Connection

• Throughout the semester, and especially at the start of the term, post Announcements in your Blackboard site that provide explicit, compassionate messages of care. Grand Valley is known for our care of each individual student, and expressing this care at the start of the semester is an excellent way to begin the term in these unprecedented times.
• Throughout the winter term, students appreciated any attempts faculty made to connect students to each other and to student supports around campus, which students were not always aware of--ranging from career advice to tutoring support to the IT help desk. This would be a good strategy to continue throughout the spring and summer terms. 

Communication

Faculty and students alike have shared that keeping track of and responding to emails in a remote learning course can be overwhelming, but they’ve also shared their best strategies for managing the email load:

• Holding virtual office hours a few days a week can save a faculty member time responding to emails.
• Using the “Announcements” function in Blackboard, rather than emailing your students, helps students to manage their email load--and keeps a record of your communications with them all in one place.
• Rather than asking students to submit assignments via email, using the Assignment function in Bb, which creates a link where all students can upload their assignment document, keeping both you and your students organized-- and heads off large attachments being left undelivered.
• Post deadlines, assignment guidelines, rubrics, etc. front and center as well as in multiple locations so that students are clear on the course expectations and have less need to email the instructor for clarifications.

Engagement Throughout the Term

• Engage students in content in small chunks. For example, the optimal length of a video lesson is about six minutes.  Multiple video lessons can be created for one class period.
• With respect to video or text content, consider ways to engage students with the content, either through written reflections, embedded quizzes, or discussions with peers.
• Student time for your remote learning course should not be greater than what is expected in a face-to-face course. If you find yourself assigning more work to account for the virtual format, reach out to the Pew FTLC or eLearning team for suggestions or to help gauge the workload.
• Exams/tests/quizzes can be proctored with Respondus Lockdown Browser and Monitor. However, not all students or faculty are comfortable with the fact that this relies on the student being recorded during the whole assessment. It’s often a better choice to move to asynchronous and alternative means of assessment. Again, the Pew FTLC and eLearning teams can be helpful as you build assessments for your courses.
• Some consistency in time/days when things are due is helpful, if possible. For example, ensure most assignments are due at noon on the due date, rather than at different times of the day.

Student Support

• Student success in an online or remote learning environment usually requires strategies to keep focused and organized.  Faculty can support students by providing structure in their courses such as establishing routines, defining regular deadlines for reading and assignments, and maintaining an available course calendar to find and keep track of due dates.  In face-to-face courses, the regular meeting times served to help promote this structure, as students may have heard reminders from faculty, as well as their classmates.
• Be prepared to direct students to other helpful resources such as librarians, the Knowledge Market, and other tutoring services.

Course Delivery Technology

• The fewer online systems that students (and faculty) need to navigate, the better.
• Build into your course opportunities for students to become familiar with the educational technologies that they will be expected to use. 
• Develop and communicate a back-up plan for technological problems.  (e.g., for a synchronous online exam, what should a student do if their local Wi-Fi fails?)