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Plan & prepare

Use the Instructional Continuity Resources portlet on the Faculty tab

Review the Instructional Continuity Resources portlet on the Faculty or Employee tabs of the Concordia portal (my.cuw.edu) from the CUW Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) for important information and helpful tips.

Direct students to the student section of the Keep Learning website, www.cuw.edu/keeplearning as their “go-to” place for information.

Check with your department chair, program director, or academic school

Your school may issue more details about the situation including their guidelines and expectations. Administrators may want to have many of the department’s classes handled in similar ways. Before doing too much planning, check with department leaders for guidance. With permission from your chair, program director or dean, you can determine whether your class is best delivered via Zoom, Blackboard or a combination. You will also need to determine how you will assess student learning, and you will want to follow any guidelines your school has established to do that effectively.

Reset expectations

You will need to reconsider some of your expectations for your students, including participation, communication, and deadlines. As you think through those changes, keep in mind the impact the particular situation may have on students’ ability to meet those expectations, including illness, power or internet outages, needing to care for family members, etc. Be ready to handle requests for extensions or accommodations equitably.

Review your syllabus

Review your syllabus for sticking points and areas that need to be revised in light of the COVID-19 situation which requires delivering your instruction virtually or through Blackboard learning activities. Student learning that in the past you facilitated through activities in the face-to-face classroom can be replicated through alternate delivery. If you decide to change your syllabus, be sure to post clear instructions to your students about the changes on a separate document just below your syllabus. It might be too confusing to students to actually update your syllabus itself at this late date.

Move elements of your face-to-face course to Blackboard

Review the Instructional Continuity Resources channel on the Faculty tab of the CU Portal for helpful tips on adding files, links, discussion forums and tests to the Blackboard site for your course. Be sure to adjust your grade book if any of the elements you add are graded and will be included in the students’ grade.

Review your equipment, connection, and teaching environment

  • Use your Concordia issued equipment, if you have it. We recommend a laptop with a built-in camera and microphone.
    • If you do not have a laptop available, a tablet or phone can be used. If using a tablet or phone, you will need to download the Zoom app to your device:
  • Headphones assist with effective communication over Zoom. See the Webcam & Headset Recommendations in the Instructional Continuity Resources channel on the portal.
  • Plan to deliver your instruction from a well-lit area (when you face a light source, it allows students to see your face). Plan to dressed appropriately. Ensure that there is nothing distracting or inappropriate for students to see in the background.
  • Check your internet connection in advance; use a wired connection when possible. If you are teaching from home, make sure your Wi-Fi speed is suitable. Switching from Wi-Fi to a wired ethernet connection may improve your internet speed.

Access Concordia’s Zoom account

Instructions and resources are available in the "Instructional Continuity Resources" chanel on the Faculty and Employee tabs of the portal.

Connect to the Concordia Zoom account on your computer or device. First download the Zoom app, and then connect it to the Concordia Zoom account.

Steps:

Instructional videos:

Test your equipment with Zoom

To make sure that your computer/device, speakers, microphones, and other A/V equipment work properly with Zoom, visit https://zoom.us/test. This site allows you to test your speakers, microphone, and camera at any time without having to join a formal meeting or actually call anyone.

You can also place a test call into our IT Zoom Helpdesk. Visit: https://cuwaa.zoom.us/j/2622434357. (NOTE: This Zoom room is live 24-7. If you login after hours, please note there will not be anyone there.)

Concordia IT Zoom Room

Practice using Zoom with a colleague or friend before meeting with students.

Learn the basic features of Zoom

Watch our introductory video for faculty: Five Essential Steps to Use Zoom

  1. Change your meeting ID to your campus telephone number (if you have one)
    • If you do not have a campus phone, you may change your Personal Meeting ID to a number you can remember or remember the number that is already there
  2. Connect your Log-in to the Concordia Pro Account
  3. Initiate a live meeting
  4. Check your audio and video
  5. Share your screen

Watch our “Zoom 101 for Faculty” video to learn more about using Zoom.

Always be conscious of your device’s audio and video settings. Are you on mute? Is your camera on? You can adjust both of these settings in the bottom left corner “mute” and “video” icons in Zoom. If students are not speaking, good “netiquette” suggests they mute the microphone.

Plan to deliver your instruction from a well-lit area (a light source you are facing shows your face). Be dressed appropriately. Ensure that there is nothing distracting or inappropriate for students to see in the background.

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