Episode #37: #CovidCampus: Doing the Best We Can To “Go Remote” in Higher Ed

#CovidCampus: Doing the Best We Can To “Go Remote” in Higher Ed 

This @BreakDrink we bring you a special podcast in light of the evolving situation and events due to the Coronavirus. On this episode, we have a digital round table on transition to remote teaching, learning, students support, and work in higher education with podcast hosts @Profpatrice, @ Katie__Linder, @jeffjacksonTX, @bonni208, & @laurapasquini. We decided to come together for a purpose to reflect and share about the state of things we are doing, thinking about, and planning for as college and university institutions shutdown across the US. We talk about a range of plans, support, and strategies to be implemented and how we are “doing the best we can” as COVID-19 impacts our campus communities. 

Advice to take care of yourself, family & work team:

• Take a walk or go for a run
• Get outside for fresh air
• Keep a full-nights’ sleep & rest
• Meditation: Apps to try?  Calm, 10% Happier (free), & Headspace
• Eating healthy
• Get silly & social with those at home
• Clean your house
• Ask who needs help – childcare, tech support, etc.
• Read books
• Relax from your typical routines 
• Keep to your fitness routine
• Enjoy the quiet/down time now
• Just breathe
• Show gratitude

How do you ensure your remote plan to go digital is accessible and does not exclude anyone? This might be remote teaching, learning, student support, or work for your staff/faculty. How are you preparing for these potential barriers and needs to accommodate your campus stakeholders?

• Closed captioning for Microsoft Streaming for Teams
• MS PowerPoint present with live-captioning or subtitles
• Zoom Setting: Auto-record transcript (option for paid version) timed side-by-side OR use Zoom closed captions
• Need to adjust course deadlines & radical flexibility for learning expectations
• Trust Your Learners! Pivot to Online: A Student Guide via @slamteacher
• Grading Considerations: Is pass/no pass an option for your course? At your campus? 
• Rely on the resources at your campus for support & suggestions: instructional designers, accessibility office, librarians & more!
• Do what you can & know you’re doing the best you can right now
• Phone tree system with team to check-in, share information, & answer questions
• What if Someone Gets Sick: plan & design courses 1 week ahead of time; set up a buddy or “on call” system
• Email: Online teaching with the most basic tool from @tanbob
• What if the technology or remote ____ plan fails? Do the best you can and think about how you might need to shift to some alternative solution
• Be transparent and open with your communication – inform them the best you can!

Resources to “Go Remote”:

• ECEC - Remote Teaching | College of Engineering | University of Nebraska–Lincoln
• Keep Teaching: Resources for High Ed Might Network from Kansas State Online
• Zoom (web conference)
• WebEx (web conference)
• Microsoft Teams (web conference and collaboration)
• Discord (voice chat)
• Slack (communication channel)
• Pinboard (social bookmarking)
• Diggo (social bookmarking)
• Hypothes.is (annotation)
• Descript (podcast + transcriptions)
• Otter (transcriptions for audio & video)
• Droplr (record screen and annotation)
• Remind (text messages)
• Qualtrics (survey)
• Poll Everywhere (survey & meetings)
• EMAIL – use tools you already know/have to communicate with campus stakeholders! OR message on your website, learning management system, etc. 
• Universal Design for Learning (UDL) – “Plus-One” from @thomasjtobin – what’s the one thing you can do?
• When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times by Pema Chödrön

Curated resource docs:

Higher Ed Support & Guidance During COVID-19: Teaching, Learning & Student Support
[Share this URL:  http://bit.ly/higheredcovid19]

Remote Learning: Digital Tools to Quickly Transition Teaching & Student Support Online

 [Share this URL:  http://bit.ly/remotelearningcovid19] 

How are you and your campus dealing with COVID-19? Do you want to talk about it? Let us know & stay in touch:

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Email:  [email protected]