From power outages to pandemics, various scenarios may interrupt District instructional operations. When facilities become unavailable, for whatever reason, instructors can use a variety of tools to provide an alternative means of communication and instruction for students.
Most importantly, faculty are not expected to replace every minute of your face-to-face class or be online at the exact same time that it was scheduled.
REMEMBER
- Keep it simple!
If you are new to using online tools, such as Canvas or Zoom, start slowly, and get comfortable with one before moving on to others. Less tech is OK!! - Tell your students!
Let your students know that you are adding content online and/or will be communicating through Canvas. The Announcements or Inbox tools in Canvas, as well as District email, are all good communication options. - Make it accessible!
Remember that all content should be accessible to all students, regardless of abilities. This can be challenging, but it is doable.
Learn About Accessibility And Canvas - Take time to learn!
If you are reading this page, it’s probably because you are looking for ideas on how to make accommodations for an interruption in the normal teaching environment. Learning new things takes time, so be patient, and take the time review available resources, such as the Canvas Guides.
More sections will be added soon. Please check back for updates.
BEGINNERS
COMMUNICATION
CONTENT
OTHER
BEGINNERS
Get Started With Canvas
If you are new to using Canvas with your course, please begin by reading through the Canvas Quick Start. Before using Canvas with your students, know what you are doing!!!
Let’s say that again…. If you are NEW to using Canvas, please take about 15-20 minutes to READ (and watch a few short videos) the material in the Canvas Quick Start. (Seriously, it’ll save you a lot of time and trouble.)
You should know how to:
- Find and organize your Canvas courses
- Publish your course to make it available to students
- Arrange and manage the Course Menu and course tools
- Use the Canvas content editor
How Do I Get Help?
Canvas offers 24/7 phone support for faculty and students. Click the Help menu icon in the sidebar within Canvas, and look for the Canvas Support Hotline.
COMMUNICATIONS
Post Class Announcements
The Announcements tool is a quick and easy way to get information to the whole class. The content can be a short note, or sophisticated content with links, images, embedded videos, etc.
INSTRUCTOR MUST:
Publish the course
Enable the Announcements tool
About Announcements:
- Are sent from the instructor to all students
- Notifications go to the Inbox, Dashboard, course Home page, Butte College email (may opt-out), and the Canvas Student mobile app
- Can be composed in advance, and posted later at a pre-determined date
- Are archives of course communications between instructor and students
See the Canvas Guides:
Stay In Touch With Students
The Canvas Inbox is used to communicate from one person to one or more others. An instructor can send a message to one or more students, and students can contact their instructor or classmates.
INSTRUCTOR MUST:
Publish the course
About Inbox Messages:
- Can be sent from the instructor to one student, or several, or the entire class
- Can include file attachments
- Can be sent to specific sections of students in combined Canvas courses
See the Canvas Guides:
Have A Class Discussion
It’s easy to add an online discussion to a Canvas course.
Online discussions can give students a way to respond to a prompt, answer questions, share with the class, and reply to classmates.
INSTRUCTOR MUST:
Publish the course
Enable the Discussions tool
About Discussions:
- Available to the entire class
- Asynchronous, students participate at their convenience
- Posts can include images, links, video recordings, and more
- Can be graded, or unngraded
- Can have a due date
See the Canvas Guides:
Have A Live Chat
The Canvas Chat tool is used to communicate synchronously (all together at the same time) online, within a Canvas course.
INSTRUCTOR MUST:
Publish the course
Enable the Chat tool
Chat:
- One room for all users who join by clicking Chat (no “breakout” rooms)
- Chat cannot be limited to specific students
- Instructors can delete chat messages (students can not)
- Chat history is archived, and available to students and the instructor
See the Canvas Guides:
Video Conference With Colleagues & Students
Use Zoom (aka ConferZoom) to communicate with BC colleagues, conduct meetings, and/or students in real-time (requires a high-speed connection, webcam/microphone).
Faculty should not be attempting to utilize Zoom to replace entire lectures or take the place of a previously scheduled class meeting. Zoom is best used to make opportunities available for students to meet with an instructor, and cannot be made mandatory. Think “office hours”.
For guidance on creating pre-recorded video content for use in Canvas, please Request an Appointment with TMI staff. There are several options, and there is no “one size fits all” approach.
- All faculty & staff have a free “Pro” level Zoom account
- Students do not need a Zoom account to participate in a session
- Zoom is already integrated in every Canvas course
CONTENT
Add Content To Your Course
Canvas is a perfect place to provide students access to basic course content in a convenient online location, accessible from anywhere.
Use the Pages tool (preferred) to enter a variety of content in the built-in editor, or use the Files tool (not preferred) to upload files for students to preview or download.
See the Canvas Guides:
Don’t forget about Accessibility!!
OTHER
Get Serious With Canvas
If you have already used Canvas, and want to invest some time into really learning a variety of tools, or just improving on what you already know, consider completing the @ONE Self-Paced Canvas Training course.
Additional Resources
Academic institutions across the country and around the world have needed to move face-to-face instruction into a remote/online environment.
See the following list of resources for more suggestions and guidance on temporary remote instruction.
- Please Do A Bad Job Of Putting Your Courses Online (blog)
- Canvas for Instructional Continuity (CVC-OEI)
- ACUE Online Teaching Toolkit (ACUE)
- “Moving Online Now – How to keep teaching” (Chronicle of Higher Ed)
- Make Working From Home Work For You (NPR Life Kit)
- I Will Survive, Coronavirus version for teachers going online (song)
This list will be updated periodically.
