Guide to Continuity of Teaching

In the event of an emergency you may be required to alter your course schedule and your teaching method to accommodate for an extended campus shutdown.

Being prepared with a back-up plan for teaching your courses can help keep your class running smoothly during the emergency. Begin your plan by identifying the basic elements you need to meet your instructional objectives as well as being prepared to add additional materials, activities, and tools, if needed during a possible shutdown.

For assistance contact the Center for Distance and Online Learning at (518) 629-7070 or dlhelp@hvcc.edu for help, services and more information.

Pre-Emergency Planning Tips

• Download your class lists and student contact information from WIReD or Blackboard.
• At the beginning of the term, send your students a welcome email that includes your contact information or have it available in your Blackboard courses.
• Remind students to check their college email or course Announcements in Blackboard for timely communications from the college and you.
  How to Create Announcements in Blackboard
• Consider having your students participate in an online office hour via Collaborate or Zoom.
• Have a copy of the syllabus or other course materials available for download via Blackboard, Office 365, or network drive.
• Have accessible back-up copies of your course materials.
• Consult with the Center for Distance and Online Learning for training or ideas.
• Use the Instructor Checklist: My Continuity Plan (PDF) to identify your plan, as well as training and assistance needs in advance.

Tips for establishing communication in all classes

Establishing communication strategies in all classes from the beginning will support continuity in the event there is an emergency. Keeping in touch with students will avoid confusion and stress. Importantly, Title IV requires regular and substantive interaction in online course delivery. Here are some ways to prepare for continuity of communication from the first day of class.

• Establish frequent and timely communications at the start of class
• Set expectations and identify processes for communication with students
• Ways to manage communications load: Determine what tool(s) you will use for communications and what would be most efficient. Email may become overwhelming if you receive many individual requests. Consider using a discussion forum in Blackboard such as an Ask the Prof. Or Frequently Asked Questions and consider setting up subscriptions so you and students can be notified via email when someone posts.

Continuity of communication

How can I remotely communicate updates, changes and timely news to some or all students about HVCC, the class, their work and grade status?

• HVCC Email: All faculty, staff, and students at Hudson Valley Community College have email accounts and use Outlook. Email is one of the official communication channels and should be checked frequently by faculty, staff, and students for details on any emergencies and updates related to the disruptions of services at the college.
• Blackboard Send Email Tool: Send email to individual students, groups of students, or the entire class. You can send email from the Send Email link on your course menu or from the Grade Center. (Remember, you can only send email from Blackboard you can’t read it.)
  How to Send Email through Blackboard
• Blackboard Announcement Tool: Post timely information within each class in Blackboard and send it out to students as an email notification. The announcement will remain in the course until deleted providing a single source for students. You can control its visibility by using date restrictions as needed.
  How to Create Announcements in Blackboard
• Feedback and status using Blackboard Grade Center: Display grades to students by manually entering grades into columns, displaying grades from Blackboard graded activities, as well as providing feedback to students through comments and annotations. Students can access their My Grades view from a course or the global navigation menu, on a computer or a device.
  How to Enter Grades in Blackboard

How I can shift my class discussions to asynchronous methods?

• Blackboard Discussion Board: The Discussion Board tool offers threaded discussion forums that allow participants to create a thread or respond to an existing thread making it an easy and organized written discussion for others to read and follow. This tool offers multi-directional, asynchronous communication, interaction, and collaboration space within a Blackboard course. These can also be graded.
  How to Create Forums in Blackboard
• VoiceThread: You can use this tool for asynchronous discussions that combine audio, video, and text. This tool can be found within Blackboard through a content area, using Tools. Create voice-over, video or annotations using a computer, phone, or a device. This can also be graded.
  How to Use VoiceThread in Education
• TechSmith Knowmia: This tool has a Conversations feature that can be used for class discussions in the context of pre-recorded video lecture materials. The tool can be used within Blackboard with grading or directly on the HVCC TechSmith Knowmia website.
  • TechSmith Knowmia: Quick Start Guide (PDF)
  • Condensed (18min) Getting Started with Knowmia Webinar recording

How can I have whole class, live, robust discussions during my usual class time?

• Zoom: A web conferencing tool that allows many individuals to join the same meeting in real-time. Features include screen sharing, presentation modes, and the ability to record. Access Zoom inside Blackboard in the Tools area of Content, or directly from the HVCC Zoom website.
  Zoom Tutorials
• Blackboard Collaborate Ultra: This web conferencing tool allows real-time discussion between you and your students, supports break out groups, has a chat function, the whiteboard can be used to present content and do annotation, and you can conduct polling during the discussion. You can also record the session and share it with those students who are unavailable during the meeting time.
  How to use Blackboard Collaborate Ultra
• Office 365: Like Google Docs, Office 365 shared documents allow you to work on documents together in real-time for brainstorming, problem-solving, group and teamwork. Commenting features extend the communication between you and your students. All faculty, staff and students have access to Office 365 through the campus website or directly at https://login.microsoftonline.com/.

Continuity of Lectures

Synchronous Lectures (live)

What tools are available for me to conduct live lectures with my students on my usual schedule?

• Zoom: A web conferencing tool that allows many individuals to join the same meeting in real-time. Features include screen sharing, presentation modes, and the ability to record. Access Zoom inside Blackboard in the Tools area of Content, or directly from the HVCC Zoom website.
  Zoom Tutorials
• Blackboard Collaborate Ultra: A web conferencing tool in Blackboard that allows real-time sessions between you and your class. You can also record the session and share the recording with those students who weren’t available during the meeting time. Features include document sharing, application sharing, whiteboard sharing, presentations with PPT, chat rooms, polling, and break out rooms. Every Blackboard course has a Collaborate Room within which you can schedule individual Sessions. Find this tool in Course Tools in your Control Panel and add to your Content area. Contact Distance and Online Learning for assistance if needed.
  How to use Blackboard Collaborate Ultra

Equipment Needed for VoiceThread, Zoom, TechSmith Knowmia or Blackboard Collaborate Ultra:

• A computer, tablet, or mobile device and a good Internet connection
• Optional: Stylus and touch screen
• Headset/earbuds with mic (recommended)
• Web camera (optional if you want students to see you)

Asynchronous Lectures (recorded)

What tools are available for me to shift my lecture content to pre-recorded video?

• TechSmith Knowmia: An easy to use video creation and sharing platform that has robust accessibility support for video content. It also has features for student engagement with quizzing, analytics, and a Conversations tool. It can be used within Blackboard or directly from HVCC TechSmith Knowmia website. Record yourself with your computer webcam, or on your phone or tablet with the Capture app, capture your screen as you navigate PPTs, write class notes, or make diagrams.
  • TechSmith Knowmia: Quick Start Guide (PDF)
  • Condensed (18min) Getting Started with Knowmia Webinar recording
• VoiceThread: A tool that allows you to record slide shows using PPT, videos, images, documents, or links to outside media, and add video, text or audio comments, and annotate slides. You can set up as an assignment requiring viewing, or just ask questions to see that they have. Students can reply with video, audio, or text responses, both to you and each other.

Equipment Needed for use of TechSmith Knowmia or VoiceThread:

• A computer, tablet, or mobile device and a good Internet connection
• Headset/earbuds with mic (recommended)
• Web camera (optional if you want students to see you)

Additional Lecture Resources

What resources are available for me to replace my lectures?

• Library Media Resources
  • Films on Demand, Swank, Alexander Street, and more
• YouTube or other web-based content
• Publisher lecture content and online materials
• Open Educational Resources (OER) lecture content

Continuity of Assessments and Assignments

How can I administer high stakes multiple choice, multiple answer, matching, t/f, and other exams?

• Blackboard Assessment Tools: The Blackboard test building tools allow you to create tests that use multiple questions types (Multiple Choice, Multiple Answer, T/F, Essay, Short Answer, Matching, Ordering, and more). You can create questions within Blackboard or import test questions from Respondus or Publishers. Also, you can assign point values to each question, set up random blocks of questions to produce different individual tests for students, set a test to be timed, and more. The test results are recorded in the Grade Center, and some question types allow for automatic grading through Blackboard, while others require the instructor to grade manually. You can also provide students with answer feedback whether it's immediately available to them or delivered later.
• Respondus: This is a powerful tool for creating and managing exams that can be published directly to a learning management system or printed on paper. You can convert your text files (Word, Rich Text, Text) test files, with or without images to the Respondus format and easily upload the test into Blackboard by using some basic formatting structures. There is only a PC version, so Mac users will need to get access to a PC. Respondus is available to the entire campus and for use at home by downloading the product from the Blackboard Home tab, under Respondus/StudyMate Installation and License Key. The Center for Distance and Online Learning can also work with you to convert files for you.
  How to Import Questions with Respondus (most commonly used)
• Publisher and OER Resources: Publishers often allow you to download Test Bank files from their resource sites that can be imported and used within Blackboard. Or, the publisher/OER provider may have testing tools available for use within their own learning management system environments (McGraw-Hill, Cengage, Pearson, Lumen, etc.). Some publishers provide Word documents that can be converted to Respondus files and uploaded.

How can I administer an essay, presentation, problem-solving, verbal or project-based exam or assignment?

• Blackboard Assignment Tool: Students can submit written course work easily and rubric tools can be attached to the assignment. Students can type within a text submission box to answer assignment questions, or they can attach files of their completed work. They can also import from cloud storage such as OneDrive, Google Drive, or Dropbox. You can also attach any instructional files or worksheets you want them to download, complete and submit by uploading. File submissions can be annotated while grading. Finally, through the grade center, you can see who has submitted work, grade the work, and provide feedback to students. There is an option for group assignments as well.
• Turnitin Assignment Tool: This is an academic plagiarism detector used by teachers and students to avoid plagiarism and support academic integrity. Submissions run through the plagiarism detection software and originality reports are generated, allowing for learning and discussion opportunities for you and your students. Turnitin is a Blackboard building block that allows you and your students to authenticate and access the Turnitin website within Blackboard to seamlessly submit assignments. Additional tools to support grading activities are available.
• Office365 shared documents: Faculty and student documents can be shared in OneDrive and worked on simultaneously. The Office365 Forms app has a quiz template. Class Notebooks can be created to share content or work on projects for submission as a group. All faculty, staff and students have access to Office365 on the HVCC web site.
• Blackboard WIKI Tool: This provides students with an area where they can contribute and modify course-related materials and allows them to share and collaborate with their classmates for group projects or assignments. Wiki pages can easily be created and edited, and changes and additions are tracked, allowing for multiple writers to collaborate on information. Course Instructors can view all changes to Wiki pages. Instructors can also set up the Wiki grading feature allowing them to grade within the Wiki tool for easy access to pages and edits.
  How to use Blackboard WIKI Tool
• Blackboard Journals: This tool provides an area for students to reflect on course content and communicate privately with the Instructor. Students can use journals as a self-reflective tool to post their opinions, ideas, and concerns about the course or discuss and analyze course-related materials. Can be graded.
• Blackboard Blogs: This tool provides another medium for reflective written assignments where students can display their research, comments, communications, skills, and more for public (the class) consumption and comment. Blogs are only available to enrolled course users. Can be graded.
• VoiceThread: is an interactive collaboration and sharing tool that enables users to add images, documents, and videos, and to which other users can add voice, text, audio file, or video comments. You can assign students to Create a VoiceThread (great for presentations), Comment on a VoiceThread (they watch a VT you assign and comment) or Watch a VoiceThread (which tracks whether students watch the VT or not). Can be graded.
• Blackboard Collaborate: This web conferencing tool allows real-time discussion between you and your students, supports break out groups, has a chat function, the whiteboard can be used to present content and do annotation, and you can conduct polling during the discussion. You can also record the session and share it with those students who are unavailable during the meeting time. Students can present or comment on your presentations to demonstrate knowledge or skills.
• Zoom: A web conferencing tool that allows many individuals to join the same meeting in real-time. You can use this to view student projects, assess language skills, view student presentations, and have students demonstrate their knowledge in real time on video. Features include screen sharing, presentation modes, and the ability to record. Access Zoom inside Blackboard in the Tools area of Content, or directly from the HVCC Zoom website.
  Zoom Tutorials
• Publisher or OER Assessment Environments: These are good sources for assessment activities and testing. They provide a variety of assessment options that can be used for written, hands-on, or simulation assignments that assess students’ knowledge and performance. Many of these exist outside of Blackboard so they can be accessed directly. For Publisher resources check with your representative. For OER resources check with the OER Librarian at the Marvin Library.

Rapid Conversion for Continuity of Teaching

The Center for Distance and Online Learning offers training and support and encourages the following:

• Prepare in advance: Workshops, tutorials and one-on-one appointments are available for faculty with fully online and web-enhanced courses year-round. Online training and support materials are available as well. Training and workshop schedules will be announced and posted on HVCC web site, but feel free to call for additional times and individual consultations.
• Be ready with media tools so you can quickly switch over in an emergency: Training for TechSmith Knowmia, Collaborate Ultra, VoiceThread and other synchronous and asynchronous tools is available year-round. Training and workshop schedules will be announced and posted on HVCC web site, but feel free to call for additional times and individual consultations.
• If you need to work or train from home due to school shut-down: Just-in-time training for emergency alternative delivery can be scheduled remotely as needed. Existing training and support materials are available on the Distance and Online Learning Support and Tutorials tab in Blackboard. Online training courses are available online and you can be added at any time.