Faculty FAQs

How do I provide academic accommodations for students with disabilities during short-term use of distance education when teaching in-person classes?

All relevant academic accommodations should continue to be in place as the format of your course shifts. 

An exact implementation may vary based on the format and technology you are using.

• Exam accommodations:
  • You can extend time in Blackboard or Canvas for students with extended time accommodations.
  • If using Proctorio, or another test proctoring service, alert the service as to which students have extended time accommodations.
  • If your students need a reader or scribe for their exams, check with the student to see if they would like to use this accommodation given the format you’re using to administer exams.
  • If you have questions about accommodating students during exams, please contact SAS. It is not appropriate to expect students with accommodations to test in person when other students are utilizing proctored testing.
• Alternative format accommodations:
  • Provide material in Microsoft Word or use tagged PDFs whenever possible. Guides for making Word, PDF, and other documents accessible can be found on the Digital Accessibility website.
• Captioning of videos and lectures
  • If you have a student with a closed-captioning accommodation, submit your information via this TeamDynamix ticket to ensure that videos are properly captioned.
  • Use video.kent.edu to record videos.
• Other accommodations:
  • If you are delivering synchronous lectures, note-taking accommodations should still be in place. Reach out to the assigned note-taker for your class to confirm that they are still providing notes.
  • Consult with SAS about questions about specific students or accommodations.

HOW DO STUDENTS TURN IN ASSIGNMENTS?

• Let students know what type of documents to send you and how they should turn them in.
• You can create assignments in Blackboard or Canvas where students can upload their text documents or audio/video recordings. You could also have them email you the assignments.

Remember to review your course assignments and ask yourself the following: 

• Do the students have everything they need to complete the assignment?
• Are there clear instructions to allow students to complete it on their own?
• How should they contact you with questions about the assignment?
• Ask yourself if you need to modify the assignment given the unusual situation. Simplicity and clarity are key to reducing undue stress on you and your students. Hopefully, the suspension of face-to-face classes will be temporary this semester. You may consider whether you can rearrange your syllabus to cover topics more easily adapted to short-term use of distance education technology and what assignments and exercises might be delayed. 

If your student needs access to SPSS, SPSS is giving students free access to the SPSS Statistics free trial period through June 15, 2020. To download the free trial, fill out the request form at IBM.com.

WHAT ARE THE BEST WAYS TO GIVE FEEDBACK?

Students will need consistent feedback on their progress.

• You can comment on individual assignments.
• You can record audio/video comments for individuals or the whole class using Kaltura.
• Live video conferences can be used for office hours and to hold one-on-one discussions.

HOW DO WE GIVE TESTS?

• Tests can be created in Blackboard or Canvas. Some tests can be automatically graded.
• Creating digital tests can be time-consuming. Respondus Campus-wide can help you create exams offline using a familiar Windows environment. After an exam has been created, it can be published directly to Blackboard Learn or printed on paper for use with offline courses. 
• You can import exams into Blackboard or Canvas. View information on importing tests and surveys. 
• If you want to email students an existing test, you will want to consider that the test may get posted elsewhere. 
• Faculty may also use Proctorio to administer their exams during the suspension of classes as needed. In-person proctoring services are not available.  Proctoring requires students to have a webcam and to install a Chrome Browser extension which is an added stress on students. If using proctored tests please consider giving a practice test and refer them to the Help Site to make sure they can use proctoring with their computer.
• Respondus Lock-down Browser is also available to ensure students don't search for answers on the internet or use other applications on their computers. 
• You may want to consider whether big tests that are typically supervised might be replaced by more individualized projects that require less proctoring.

HOW CAN I HELP MY STUDENTS TAKE THEIR PROCTORED EXAMS?

State to students the importance of ensuring that Chrome and the Proctorio extension are installed and updated prior to the exam. Additionally, state the importance of rebooting immediately prior to starting an exam; often, a reboot will greatly improve the functioning of a computer, especially if it has not been restarted in a while. Next, ask students to check with their household members and ask them to refrain from high-bandwidth activities during the exam time; this is especially important if the internet connection is not fast, to begin with (take a speed test). Rebooting the WiFi router and/or cable modem can be useful as well; sitting closer to the WiFi router will improve connectivity too. Lastly, remind students to have some extra patience while systems load – images and videos may take some extra time to come up in an exam.

HOW DO I ENSURE STUDENTS COMPLETE ALL CLASSWORK?

Remember that these are unusual and extreme conditions. Your classroom has changed without the proper time to prepare. Determine the essential learning outcomes you feel the students need and prioritize these. What is absolutely essential for the three weeks of teaching at a distance? You are advised to strip out any non-essential work and consider how to create a good learning environment. Undue stress will not help with teaching or learning. Try to create a relaxed and reassuring learning environment for your students.

WHAT IS THE BEST WAY FOR STUDENTS TO TURN IN VERY LARGE PROJECT FILES?

Google Drive is a good option for sharing large files. 

Every student and instructor have access to Google Drive and the Google Suite or tools through the Google login in FlashLine. 

• Sharing Large Files using Google Drive (Google Docs)
• Upload and Save Files and Folders to OneDrive

WHAT TECHNOLOGY SHOULD WE USE?

The primary tools we anticipate faculty using to interact with their students are:

• Learning platform for course delivery – Blackboard (learn.kent.edu) or Canvas (canvas.kent.edu)
• Conducting a real-time lecture or class discussion – MS Teams (Canvas or Blackboard). Collaborate Ultra (Blackboard Only).
• Recording and posting presentation – Kaltura or MS Teams
• Sharing Classroom materials – Blackboard or Canvas
• Assignments and Assessment - Blackboard, Canvas, Proctorio

Start by establishing your preferred method of delivering learning content to your students.

• Live (synchronous) lectures
  • If you do live lectures, deliver them at your scheduled class time. Record lectures to allow students who may be ill to watch later.
• Recorded lectures (voice-over PowerPoint, or other video)
• Posted readings and videos
• Instructions for readings in printed books

Determine synchronous and asynchronous learning.

Synchronous learning is learning that occurs in real-time, where the student would need to attend the course online at a specific time. Common features of synchronous learning include scheduled chat room or discussion board time for students to share ideas, scheduled video conferences or group phone calls, or live-streamed lectures or demonstrations.

Asynchronous learning is learning that occurs at different times, allowing the student to self-pace through the course and log in at various times. Common features of asynchronous learning include recorded presentations (such as slideshows or video), email, discussion boards, or collaborative cloud-based documents.

Your course may be a combination of synchronous and asynchronous components. If you use synchronous web conferencing, you should consider providing alternatives in case students are unable to connect at the appropriate time.

MS Teams integrates with Canvas and is also available to use in Learn. Teams is the official video conferencing tool for Canvas. More information about this exciting integration can be found on the MS Teams for Academics Support website.

(BLACKBOARD ONLY) HOW MANY STUDENTS CAN USE COLLABORATE ULTRA AT THE SAME TIME?

Students should be advised to join your session using their computer audio first. A Collaborate Ultra session has a default seat limit of 250 users in a session at the same time. Those users have full access to their webcam and computer audio. You may have up to 25 attendees on the phone in a session.

(BLACKBOARD ONLY) WHERE DO I FIND COLLABORATE ULTRA RECORDINGS?

Students and instructors can find Collaborate Ultra recordings by following the steps below or viewing Restrict Access to Collaborate Ultra Recorded Sessions (PDF). 

1. Access the Collaborate Ultra area of the course.
2. Select the three-line menu in the upper left.
3. Select Recordings in the menu.
4. Recordings will be visible in this area. If not, click Filter By, and locate a recording that may not be visible within the current date/time range.

CAN I INCREASE THE MICROPHONE OR CAMERA RANGE WHEN LIVESTREAMING?

Using the camera and microphone to capture what is happening in class may require some adjustment. Some tips include repeating students' questions/discussion points and asking students to post questions/discussion points in the chat window or on a separate shared Google document. For additional assistance, view Active Learning In Physically Distanced Classrooms (PDF). 

Where can I find pictures and videos?

There are many options for finding free movies, art, informational videos to use in your course.

• List of sites and services that provide access to high-quality learning materials that can be used in or linked to from your Blackboard course site.
• Remember to check resources on the internet and at the library. There are many free resources that you can use in your online class.

For example, two exceptional, free (to you and your students) resources you can use include, Kanopy which streams documentaries, the Great Courses series, and movies to your preferred device with no fees and no commercials. Log in with your Flashline ID to access a diverse catalog with new titles added every month. Whatever movie you assign for viewing will be available to all of our Kent State students.

Kent State makes LinkedIn Learning available to all students and instructors. There are more than 4,000 online courses taught by industry professionals in 12 categories, including education and e-Learning, business, design, marketing, photography, and more. Users can take courses on general topics like mobile marketing strategies and time management fundamentals or learn specific software such as InDesign, Photoshop, Java, and even virtual reality. Instructors can assign individual videos or entire course series.

Perusall and Cengage are also making free, digital copies of textbooks available to students for the remainder of the spring semester. 

Need photos? Visit Unsplash, the internet’s source of freely usable images.

HOW CAN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES SUPPORT YOUR TEACHING?

University Libraries can support you with the following resources: 

• Ask Us Chat Service for immediate assistance.
• Search our digital collections through Discovery@KentState.
• Find journals or journal articles.
• Contact Course Reserves for help providing required course readings.
• Schedule a research consultation with your subject librarian.
• Discuss options for online library instruction.
• Schedule a statistical consulting appointment.

Check University Libraries’ COVID-19 Support Page for more information.

CAN I FIND PICTURES AND VIDEOS THROUGH THE LIBRARY?

Yes, there are many options for finding free movies, art, informational videos to use in your course. University Libraries can assist you in finding photos and videos. Visit the Library's COVID19 support page.