Faculty Guide for Pandemic Planning
UST Colleges, Schools and Departments began planning in Spring 2009 for Pandemic Preparedness. That planning includes various responses to each of multiple threat levels. The following resource is designed to array options for faculty to continue instructional activities. Increasing response levels may be required, and UST’s policies and plans may change as circumstances warrant. IRT staff developed the resource below to scale to this need, with special attention to preliminary steps.
Instructional Strategies for Short-Term Student Absence
There are a variety of strategies and supporting technologies to deliver content and instruction to students who may be absent from class for a short period of time. It is very important to note that there are complexities with Web-based video (Skype) or any other real-time content delivery. The student or faculty member may be too ill to work with real-time content and we cannot guarantee that students at home have the technology needed to receive content in real-time over the Web. It is our recommendation that faculty use telephone conferencing initially before moving to Web-based video or audio. The focus also should be on getting content into Blackboard that students can access at any time.
Asynchronous Strategies
- Upload your syllabus, assignments and home work, lecture notes, class readings, and practice exams into your Blackboard course.
- Create a forum in the Blackboard Discussion Board and encourage students to upload their lecture notes for their classmates or use the Blackboard Wiki to create a class study guide.
- Prepare “microlectures” of important course topics in advance and make available to students who are absent. Microlectures can be created using Adobe Presenter or a digital voice recorder.
- Use a digital recorder to capture the instructor audio from a class session and make the lecture available to students through Blackboard.
Synchronous Strategies
- Telephone conferencing may be an option if you have students who cannot attend the face-to-face class session but are well enough to “attend” class remotely.
- Desktop video conferencing options such as Skype can also be used but require additional planning and preparation.
- Communicate with students to set office hours or a question-and-answer session using the Blackboard chat, the chat feature in the UST Portal or the chat feature in Adobe Connect.
Blackboard
In the event of a pandemic or if an emergency closes the campus, all instructors should first use Blackboard to continue instruction in the event of a pandemic or if an emergency closes the campus. It will be your delivery method of choice. The reasons for making Blackboard the first priority are:
- Blackboard is designed specifically for online course delivery and includes such features as a synchronous chat, a place to store course content in an organized way, capability to hold online discussions, Blog, Wiki for collaborative editing, online exams or quizzes, and much more.
- Blackboard class shells are created automatically for every active course.
- As long as the course instructor is properly listed with the class in Banner, and has a valid UST account, he or she will have access to the class.
- All students who are properly enrolled in your course in Banner, and who have UST accounts, will automatically be enrolled in your Blackboard course.
Steps to take now
If you don't already use Blackboard, you will need some time to learn. Minimally you should be able to use the following aspects of Blackboard:
- Ability to construct your course menu and add content (Word, PowerPoint, PDF, links, etc.) to your Blackboard site
- Communicate to students through announcements and email
- Ability to create and use the Discussion board and/or chat for communication and collaboration. The UST portal also has a class-based chat that can be used instead of the Blackboard chat.
- Ability to create online assignments, review student work and grade assignments
- Use the Grade Center for entering and tracking student work
IRT has prepared a series of video tutorials and help sheets introducing instructors to basic tasks in Blackboard. The full range of tutorials and helpsheets are available on the IRT Blackboard support site.
IRT staff are available to deliver department-specific Blackboard training courses or work with individual faculty members. Contact the IRT Tech Desk at irthelp@sthomas.edu or 2-6230 to set up an appointment with your Academic Technology Consultant.
Getting Your Course Content Online
The content of your face to face class may include textbooks, journal articles, written materials, lecture notes, multimedia materials, and the like. Most types of content can be used in an eLearning environment as well.
Steps to take now
- Identify how much of your course is already in an electronic format (e.g., Word, PowerPoint, PDF, links to web resources, etc.) including the syllabus, readings, assignments (problems, solutions, examples) discussion questions, group projects, resources.
- Review your syllabus, lecture notes and assignments and ensure that they provide sufficient detail for students. For example, if students typically hand in hard copies of assignments does your syllabus include information on how to turn in assigments electronically? If students cannot attend class, do instructions for assignments contain sufficient detail for students to complete the assignments?
- Make a list of the resources that would need to be converted to electronic format. Do not worry about getting materials converted - just make a list. For example, list the movies or DVDs that you show in class.
Lecture
In a face to face class, the (synchronous) lecture is one of the most frequently used instructional methods. A lecture in an e-learning environment is not the main focal point to the degree that it may be in many face to face classes. But lectures still can play an important role and are most effective when used in combination with other instructional strategies.
Because synchronous lectures using Web technologies such as Adobe Connect or WebEx require considerable planning, preparation and skill development on the part of faculty to effectively emulate the face-to-face lecture environment, IRT recommends that “microlectures” are developed in advance and delivered asynchronously through Blackboard.
Steps to take now
- Read the Chronicle of Higher Education article about microlectures: http://chronicle.com/article/These-Lectures-Are-Gone-in-/19924/
- Make an outline of the lectures for your course. For each lecture, list the key concepts you are trying to convey.
- Write a 15 to 30-second introduction and conclusion. They will provide context for your key concepts.
- Contact the IRT Tech Desk to make an appointment with your Academic Technology Consultant to discuss the best method of capturing your microlecture. Options for creating microlectures include:
- Adobe Presenter to create audio narrated PowerPoint presentations
- Creating a “podcast” or audio file using a digital audio recorder
- Adobe Connect to create a pre-recorded video lecture
Synchronous Class Options
In cases where synchronous lecture is required to ensure pedagogical quality faculty must plan and prepare well in advance to effectively emulate the face-to-face lecture environment. It is very important to note that there are complexities with Web-based video (Skype) or any other real-time content delivery. The student or faculty member may be too ill to receive real-time content and we cannot guarantee that students at home have the technology needed to receive content in real time over the Web. It is our recommendation that faculty use telephone conferencing before web based video or audio.
Skype
Skype is a free application that provides audio and video conferencing, and instant messaging from computer to computer over the Internet. Skype is free to use, and to have Skype installed on your UST computer contact the IRT Tech Desk. To download Skype on your home computer go to http://www.skype.com.
For both faculty and students, Skype requires a microphone headset for audio conferencing and a Web camera for video conferencing. Faculty may contact IRT Purchase to purchase equipment; students should go to http://shop.skype.com for a list of recommended devices. Similar to Adobe Connect (see below) the quality of a Skype experience is affected by the amount of Internet traffic and your Internet connection speed.
Adobe Connect
Adobe Connect is a desktop Web conferencing application that offers real-time audio and video, chat tools, application and file sharing. Virtual meeting spaces can be used for lectures, discussions, tutoring, collaborative workspace, and for a variety of real-time, interactive activities, and can be recorded for asynchronous access or review.
The quality of an Adobe Connect experience is affected by network (Internet and local) traffic. During times of heavy Internet traffic, a meeting can experience latency (delay) in transmitting to or from the Adobe Connect server, resulting in “choppy” audio or video, or slow display of content. The quality of a meeting is also dependent on the connection speed of the meeting host/presenter, and the connection speed of the participants. The faster the connection the more optimal the meeting experience will be.
IMPORTANT: During an emergency is not a time to start to learn a complex tool such as Adobe Connect. IRT will support faculty who are already experienced Connect users and it will be unlikely that we will be able to train beginners in time to meet emergency situations.
Steps you must take now (if you plan to use Adobe Connect lecture in the event of a pandemic)
- Identify the course(s) and the days and times that will use synchronous lecture
- Contact the IRT Tech Desk to arrange a consultation with your Academic Technology Consultant. A consultation is required to obtain an Adobe Connect account and meeting rooms for your course
