to open up an online dialogue about your course content.

Create a Discussion

The Canvas Inbox functions much like an email account, and allows you to communicate directly with individuals, groups, whole classes etc.

Send a message to an individual

Send a message to a group (note you must predefine Groups for this option)

Send a message to a class

Reply to an Inbox message

Delivering Content

A simple method for delivering content to your students is to post the content on Canvas. Consider the following tips for modification of a few different content delivery methods that we would normally use in the classroom.

If you normally use slides, some tips to consider for asynchronous sharing or recording of slide content:

Review your presentation and make any changes needed to streamline while focusing on the main themes of the presentation. For each theme: (1) introduce the theme, (2) illustrate important details and why the topic is important, and (3) give an example. Eliminate extraneous content. 

1. Annotate and post your slides:

Add text and/or other annotations to each slide to highlight important details. 

Consider typing what you would normally say into the notes section of each slide.

Consider creating a short bullet point list of "take aways" from the lesson, and post those as well.

2. Record narration using Powerpoint:

3. Videorecord your explanation:

Share your screen in Zoom (select the Powerpoint application to share), press record to videorecord the slides with your voiceover and a small image of you speaking (if you have your video on in Zoom). Zoom will produce a video file that includes a transcript. You can share the video with your students.

Alternatively, record video and audio using Panopto, Screencast-O-Matic, Quicktime, or your choice of recorders. Each of these tools has varying levels of ability to edit after production. You can share with your students.

Decide on how you are going to organize information in Canvas (e.g. Files, Modules, or Pages) and post your slides on Canvas.

If you normally use a blackboard, white board, or document camera in class, possible options could include:

1. Non-tablet options:

   • Use your computer's webcam and microphone to record video and audio as you give your lecture as usual using a chalkboard or whiteboard. An external microphone might result in much better quality audio. This option could be asynchronous (record and post, then students watch it later) or synchronous (students participate in real time using Zoom).

   • Use a document camera or your phone connected to your computer to video and audio record as you give your lecture while writing on paper. This option could be asynchronous (record and post, then students watch it later) or synchronous (students participate in real time using Zoom).

                                Here are links to videos show you how to use your phone as a document camera.

                                Share your phone screen: Instructions here

• If you don't want to use video, you could write on a chalkboard, whiteboard, or paper, then take photos of each whiteboard/chalkboard/piece of paper. To present to students, organize the photos into a PowerPoint presentation (or scan the pieces of paper using an app such as CamScanner, annotate the images, and upload to Canvas as a PDF.

1. Tablet Options:

   1. If you have a tablet, you can download a notetaking app or one that has a “whiteboard” embedded in it, such as:

      • Notability or GoodNotes for iOS; OneNote through Microsoft Office for other tablets, or WhiteBoard through Office 365
   2. Deliver content as you normally would in class; pre-record with Zoom or Panopto and upload to Canvas or present lecture live w/ Zoom.

In general, once you have your materials ready, upload your lecture content and other electronic teaching material onto Canvas using the Canvas file manager. The links below provide information on how to accomplish this. You can also organize your teaching materials into modules (see Organize Content into Modules below).

• Files in Canvas (FAQ page on everything to do with Files in Canvas)
• View course Files
• Upload a File
• Use Files as an intructor 

Turning in Assignments

You may need to modify some assignments to make them accessible in an online format, and that students will have a place to turn in homework or projects online. Canvas has many tools for this.

You can create "assignments" in Canvas where students can electronically turn in their work. Canvas accepts all sorts of different types of work materials, including written assignments (either directly typed into Canvas by your student, or submitted as a separate file [for example as a .docx or .pdf file]), audio files, video files, pictures etc.

The links below provide information on how to setup and manage assignments:

• Assignments in Canvas (FAQ page on everything to do with Assignments in Canvas)
• Create an Assignment
• Edit Assignment details
• Add a rubric to an Assignment (if you use rubrics, you can manually add them...this makes grading quicker in Canvas assignments)

Assessment and Grading (exams & quizzes)

You may be accustomed to giving proctored assesments (exams and quizzes) where all students take the exam at the same time in the same place. Moving assessments online will require some flexiibility.

We understand that academic dishonesty may be a concern for online assessment. The University is currently looking into online proctoring. We are generally recommending that faculty not use exam proctoring if that is compatible with your philosophy of teaching. Some drawbacks to proctored exams as well as some alternatives are outlined at this link:

Drawbacks to proctored exams and some alternatives

The recommendation from the College is that you consider giving more frequent low-stakes assessments (eg. weekly quizzes), instead of few high-stakes assessments (eg. miderm or final exams). This may be an opportunity to focus on developing students' skill in using resource materials and collaborating (ie. allow them look up answers and collaborate with each other).

There are tools built into or associated with Canvas that can help with remote assessment and grading: Assignments, Quizzes, Speedgrader, and Gradescope.

• To help you make decisions about which of these tools to use, see this guide to Remote Assessment of Learning
• Gradescope is an online grading platform that integrates with Canvas and simplifies grading in some circumstances. It is especially useful for large classes of 50+ students. If you have decided to use Gradescope, here is a document about using Gradescope for remote assessment:
  • Gradescope workflow for remote assessment
  • To add Gradescope to your course:
    • On Canvas, select the course you would like to add Gradescope to.
    • Go to Settings, select the Navigation tab, scroll to the bottom and click and drag Gradescope up into the list of items that will appear in your navigation page. Click Save.
    • You can now select Gradescope from your navigation page. Click on Account at the bottom left to find the Quick Start Guide to using Gradescope
    • Once you create a Gradescope assignment, you can follow the prompts for using it to facilitate grading.

Managing Your Teaching Staff (eg, AIs, TAs, UGTAs, Mentors)

Adjusting your course for remote teaching will also mean that the responsibilites and contributions of your teaching staff may need to change as well. Consider all of the new ways in which they can help you deliver the best version of your course during this time of change. Ideas to consider could be:

• Prepare Course Materials:  You may have to adjust your course materials for online delivery. For example, if you plan to record lectures, you can ask your teaching staff to help you prepare for, record, and post these recordings.
• Answer Questions:  They can answer student questions, or alert you to important questions/comments that students are giving during your lecture. For example, if you plan to give synchronous lectures (meaning the students are all participating in class at the same time, see live lectures in Zoom), they monitor the chat box to allow you to focus on giving the lecture. They can answer questions, or alert you to important questions/comments that students are giving during your lecture.
• Engage Students: Engaging students in the learning process will likely be more important than ever when the students are not sitting in the same room together. TAs can help with this. For example, they can hold online office hours using Zoom. 
• Grade: Assignments, projects, quizzes, and exams will still need to be graded and feedback provided to students. TAs can help with this.
• Other Activities: You will more than likely have additional Canvas management responsibilities during this time - think of all of the ways in which your teaching staff can help you. What are some of your ideas?

TAs should hold a teaching practice session and include students who are able to join during the week of March 23rd.

Revising Your Syllabus

• Your new course plan must meet University requirements. The following link goes to a PDF posted by the Faculty Innovation Center and it addresses the University requirements for instructional continuity.

Course Plan for Instructional Continuity

Resources for Your Students

University and college leadership has been regularly updating our students about resources available to them during the transition to remote learning and studying off campus. The document below provide suggested resources to help your students manage the transition to online learning. 

• Student-facing resource: Consider sharing with your students

Preparing for Remote Learning (document with resources and ideas to share with your students)

Student Guide to Zoom (from McCombs)

PDF Scanners & PDF Mergers (create PDFs from handwritten work)

Texas One Stop (FAQs and updates that are useful for students)

Mental Well-Being (CMHC website)

Student Emergency Services

Services for Students with Disabilities (so they can seek appropriate accomodations)

Supporting Students During COVID (from UT Austin Steve Hicks School of Social Work)

Collaboration

Please be patient...more information is coming soon.

Office Hours

• Hold a Class Discussion on Canvas.
• Offer Virtual Office Hours using Canvas Conferences
• Use Canvas Chat feature

Please be patient...more information is coming soon.

Hands-on Courses (eg, Labs) & Research

Teaching lab courses remotely has additional challenges, especially if the lab requires specific equipment and reagents that are not available outside of the usual classroom space. Nevertheless, many aspects of a laboratory course may be able to be offered remotely. Here are some ideas to think about: 

• Step 1 Define what the lab is meant to achieve. One purpose of labs is to give students an opportunity to practice using laboratory equipment. That goal may be difficult to achieve online. However, the lab likely focuses on other goals as well, such as becoming familiar with standard procedures, interpreting experimental data, completing a long-term project, or working collaboratively.
• Step 2 Determine how can you achieve the lab priorities remotely. It is likely that at least some of your goals for student learning can be addressed remotely. Here are a few ideas:
  • Search for and consider using virtual labs.
  • Show students how data can be collected using readily available online videos or videos you create.
  • Provide raw data sets for students to analyze and interpret.
  • Put additional focus on projects that may already be part of the course.
  • Encourage collaboration by setting up groups in Canvas or using Breakout Rooms in Zoom.

We have compiled a starter list of online lab simulators and virtual labs (some are free) to begin exploring. Please contact an Instructional Consultant in TIDES if you have additional ideas to add.

• Hands-on classes (update 4/03/2020)

On March 25th, ~30 undergraduate lab instructors and coordinators from across CNS came together to discuss their ideas for facilitating "hands-on" courses online. Here is a summary of their meeting:

• UT Instructors Guide to Hands-on Learning Online