Category: Faculty Resources

Moving from Zoom to Microsoft Teams

Posted on by Josh Moon

Microsoft Teams is our institutionally supported videoconferencing application and offers many collaboration features.  Due to its integration into the College’s technology infrastructure and the requirement of login credentials, it is more secure than other clients that are increasingly targets of disruption and attacks. We do recognize that many users are comfortable with certain features in Zoom and are hesitant to sacrifice them by moving to Teams. We would like to offer some support and practices that might make this shift easier.

Easy ways to schedule a meeting

If you need to schedule a meeting, set up a Channel on your Team labeled “Meetings.” This becomes the consistent site to begin Calls and the online meeting spot.

There are multiple benefits to this approach:

  • Everyone knows where to go at the appropriate time (like a physical classroom).
  • The Channel’s “Meet Now” button allows you to quickly initiate meetings and get started.
  • If you record or otherwise add Meeting-specific content, it avoids clutter on your other Channels.

Managing a Call with four concurrent videos

The ability to see all participants in a call is one of the most popular features that Teams currently lacks. While Microsoft has suggested that they are quickly working to introduce this, productive calls can still be held without out this functionality. Some tips include:

  • Encourage all participants to mute their microphones. This is a generally helpful practice in videoconferencing to avoid crosstalk and ambient noise. In turn, encourage individual users to unmute and interject when they would like to comment or contribute a question. “Excuse me, Professor, can I ask a question….” It can be that simple even without a visual. Microsoft Teams will automatically transition one of the video feeds to the person who is speaking.
  • Utilize the Call’s accompanying Chat conversation to draw out questions and commentary. It can be difficult to facilitate conversation and monitor the Chat simultaneously. Give students responsibility for helping to bring questions and comments into the Call from the Chat.
  • Set an agenda for your Meeting Call. Even with four users, having a free flowing conversation can be difficult in an online conference call. Help everyone know when to participate and what the expectations are by sharing an agenda ahead of time if appropriate.
  • If the audio and video quality of a call is inconsistent, encourage some users to turn off their camera to improve the experience. Also, be aware of using too many features at once during a Call that might make it increasingly challenging for some students to participate.

Such techniques have been successful in navigating Teams Calls with two dozen faculty members and is the weekly model for Information Services Computer Meetings that include twenty participants. It can be done!

Hosting Office Hours in Teams

The lobby feature of Zoom to form a meeting queue is helpful, but it has also become one of the prime vulnerabilities for introducing unwanted participants. With Microsoft Teams, the certainty that the user is who they claim to be is much higher.

To facilitate hosting Office Hours with Teams, try this:

  • Let students knows when you’ll be on Teams with your status set as available and welcome them to contact you. You can set a status message in your profile to make clear your preparation to receive calls.
  • If you are busy in a Call with a student, encourage students to send you a Chat message to let you know they are waiting to speak with you. Quickly acknowledge them and let them know you will be with them shortly. If you wish to just use the text chat, experiment with balancing multiple Chats at once as you are comfortable.

The College is committed to continuing to support Microsoft Teams in the future and exploring more ways to take advantage of its collaboration and communication features as well as to introduce new functionality. If you’d like to talk about how to make the resource work for you, there are multiple avenues of support. We have the videoconferencing and Microsoft Teams pages on the IS website. A new Tech Talk channel is now on Microsoft Stream and you are always welcome to contact us for personal support.

Return to all COVID-19 Online Learning Plan Updates

Special Software Availability for Distance Learning

Posted on by Carolyn Zinn

Some courses require students to use specific software products, such as SPSS, Atlas.TI, ArcGIS, MATLAB, and Stata. The College licenses these packages for use in computer labs, so students do not necessarily have to purchase and install the software on their own computers.

To accommodate distance learning during Spring 2020, the College has created an online computer lab with access to the software required in courses this term. At the same time, we understand that students will have a better learning experience if they have access to a desktop computer where they are able to install and use the required software.

Information Services has gathered these resources from the various companies who are offering special licensing at this time:

Adobe Creative Suite

Adobe is providing us with temporary licenses to access Adobe Creative Cloud desktop apps at-home, at no additional cost, so students and faculty can continue their learning.

Things to know before installing:

  • Be sure to use your long form email address (Jane.Doe16@kzoo.edu) to get properly redirected to a Kalamazoo College login page.
  • If you already have a personal Adobe ID that uses your K email, you will be prompted to select which account when you attempt to sign-in; select the “Company or School Account” option.

Follow these steps to install Creative Cloud apps.

ArcGIS

The College has received a limited number of temporary Student Licenses from Esri. Please contact HelpDesk@kzoo.edu to sign one out.

ArcGIS Desktop Installation Instructions

Step 1: Download ArcGIS Desktop (ArcMap) software from ESRI Student site:

  1.  Visit https://www.esri.com/en-us/arcgis/products/arcgis-desktop-student-trial and sign in with your Esri account.
    1.  Note: If you do not have an account, please create one by clicking the “I need to create a new Esri Account“
  2. Enter your EVA code and hit Activate.
  3. Look for the preferred version (10.3.1-10.7.1) of ArcGIS Desktop and click on it
  4. From the list of software to download, select ArcGIS Desktop (ArcMap) or ArcGIS for Desktop
  5. Click on Download


Step 2: Installing ArcGIS Desktop (ArcMap):

Once the download is complete, the installation setup for the ArcGIS Desktop will usually be stored in your Downloads folder.

  1. Open your Downloads folder.
  2. Double click on the installation setup of ArcGIS Desktop (.exe) to begin file extraction
  3. Once the files are successfully extracted, hit Close and the installation wizard will begin
  4. Hit Next, Accept the Agreement, choose Complete installation type, and hit Next throughout the process and finally hit Install
  5. Hit Finish once installation is complete 

Installation Reference

 Once the ArcGIS Desktop (ArcMap) software has been installed on the computer, please follow the steps provided below in order to authorize the software using your EVA license.

Step 3: Authorize the ArcGIS Desktop (ArcMap) EVA license:

  1. Go to Start Menu > ArcGIS folder > launch ArcGIS Administrator (right click and run as Administrator).
  2. Click the Desktop folder (located on the left panel)
  3.  Choose the license level. Advanced (ArcInfo) Single Use option.
  4. Click Authorize Now to start Software Authorization Wizard.
  5. Choose the default option, “I have installed my software and need to authorize it” and click Next.
  6. Select “Authorize with Esri now using the Internet” and click Next.
  7. Enter/update personal information and click Next.
  8. Select organizational details and click Next.
  9. Enter the license number EVAxxxxxxxxx for ArcGIS Desktop and click Next.
  10. On the dialog box for extensions to be authorized, choose “I do not want to authorize any extensions at this time” option and click Next. Extensions are already included with the license
  11. Ignore the evaluation features and click Next. The option to evaluate features is not needed as your license already have the extensions.
  12. Hit Finish once license authorization is complete
  13. Check for license availability by clicking on the Availability folder (located on the left panel) and ensure the license is available.
  14. Launch ArcMap by going to the Start Menu, look for the ArcGIS folder and select the ArcMap.
  15. Once the ArcMap is successfully launched, go to the Customize tab and click on the Extensions.
  16. Make sure to check all the boxes for the extensions that have been authorized are for use.

Authorization Reference

MATLAB

Mathworks has arranged a special license that students can use on their own computers through June 30, 2020.  This license allows students to use MATLAB Online via any web browser or to install MATLAB on their own desktop or laptop. To obtain a license, create a MathWorks Account using your kzoo.edu email before either starting MATLAB Online or downloading the desktop version. 

SPSS

IBM is extending the SPSS Statistics Subscription Trial through June 15.

Stata

Stata has provided a temporary license (through June 1) free of charge for students. Please contact HelpDesk@kzoo.edu for the activation key.

Download the software here using the credentials you receive from the Help Desk. Find Installation instructions here.

Forums and Other Options: Student Writing in Moodle

Posted on by Josh Moon

One of Moodle’s strengths is the ability to collect student writing online. There are a multiple Moodle Activities designed to accomplish this, and this post is going to discuss the key features and settings of three: Forum, OU Blog, and Assignment.

Forum

In online learning, the Discussion Forum is one of the most common tools. It is a great place to start for a faculty member who wants a simple space for students to discuss topics and respond to readings. There are more naturally engaging and dynamic tools but with strong prompts, clear expectations, and an engaged facilitator, a Forum can be a solid foundation for communicating asynchronously in an online class.

Key settings:

Forum Type: Standard forum for general use – this is the default. Students can make new posts and replies to their classmates without restriction. It is what most instructors will want to use.
Note: a “Q and A Forum” is misleadingly named. This requires that each student post a discussion topic before they can see any posts by other students in the Forum. This is a special, restrictive format.

Subscription and tracking – This determines whether users receive email notifications about Forum activities.
Note: Subscriptions can be managed by users both at the level of the entire Forum and individual discussion posts.

  • Optional subscription (default): users can choose if they wish to subscribe to a Forum or Post but are not subscribed by default.
  • Forced subscription: all class participants receive email notifications and cannot opt out. This is the setting for the Announcements Forum.
  • Auto subscription: the reverse of “optional subscription.” Everyone is subscribed by default but individual users can remove their subscriptions.
  • Subscription disabled: no one can subscribe for email notifications in Forums.

Grading & Ratings – this determines whether instructors are able to directly grade a Forum. They do this by assigning a “Rating” system for posts. This can be confusing and we recommend either 1) creating a discussion forum as a separate grade item in the grade book and/or 2) using Course Completion and Activity Completion to automate confirming participation. For an explanation of Course Completion, please watch the portion referring to completion tracking on the Conversation about Moodle Forums video.

There are additional settings, but a “standard forum for general use” with clear instructions in the description field will create a flexible discussion board for all course participants. If this is the functionality that an instructor needs, no other setting modifications are necessary.

If you’d like to view an extended overview about the use of the Forum tool in Moodle, you are welcome to access the video, A Conversation About Moodle Forums recorded between Dr. Josh Moon and numerous faculty members on the topic (you may be asked to enter your K ID and password).

OU Blog

We have replaced Moodle’s built-in blog tool with a preferable alternative designed by Open University. It works like a standard web blog. Posts can either be visible to other participants in the class or function like a private journal (visible to the instructor). The OU blog supports comments by readers on visible blogs.

Key settings:

Individual blogs:
Separate individual blogs – each student’s post is only visible to the instructor and the writer.
Visible individual blogs – blog entries are open to other participants and can receive comments.
No (blog together or in groups) – one blog without options to sort or view by author.

Maximum visibility: For publicly available blogs, there are preferable options to Moodle. “Visible to participants in the course” should be chosen in most instances.

Assignment

This is the Moodle dropbox to receive files from students. Moodle can support student submissions of most file formats and individual files up to 200 MB (larger files can be sent to faculty with OneDrive). It is a valuable organizational tool to avoid submissions via email.

Key settings:

Submission types: How do you want students to submit? Upload files or simply type into a text box? How many files can they submit? Are there only certain accepted file types for this assignment?

Feedback types: How do you want to respond to students? Do you want a comment box? Do you want to upload a file with comments?

Notifications: Do you want an email notification when each student submits their work?

When submissions are complete, faculty can download all files as a .zip folder by selecting Download all submissions in the gear wheel settings.

Which should I use?

The answer to this question depends on the nature of the students’ writing and who you wish to have access to it.

Forum: shorter posts, more balance between original posts and replies.
Blog: longer (1-2 pages) writings where the point of emphasis is the original post. Can either be private to the instructor or readable by classmates.
Assignment: extended, refined writing. Submitted as a file attachment that is only visible to the instructor.

Moodle can be a valuable tool to facilitate the asynchronous writing of your students. If you have any questions on how to use these Activities, please contact Josh Moon, Educational Technology Specialist at Josh.Moon@kzoo.edu.

Tips for Working Securely from Home

Posted on by Carolyn Zinn

One of our goals is to enable faculty and staff to work as securely as possible from home.

Our partner in security awareness training, SANS, offers these five steps, also available in more detail as a Top 5 Tips for Working Securely from Home download (PDF, 1.04 MB).

1. YOU are the best defense against social engineering attacks

Don’t let attackers trick you into giving them your login information or personally identifiable information (PII). They’ll try to do this by creating a sense of urgency, posing as tech support or someone you know. Information Services will never ask you for your password.

2. Secure your wireless network

  • Change the default administrator password
  • Enable strong security by requiring a password and enabling encryption
  • Make the passwords strong

3. Be smart with passwords

SANS recommends using a multi-word passphrase to ensure a strong password with many characters. Use different passwords for your KNET account and other accounts, and manage all the passwords with a password manager such as KeePass.

4. Keep software updated

Ensure your computers and mobile devices install software updates promptly, enabling automatic updating whenever possible.

5. Keep kids and guests off your work devices

They can accidentally erase or modify information, or, perhaps even worse, accidentally infect the device.

How Do I Deliver Video to My Students?

Posted on by Josh Moon

There are many ways to take video content and deliver it to students online. We’re going to talk about recommended solutions for spring quarter using YouTube and Microsoft Stream.

As a reminder, simple ways to create videos for class includes QuickTime for Mac, narration in PowerPoint, more complex applications like Explain EDU (formerly Explain Everything), and simple recording with tablets and smartphones.

YouTube

Providing a streaming video instead of a video file that students have to download provides a better experience for users with varying internet connections. We recommend that faculty create their own YouTube channel/account to share videos.

Creating a Youtube Account

If you’re new adding videos to YouTube, you can create a Google Account and access YouTube or use an existing Google account. A Youtube account allows you to use core YouTube features in addition to watching videos.

How to Upload Your Video

Uploading videos to your channel can be as simple as drag-and-dropping your file into the YouTube window. However, there are a few choices and settings to consider.

Tips for using YouTube with your class.

  • “Unlisted” is a great privacy choice for educators. Unlisted videos are only discoverable via a direct link or embedding. Instructors can share the link with students or generate an embed code that can display the video directly in platforms like Moodle.
  • Create an informative title for the video so students can understand its content and purpose regardless of their preview.
  • Select the Video Language and Caption Certification options to help the automated captions do their job.

Sharing on Moodle

There are many options for how to link your video into Moodle. If you want it to appear within the Moodle page itself as a preview and play without students leaving Moodle, one reliable way is to obtain the embed code.

Part 1: YouTube

  • Go to the video you wish to embed via YouTube.
  • Selected the “Share” option for the video and pick “Embed.”
  • Copy and paste that text block that appears. It will likely begin, “<iframe….”

Part 2: In Moodle

  • Navigate to the Description field, Page, Forum, or other Moodle tool where you wish to embed the video and select Edit Settings to reach the editor.
  • If necessary, click the first button to “Show more buttons.” Click the last button to last button on the right to enable HTML.
  • Paste in your Embed code from YouTube.
  • Save your work.

Microsoft Stream

Information Services has recently introduced Microsoft Stream as a way for the College to upload and share self-created videos internally. Review the list of resources below for more information:

Start Guide to Help you Work Remotely

Posted on by Katrina Frank

New Start Guide for Working Remotely is Available!

For the most recent guide please see the Start Guide to Work Remotely – Fall 2020 post.

Our ultimate goal is to support you with your technical needs throughout this difficult time. We appreciate all of your patience as we continue to handle requests.

Virtual Resource Centers

Specific Tools to Work Remotely

Internet Access to Michigan Residents

Resources to gain low-cost internet access as shared by the Library of Michigan:

Phones, Voicemail, and Email

  • Voicemail Quick Reference – allows you to check your voicemail off campus, listen to your messages and to record a new greeting
  • Forwarding Calls – Forwarding calls is only available to local phone numbers with a 269 area code. If you would like to forward your calls to your local phone number please complete the forwarding calls form.
  • Email and Webmail – Review our documentation on using your Kalamazoo College email via Outlook (if it was installed on your device) or anywhere on the go with webmail.

File Sharing, Instant Messaging/Chat, and Videoconferencing

  • File sharing – There are many ways faculty and staff can share files remotely. Feel free to choose which K approved method(s) works best for you and your team!
  • Instant Messaging/Chat – Learn more instant messaging though Microsoft Teams or Pidgin
  • Videoconferencing – Do you need to meet with your colleagues virtually? Learn how you can do so with our newest platform.

Personal Computing

Security

Getting Help

If you are unable to find the information you need from the resources listed or from the IS website, you may contact the Help Desk. Please understand that the Help Desk team is experiencing a high volume of calls and requests and response times may be longer than usual.

“Introduction to Contingency Teaching Online” course for Faculty

Posted on by Josh Moon

A message from Josh Moon

Joshua Moon, Educational Technology Specialist

Dear Colleagues,

The wealth of links, tips, and best practices available for online teaching has been valuable. However, something many of us are missing are models and experience.

I am happy to offer an online Moodle course titled Introduction to Contingency Teaching Online to run from March 20th to March 27th. I recognize that this is a busy time for everyone with the completion of winter quarter, but most of the activities will be asynchronous and brief. You do not need to check-in daily. The goal will be to demonstrate a few techniques, share potential tools, and give everyone experience in the online learning environment as a student.

If you would like to participate, please email me at Josh.Moon@kzoo.edu to be enrolled in the course.

Course Syllabus

Contacting Your Instructor

You are welcome and encouraged to email me. However, if others would benefit from seeing your question and the answers, please use the Class Forum on Moodle to share with everyone.

I am also available intermittently on Microsoft Teams (explained below). Feel free to invite me if you’d like to chat.

Course Goals

  • Provide all participants with experience in an online learning environment in the role of a student.
  • Try out a limited number of Moodle and non-Moodle tools as part of online learning.
  • Provide faculty one more forum to communicate, share ideas, and build connections.
  • Reflect on what we bring to this process and plan for the weeks ahead.

You might notice that one goal is not to teach you everything you ever wanted to know about Moodle or inventory every online learning “best practice” imaginable. There is a great deal of that available already. Hundreds of links to tip sheets, checklists, and principles are circulating in our pedagogical communities already. The COVID-19 Online Learning Plan Updates page has a growing amount of updates about helpful campus resources and practical implementations.

Course Schedule

The class will run formally from March 20th to March 27th. However, you are welcome to continue using the Forum and accessing other pages as long as you wish. All the activities are intended to be completed during that week at your own pace with the exception of participating in one Microsoft Teams Call or Chat. I’ll offer a number of time options to meet online and obviously we can be immensely flexible.

Course Materials and Technology

  • Access to Moodle at Kalamazoo College.
  • The annotation tool Hypothesis. Hypothesis is an open-source, non-profit tool, and I am comfortable that they are being responsible with your data and login. Visit their “Get Started” page. If you can, I recommend installing the Chrome extension as opposed to the “bookmarklet” tool for Safari and Firefox. It is more reliable. You are welcome to choose your own username.
  • Our Kalamazoo College Office365 subscription: A suite of applications available for free to all staff, faculty, and students at the College. It includes online, collaborative versions of Office products like PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. You also get 1TB of cloud storage in OneDrive. The Information Services Office365 page can help you get started.
  • Microsoft Teams: One of our Office365 applications, teams allows for video/audio conferencing, chat features, and screen sharing. It is available to us as part of Office365. You can get started and learn more at this page. I’ll be offering a number of time slots for everyone to try this feature. You can join through video, just audio, or text chat based on your connection quality.

Optional but encouraged:

  • A computer or mobile device with a camera and microphone. For the most part, I will be using a Logitech HD Pro C920.

Grading and Course Activities

This course is graded Pass/Fail with failure having no consequences at all besides learning.

I will use Completion Tracking, a Moodle tool that creates a checkbox next to all appropriate activities. Some completion is controlled by Moodle (a dashed checkbox) while others are self-reportable (a solid checkbox). This is designed to let you know what you have to complete for each Module.

Course Activities include:

  • A private blog post
  • Forum participation
  • Collaborative document annotation
  • One real-time check-in with Microsoft Teams
  • A short, final Teaching Plan Assignment

Accessibility

I’ve worked to make class content technically accessible including using Word docs with styles and headings when possible,increasing the accessibility of PDFs, formatting Moodle, captioning videos, etc. However, I will make mistakes. If you find something is inaccessible to you or an impediment to your learning, please let me know! I want to work with you to fix this and improve the class.

Return to all COVID-19 Online Learning Plan Updates

How to Organize a Week of Online Learning in Moodle

Posted on by Josh Moon

As the College prepares to transition to online teaching, we’ll rely on some resources the College already possesses. One of our core tools is our Learning Management System (LMS), Moodle. It is familiar to students and to many faculty, making it a great place to start.

The purpose of this post is to illustrate what a typical week in an online Moodle course might look like. Feeling nervous about using Moodle for the first time? Not to worry! This format is particularly useful if one is new to online instruction and trying to get started. It is not designed to address every pedagogy or discipline, but it is a place to begin.

Keep in mind that as you start out, don’t worry about getting everything in place by Week One. Start with getting the basics of the course set up and the students enrolled. You can’t anticipate every need or step in the beginning. That’s okay!

A Typical Week in Moodle

Here is an example of what a typical week online in Moodle might look like:

Screenshot of an overview of the Sample Moodle course, described below.

General Section

At the General top section of Moodle, four features are present:

Screenshot of Demo General section, described below.
  • An Announcements Forum that serves as the key communication method for reaching the students.
  • A digital copy of the syllabus.
  • A class preparation checklist with a Moodle Page resource.  You might have covered some of this in the syllabus, but are there specific online (non-Moodle) tools you’ll ask them to use?  Is there a website or service they’ll need to access or sign up for? What do students need for a successful Week One?
  • A class Q&A Forum provides a central place to field questions about the course. Students will often populate this with clarifications about the schedule, technical questions, and general non-content topics.  If you need help answering a question, contact Josh and his team.

Week by Week Section

The first week (March 31 – April 6) models what a basic online learning class in Moodle might look like.

Screenshot of Demo Moodle Course week: March 31 - April 6, described below.
  • Instructional material in the form of a PowerPoint, podcast, video lecture, link, and/or reading gives the students a common reference and provides the content for the week.  It can be accessed by the students on their own time.
  • Attached to the instructional content is a discussion Forum where students can respond to your material.  It is helpful to have prompts and directions.
  • A short Quiz can help review learning goals and provide a check-in incentive.  The goal is formative assessment and engagement.  Are they getting the right idea?
  • Certain weeks might contain a more robust written assignment directed at a learning goal. Use the Assignment dropbox or the OU blog to receive student work.

Some of this content should be scheduled consistently to help students plan and keep a rhythm. For instance, the Quiz might be due regularly on Wednesday so the instructor can address trouble spots with Announcement messages or more instructional material. Also, when do you expect students to check-in to the discussion Forum for the first time?

There are more advanced Moodle tools and other resources to add variety, depth, and engagement to your course. However, the goal here is to provide one look at what a week in learning online with Moodle might look like if you need a place to begin.

A Few More Basic Tips

  • Keep some future weeks hidden and open them at a consistent date during the week.  Keep the class together on schedule while allowing flexibility.
  • It isn’t necessary to respond to every student post in every Forum.  Let them drive the discussion and intervene strategically.  Save many of your comments for a summary message through the announcements.
  • Encourage students to use the Q&A Forum for common questions and clarification. This will save you from answering the same questions multiple times.

As always, we are here to help you and answer questions!

Want to Get Started?

Are you looking to get started with setting up your courses for the Spring quarter? To begin, visit our Moodle page to request your courses. From there, you will be equipped with further instruction on how to begin using Moodle.

Get Help!

Faculty support for Moodle is available through a number of means!

COVID-19 Online Learning Plan

Posted on by Josh Moon

In the event that classes are unable to meet in-person, the College has a number of resources available to facilitate a transition to online instruction. The recommendations below are consistent with other institutions and form the essential plan of moving to online learning in a contingency situation. 

For implementation, questions, both technical and pedagogical, please contact:

Josh Moon
Educational Technology Specialist
josh.moon@kzoo.edu
269.337.7415

Core principles

  • Keep teaching & learning: focus on your learning goals, adjust as best you can, be patient with students and technology, and realize that things will not be perfect.
  • Work with what you have and to your strengths. Limit new technology that you are unfamiliar with and have to learn.
  • Use audio, video, synchronous chats, web conferencing, visuals, and creativity to foster community and personalization as much as possible.
  • Do not lose track of struggling students. Maintain connections with students who do not appear as engaged. They might have technical challenges, needs insecurity, and other challenges making it difficult to transition to the online environment.

How can I present material to students?

  • Take advantage of quality instructional content offered by other educators.  Are there lectures, presentations, TED Talks, etc., that you can link to help instruct students?
  • Our Kalamazoo College Library has videos, articles, eBooks, and other resources that are available on and off campus.  They are happy to help you integrate them into your online instruction as well.  To work with them, please contact reference@kzoo.edu.
  • QuickTime supports screen recording and is an accessible solution for Mac users who wish to turn their PowerPoints and other applications into videos for students. Watch the Quicktime Screen Recording video on Youtube to understand the process.
  • PowerPoint allows users to record narration and export the file as a video.
  • Instructors also utilize other instructional methods including:
    • Drawing and writing instructions on a digital whiteboard such as OpenBoard.
    • Record an audio “podcast.”  You can use devices such as smartphones, iPads, or download a simple audio recorder to your desktop.
    • Perform low-tech lecture capture with a smartphone.
  • Consider hosting video files outside of Moodle for student convenience.  Sharing large files is possible with OneDrive as part of our Office 365 suite.

If my class is unable to meet in person, how can we collaborate and work on class content together?

Moodle Based Tools

  • The online discussion Forum is a classic tool for students to upload questions, supply responses, and make those posts accessible to other students.  Creating authentic dialogue and exchange can be challenging. Educause has 10 Tips for Effective Online Discussions.
  • Switch to the online Assignments dropbox for submission and grading if you cannot receive physical papers.
  • Moodle also supports audio recording. Consider including audio in grading feedback and discussion Forums to personalize and foster interaction beyond text.
  • You can utilize online quizzes. Focus on formative assessment and learning support to limit questions about academic honesty.
  • Since you will be relying a great deal on email, consider turning on notifications and subscriptions for features like Assignments, Forum, and other resources.

Other Tools

  • A popular tool called Hypothesis allows private groups to annotate the text of webpages and PDF files (hosted on Moodle).  This can be used asynchronously for discussion or even synchronously where the class can “meet” at a text and annotate together in real-time.  The tool is free and open source.
  • Padlet is a digital posting board that supports text boxes, images, links, video, etc.  Basic features are free. Rick Barth demoed Padlet during our Fall Faculty Colloquium.
  • As a Microsoft school, all Kalamazoo College staff, faculty, and students have access to the online Office 365 suite. This includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and other resources available online for collaboration under a secure login.

Video conferencing

  • The College possesses licenses for the video platform Zoom. Synchronous video chats should be seen as supplemental and not as full replacements for contact hours.  Instructors will have more success breaking students into groups for shorter, small chats. Contact Media Services for Zoom requests.
  • The College is currently exploring our Microsoft resources to supply additional video meeting options.

Other concerns

  • It is important to remember that students may not have access to computers, laptops, and high-speed data connections especially in a time of disruption. Keep this in mind when scheduling synchronous activities, expecting students to access large files, and accepting assignments. Use video strategically and in moderation.
  • Before requiring students to install or sign-up for a supplemental technology, consider student privacy and data to ensure that accessibility, security, and FERPA are maintained. 
  • If you wish to begin using the Moodle online grade book, please set up time with Josh Moon to get started. Collaboration in making sure the grade book works for your class will save frustration and time.

More resources

The online resources available to support contingency online instruction are numerous. Here are a few of the best and most helpful.

Return to all COVID-19 Online Learning Plan Updates