See more remote resources for connecting from home.
Recent Updates
- Use Microsoft Teams to create channels, host or join meetings, chat, collaborate on Team Files, and more.
- Recording and Privacy Concerns: FAQ answers some frequently asked questions about recording classes and compliance with laws and U-M policies and standards for handling student educational records.
- The International Access to U-M IT Resources page summarizes the cloud-based U-M resources that may not be available from outside the U.S.
- Added a cheat sheet for common tasks when using MiVideo in Canvas to the Deliver Instruction Remotely section.
-
The university will retire BlueJeans effective May 1, 2021. As part of this process, access to BlueJeans in Canvas ended on Tuesday, January 12, 2021. If you currently use BlueJeans in Canvas for instructional purposes, please review this checklist for an overview of how to transition to Zoom.
Deliver Instruction Remotely
Get started: Consider which activities in a face-to-face class can be translated into an online format, and prepare to move what you can online. A number of resources are available to help you move your instruction online:- The Keep Teaching @ UM resource includes practical, pedagogical guidance for teaching remotely under different circumstances.
- Review Getting Started with Canvas and Best Practices for Remote Teaching. This document includes steps to create a Canvas course presence, adding content, creating asynchronous lectures, and hosting synchronous sessions.
- Visit ITS Training for live Canvas training opportunities. Daily topics include basic setup, quizzes, gradebook, and more.
Record lectures for online delivery: Use Kaltura Capture to record lectures for students to view later in Canvas.- Using Kaltura Capture for Asynchronous Video in Canvas (video, 10:13)
- Editing Content of Videos in My Media on Canvas
- Ordering/Editing Captions in My Media on Canvas
- How to Upload a Video from iOS to Canvas (video, 2:31)
- Creating a Screencast on an iPad (video, 3:22)
- MiVideo in Canvas Cheat Sheet
- Teaching Remotely with Film and Video
Review Recording and Privacy Concerns: FAQ to learn about laws, policies, and standards governing recorded class activity.
Remote real-time classrooms: Choose from the following videoconferencing services to conduct your lectures and classroom interactions in real time.- Use Zoom to host a lecture with chat rooms, polling, webinars, and mobile collaboration. For more information, watch Schedule and launch Zoom within Canvas (video, 8:36).
- Use the Conference tool to host a lecture directly in Canvas. For more information, watch Host a Conference Session in Canvas (video, 4:59)
- Use Microsoft Teams to create channels, host or join meetings, chat, collaborate on Team Files, and more.
Accommodate student needs: Consider how students and faculty with disabilities will be affected by the shift to online instruction. Review remote instruction best practices, and contact accessibility@umich.edu with questions or to request help from the Accessibility Team at the Office for Institutional Equity and ITS.
General tips and additional resources for delivering instruction remotely:- LSA Technology Services’s Guide to Teaching Remotely
- The College of Engineering’s Teaching & Learning resources
- Use headphones or earbuds with a microphone to minimize surrounding noise and maximize your vocal clarity.
Communicate with Students Online
Announcements: Communicate timely information with students in your class using the Announcements tool in Canvas. Use this tool to send a written message, record and upload a video, and attach files or include links.
Classroom discussion: Use the Discussions tool in Canvas to allow students to interact and learn from each other online while facilitating the conversation.
Remote office hours: For real-time interactions with your students, consider using the Chat tool in Canvas or scheduling meetings using Zoom. These tools are useful for scheduled office hours or quick Q&A sessions.Use the Remote Office Hours Queue to manage a group of students waiting to meet with you during your office hours. The tool creates a unique and private BlueJeans meeting for each one. Given the upcoming retirement of BlueJeans, the Remote Office Hours Queue will function with Zoom beginning 12/17/20.
Email: If you need to email all of your students, and you don’t want to use Canvas, you can get a list of email addresses for all of your students in Wolverine Access.
- General tips for communicating effectively with students online:
- If you plan to use Canvas tools to communicate with your students, make sure your course is published.
- Be consistent with the digital tool selected for online communications, and be sure to post this information in a prominent location, such as the Syllabus page in Canvas.
- Set expectations for how students should engage in online communication, including how they should contact the instructor.
- Set expectations with students for how quickly the instructor will respond to online communication.
Online Assessment
Assessments: If you need to collect written assignments, use the assignments tool in Canvas to create a place for students to submit their work. Make sure that you indicate the assignment will be submitted online, and choose the “file upload” option for the submission type.
Quizzes: If you need to administer an online quiz, use the Quiz tool in Canvas. For low-stakes assessment, consider allowing multiple attempts, not including a time limit, and allowing students to see their quiz responses.
Exams: If you need to administer a high-stakes exam, use the Quiz tool in Canvas and consider shuffling the answer options, using a strict time limit, hiding student quiz responses, and using question groups.
- General tips for conducting online assessments:
- Consider providing extra time on quizzes and exams to students who ask for accommodations in using technology. See instructions for granting extra time to assessments in Canvas.