Related Articles and Resources.

https://www.facultyfocus.com/topic/articles/


https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/identifying-and-supporting-struggling-students-in-online-courses/


https://www.chronicle.com/interactives/advice-online-teaching?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=campaign_1078582&cid=nwsltrtn&source=ams&sourceId=4831216

https://www.qualitymatters.org/qa-resources/resource-center/articles-resources/ERI-Checklist

COPING WITH CORONAVIRUS

NATIONAL EMERGENCY LIBARY

EMERGENCY LIBRARY ARCHIVES

ACCESSIBLE TEACHING ONLINE 

MORE ON ACCESSIBLE TEACHING

FREE Assistive Technologies

With new environments can come new barriers for people with disabilities as we learn to adapt to new circumstances of working from home, participate in virtual meetings, and teach in virtual classrooms.

The following resources and assistive technologies have been temporarily been made free of charge and become widely accessible for home use during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• JAWS, ZoomText and Fusion (Links to an external site.)
• Freedom Scientific has released special, free, short-term licenses of these three softwares for individuals with a personal email address in Canada or the United States
• WordQ (Links to an external site.)
• Quillsoft has an Extended Access Request form for a trial to use for remote work or online learning. Once you fill out the form, they'll email you with your trial information within 24 hrs
• Kurzweil 3000 (Links to an external site.)
• Kurzweil education is offering a free subscription for all during COVID-19

In a short amount of time, students, faculty and staff are having to learn new tools and technologies to manage with the transition to online learning. Below are a few tips regarding the accessibility features of a few of these technologies, to support  the transition:

Accessibility features of Zoom (Links to an external site.)

• Closed captioning (Links to an external site.)
• Automatic transcripts (Links to an external site.)
• Keyboard accessibility – hot keys and keyboard shortcuts (Links to an external site.)
• Screen reader: it is WCAG 2.1 AA compliant

Accessibility features of Microsoft Teams

• Using Microsoft Teams with a screen reader (Links to an external site.)
• Using Live Captions in a Teams meeting (Links to an external site.)
• Changing your viewing settings to high contrast or dark mode

Backwards course design

In this module you will learn about lesson planning using the "Backward Design" approach. Templates for designing lessons will be on following pages.

Start with the End in Mind

Your course outcomes provide the foundation for all lesson planning.

• Outcomes = What your students will be able to do by the end of the course
• Lesson Planning = How you will help them get there

At LWTech, course outcomes are designed by faculty and approved by the Curriculum Review Committee (CRC). Once approved, all faculty who facilitate a particular course teach to the same outcomes.

Approved Course Outcomes for Your Course(s)

You can find your course outcomes in the online catalog.

1. Go to: http://catalog.lwtech.edu (Links to an external site.)
2. In the right-hand navigation, click on Course Descriptions
3. In the Course Filter box, select the prefix for your course (e.g., ENGL&)
4. Click on your specific course in the list of results to access the course information, including outcomes

Once you know the official outcomes for your class, start building on that foundation. This short video shares more about backward design to help you get started.

Start here module

Purpose of Creating a Start Here Module

A Start Here or Getting Started module is a place you can send your students prior to the start of the class to communicate and prepare them to be successful. 

If you click on Modules in the navigation links of this course, you'll notice again that there was a Start Here module. 

Items to include in Start Here module:

• Create a Welcome Page
  • Include information about yourself and how to best communicate with you if they need support.
  • This could include any scheduled office hours you plan to hold over zoom/email/phone. (Let them know your hours and preferred communication modes.)
  • Provide them with highlights of what is in the Start Here module, and why each is important to go through.
• Create and add a Welcome Video (create Video with Canvas Studio)
  • In the video you may be repeating much of what you conveyed on the welcome page. Show enthusiam about the subject they will be learning. Share with them how this course can apply to their program/life so they get WHY it's important to be in this course. Be yourself and be positive and encouraging. (Again, nice for them to see you as a human behind the course.)
• Create a Canvas + Syllabus Overview video providing a quick tour of your Canvas course, maybe also showing programs they may be using, do a quick overview of your syllabus, etc. 
• Add a link to your Syllabus and to any textbook or learning material resources.

Remember to keep videos 10 mins or less. 

Canvas How-to's

You may refer to the Instructor Canvas Guides (Links to an external site.) for step-by-step how-tos on create a module (Links to an external site.) and add items (Links to an external site.) to it. (The purpose of this course is to provide online course design basics, and does not explictly include Canvas how-tos, as there are other resources for Canvas use.)

Good Module Design

Here are some nicely designed Modules examples from Instructure:

Although each uses a different approach, they all have a nicely organized and consistent layout. Beneath each link, I've added notes on what I particularly like about the layout.

Intro to GeologyLinks to an external site. (Links to an external site.)

• • In this example, please notice the nice Course Orientation/Getting Started module and components.
  • Also notice the use of Week by Week modules and the Before Class and After Class sections on those weekly modules to help make expectations of when and what to complete clear. (See Image 1 below.)

History of Ancient CivilizationLinks to an external site. (Links to an external site.)

• • In this example, notice the use of Module and Section Numbering to create a well organized learning unit. (See Image 2 below.)

U.S. History 2 (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)

• • In this example, notice the use of labeling items clearly with Text to Read, Video, Quiz, etc.  For example in Module 1, the Quiz is title M1 Quiz, and for Module 2, M2 Quiz. (See Image 3 below.)

Images of Good Module Design

Image 1: Notice the use of Week by Week modules and the Before Class and After Class sections on those weekly modules to help make expectations of when and what to complete clear.

 

Image 2: Notice the use of Module and Section Numbering to create a well organized learning unit.

 

Image 3: Notice the use of labeling items clearly with Text to Read, Video, Quiz, etc.  For example in Module 1, the Quiz is title M1 Quiz, and for Module 2, M2 Quiz.

  

Seattle Central Simple Template

The eLearning folks at Seattle Central created a Module Template. It is another great example of great module design.

Image 4: Notice the use of Text Headers within module such as "Read & Watch" and "Complete & Submit". Also notice the clear labeling of everything added within the module:

 

 

Organization of Modules.

Clear Path to Learning + Activities

An essential part to an online learning environments is a clear path to learning materials and learning activities that students will be participating in. An organized course can go a long ways to help reduce student anxiety or frustration. If they are simply logging in to turn in an assignment or participate in a discussion, they shouldn't have to spend too much time finding the (file/tool/assignment/discussion/etc) they need at that moment. 

The better the organization the easier it becomes for both students and instructors to locate the materials they need.   

Introducing Modules

One of the best features within Canvas to help you design your course to be efficient and effective is the Modules area.   

• Modules allow you to add  learning materials (lectures, videos, handouts, discussions, assignments, etc.) in a linear and highly organized format.  
• You can use Modules to organize course content by weeks, units, or a different organizational structure that you prefer. 
• Each module can contain files, discussions, assignments, quizzes, and other learning materials. 

On the next page, you will see some good examples of module organization.

Course design checklist

Basics to Get Started

The [To-Do] Complete Checklist that you just went through in this module, along with the other content in this course is a GREAT START for any online course, and some of the steps are specific to teaching online at LWTech. These ensure you are taking steps to "humanize" and communicate guidelines and expectations for your course, which go a LONG ways in the online environment.

If You Want More

If you are already experienced in Canvas and want to go even further with refining and improving your online course design, check out the WA Course Design Checklist (Links to an external site.). This WA Course Design Checklist was created by Alissa Sells at SBCTC, along with a focus group of our system faculty. At this time, I would consider this list as something that you can continue using now and in the future as you are comfortable, but do not feel you need to do everything on this list for Spring Qtr. It is very detailed.

Welcome Email

Purpose of a Welcome Email

Creating a welcome is yet another way to reach out to students to let them know you are there as their instructor, introduce yourself, welcome them, and point them towards the Getting Started section of the course.

If you didn't see it earlier in the course, there was a section titled Communicte, Communicate and Communicate some More! In the online environment, remember that some repetition is good, particularly when the class is getting started.

Remember your students are probably in other courses, not just yours, so they will be receiving a lot of different messaging. But if there's some consistency that they see over and over from each of you, pointing them to a Getting Started section of each course, that message of consistency will be felt and appreciated by them. It will add a level of familiarity of "walking in the door", in this class, the virtual door, and knowing what they need to do to get started!

Canvas How-to's

You may refer to the Instructor Canvas Guides (Links to an external site.) for step-by-step how-tos on how to send a message (email) to all students in your course (Links to an external site.). (The purpose of this course is to provide online course design basics, and does not explictly include Canvas how-tos, as there are other resources for Canvas use.)

Create a welcome announcement and publish your course

Purpose of a Welcome Announcement

Creating a welcome announcement can assure your students you are communicative and there to support them. This brings up the "humanize" your course element. Having you send an Announcement is one more way to reach out to them to let them know the course is open and ready for them to come on in!

It could be as simple as, "Welcome to  (name of course). I'm really excited to start working with you all. When you enter the course, the first place you'll want to visit is the Start Here module. This module will help you get aquainted with me, each other, and the overview of this course, as well as provide you links to support materials. "See" you in class! I look forward to looking over the Introductions you all post." 

Of course, making it up in your own wording.  Otherwise they may be receiving the same message from all of their instructors! :)

Canvas How-to's

You may refer to the Instructor Canvas Guides (Links to an external site.) for step-by-step how-tos on add an announcement to your course (Links to an external site.). (The purpose of this course is to provide online course design basics, and does not explictly include Canvas how-tos, as there are other resources for Canvas use.)

Publish Your Course

Clean Up Course Menu to Only Show Items You are Using

Go under your course settings and remove all the items that are not necessary.

Settings>navigation then pull items down below the line so they don't show up for the student.

Modules
Grades
Announcements
People

are generally all you will need for your online course.  Remember: assignments and discussions will show up in the course modules even though they have been removed from the left side navigation menu.

Online student success modules.

The Engagement & Learning department created a learning module to assist students in being successful in the online environment. You may view the module before adding it into your course. 

[To-Do] Add this module into your course(s):

1. Open your browser and get into Canvas.
2. Click on the Canvas Commons Link
3. Search for “LWTech Online Student Success” (if many appear, look for the one authored by Sally Heilstedt)
4. Click on the LWTech Online Student Success Tile
5. Check the courses you want to import the module into then click the Import into Course button
6. The module will appear in your course Modules.

Please contact eLearning@lwtech.edu for any technical support in importing this module.

Establishing a discussion and response criteria.

Purpose of Establishing Communication & Interaction Expectations

There are so many options for communicating  and interacting online, that it would be helpful for students to know how you prefer to be contacted, how to interact with peers, and how often they should be checking in to Canvas and other related course learning activities. This can help create a sense of structure and certaintly about how to work within the online environment.

[To-Do]

1. Establish your communication and interaction expectations. (examples below)
2. Communicate to your students about these Communication and Interaction Expectations at the beginning of your course in several areas. For example: send in and email, post in Start Here module, add them into your Syllabus).

Example Expectations

• Be clear about how and when you plan to check for questions from them.
• Set established office hours.
• Set established times you will check into your course for communications.
• Let students know how you prefer them to contact you for questions or concerns. Do you prefer email? or would you like to set up -one-on-one Zoom meetings if they want to go over something with you? or, will you hold drop-in Zoom office hours during established times? 
• What is your turn-around time for getting back to them?  Will you get back to them within 24 hours? or is it  within 36 hours but M-F only?  
• Let them know how often you will use the Announcements feature. (Will you post announcments at regular intervals, such as at the beginning of each week? Every 3 days?) You can use announcements (as at least one form of communication) to communicate what they should be working on that week, and any changes that have been made to any of the class activities. 
• You could also have a Discussion topic built in to your modules for for each week (or per learning unit). Examples: after a lecture or learning activity, post a few questions for the students to respond to or reflect upon.   

Establishing realistic timeframes and boundaries: Sometimes there is an expectation from students  that since it is online you will be available to them 24 hours a day 7 days a week. This is not realistic. This learning format may be very new to them, and so expectations around turnaroud communcation time is important to communicate to them about. Set some boundaries for yourself so you aren't checking your course too often. Just as an example, you could set a scheduled time to check into your course for communications M-F between noon and 2p. 

Communication Tool Options

• Inbox in Canvas 
• LWTech Email
• Phone (Please do not give your personal phone number out. If you do have a college extension, you can work with IT to have that forward calls to your phone.)
• Zoom (group or one-on-one meetings)
• Discussion boards
• Announcements

As stated above, communicate which tools you will be using in your course for communications, and your guildelines for when and how you will be using them with your students.