Banner saying "Keep Teaching Online Support

Welcome to Keep Teaching

CR Keep Teaching is a Canvas site that began in March 2020 to help all faculty transition their classes to emergency remote delivery due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. When we learned we'd be running our classes almost exclusively online for the Fall semester, we decided to leverage this existing site to support faculty in getting certified to teach online, as well as building and running high quality online classes. We're using Canvas to leverage our knowledge and creativity and share resources with each other.

Keep Teaching is a hub for professional development and support for our amazing college community. We're glad you're here.

What's new?

Got new ideas or needs? Chime in on the new Spring 21- Let's talk! discussion forum and let's share!
A new syllabus coversheet was emailed from the office of the VPI on 1/9/21.
We've linked this new coversheet to our page about writing your syllabus for your online class. The page also includes the important dates for Sp21. Thanks for compiling those, Peter Blakemore!
Share our new Student Technical Support and Help page with your students!
This new page on our website is run by Matthew Shell, our Student Technology Assistant. Spread the word- this is an incredible resource!
We have a new Faculty Resources for Canvas page and new Instructor Resources page
Explore our new Canvas site: CR ELL Support.
This site was built by Laurel Jean and Jonny Maiullo to help support your work with English Language Learners. You can explore the site by following the link, but if you want to participate in the conversations Laurel and Jonny have created, you'll need to click the "+ join this course" button (top right corner) when you're on the home page. Please email Laurel Jean and Jonny Maiullo for more information.

Past professional development

Monday 1/11

11am: Teaching online- Keeping it sustainable (Discussion) Chat file
Teaching online can be exhausting. In this conversation, let's talk about the things you do to help keep the workload sustainable.

1pm: Tools in Canvas (Workshop) Chat file
Our instance of Canvas comes with many tools to support your online class. In this workshop, we'll look at some of the different tools you can use with Canvas. Integrated tools include (but are not limited to) Flipgrid (for video discussions), MyOpenMath (for…math…), Labster (for science labs), ConferZoom (for meetings integrated into a Canvas course), Office 365 (for file submissions and collaboration), Perusall (for social reading and annotations), Films On Demand and Alexander Street Video (for embedding videos), New Analytics (for assessing engagement), and access to peer tutoring and the CR Library. Is there something else you're interested in? Let us know! Let's take a look!

Tuesday 1/12

11am: Strategies for facilitating engaging synchronous sessions (Workshop) Chat file
Facilitating meaningful synchronous sessions in your online class can present significant challenges. In this workshop, we'll look at some strategies to make the most of your (and your students') time and energy.

1pm: Online grading: Tips and tricks (Discussion) Chat file
Providing students with meaningful and robust feedback in your online class can provide a powerful opportunity for rich learning. Finding the time to deliver rich and substantive feedback can be daunting. In this discussion, we'll share strategies for accomplishing this important work…without breaking the time bank.

Wednesday 1/13

11am: Discussion forums: Tips and tricks (Discussion) Chat file
The Canvas discussion tool provides a robust opportunity to engage with your students (and facilitate their engagement with each other) around your course content. In this workshop, we'll discuss the pros and cons of different ways you can use the tool, as well as time-saving strategies for providing robust feedback.

1pm: Finding and using OERs and other no cost/low cost materials (Discussion) Chat file
Using low cost or free textbooks and other instructional materials is a proven way to help students succeed – but finding good ones can be difficult. The library may be able to help. Come join a discussion on OERs, textbooks, and textbook options for your classes.

Thursday 1/14

10am: Ally: Generating (and interpreting) your accessibility report (Workshop) Chat file
Ally is a tool that helps you improve the accessibility of your online course content. In this workshop, we'll talk about how to generate an accessibility report for your class, as well as how to interpret the data.

Recorded sessions

Thursday 1/7

11am: What are students saying? Fall 2020 student survey results (Discussion) Chat file
Almost 800 students participated in a student survey administered through Canvas between 12/11/20 and 12/25/20. Let's look at what they have to say, and talk about how their input might inform what you do in your spring classes. This is a good time to be efficient with your you keep doing (and what you might tweak) in your spring classes.

Other helpful resources:

- - Slides from the presentation
  - (We will link the survey results soon.)

1pm: Humanizing your online classes (Discussion)
Bringing your amazing human SELF to your online classes is an enormous gift to your students and can provide the critical human connections that will help them stick in your class and continue their educational progress, in spite of the many challenges posed by this pandemic. In this discussion, we'll share strategies that you can implement this semester to increase meaningful connections with your online students.

Other helpful resources:

- - Humanizing Online Learning: An informational page in Keep Teaching
  - Humanizing Challenge (Sp21): An activity running Jan 20-22 through @ONE

Friday 1/8

11am: Designing for asynchronous engagement (Discussion)
If your online synchronous classes were poorly attended or uninspiring, you might consider strategies for robust asynchronous Asynchronous activities allow you (and your students) to engage with the content (and each other) when (and where) you want. In this discussion, we'll talk about robust strategies for teaching and learning asynchronously.

Other helpful resources:

- - Padlet: A sticky note-like brainstorming tool (free)
  - AnswerGarden: A word cloud generating polling tool (free)

1pm: Using Canvas Studio for videos and captioning (Workshop)
Canvas Studio is a magical tool that allows you to record, host, and caption videos. It also has robust capacity for facilitating engagement around those videos. Let's spend some time learning about the different ways you can use this tool to increase interaction in your online classes.

Other helpful resources:

- - Focus on Captioning: Canvas Studio- A Keep Teaching page about Canvas Studio

We ran these sessions in December 2020. Just click on the link to watch the recording.

Reflecting on fall…anticipating spring (Discussion)
Thursday 12/10 2pm
As we crawl toward the finish line of this incredibly challenging fall semester, we want to capitalize on this opportunity to channel our some of our last remaining sparkles of energy into productive reflection and planning for spring. We know you're already planning for spring…let's gather to share insights, rah-rah, and camaraderie.
Session was recorded.
New features in Canvas- heads up (Workshop)
Tuesday 12/15 10am
Wouldn't you know it…Canvas has scheduled some updates that we think you should know about. First, on Jan 16, they are updating the rich content editor, so when you edit pages etc, everything will look different. They are also updating the quiz tool in July, and we'll only have access to New Quizzes. Let's talk about how this might impact you, and what you can do to prepare.
Session will be recorded.
Planning for spring- Syllabi, orientation letters, and course organization (Workshop)
Thursday 12/17 1pm
You're due for a break, and it is critical that you TAKE IT. However, before you leave, let's hang out and get some key parts of your spring classes ready to rock. We'll talk about getting your syllabus, orientation letter, and course structure/schedule ready to go. Bring your stuff-- let's cross some things off your TO DO list! (Your 2021-self will thank you for this work!)
Session will be recorded.