Important Notice – Stay Informed
Page last updated: 03/30/20 – 3:00pm
Be sure to check this page regularly as it will be periodically updated. Stay informed about the latest resources, training, and information.
If exceptional circumstances require you to teach remotely, the following strategies and resources may assist in transitioning your face-to-face course to online delivery. In particular, the tools available in Webcourses@UCF are useful in creating content that focuses on teaching, grading, and connecting with students.
Please note that this is an extraordinary circumstance and the resources and strategies collected here do not replace UCF’s standard faculty development expectations for teaching online.
The Webcourses@UCF Support team provides support to our students, faculty, and staff for any technical assistance, concerns, or questions related to online learning at UCF. For technical help, contact Webcourses@UCF Support.
Webcourses@UCF Support
Get support with Webcourses@UCF.
Email: webcourses@ucf.edu
Phone: (407)823-0407
- M-Th: 8am-6:30pm
- F: 8am-5pm
- M-F: 8pm-11pm
- Sat-Sun: 10am-1pm
Note that in an emergency, systems and university support teams may respond slower than normal.
Live Training Workshops
Are you worried about moving your course online during an emergency? Do you know how to communicate with students who cannot come to class? How do you create an online assignment and grade them? This face-to-face workshop will walk you through the very basics to prepare you. You will leave these workshops with UCF resources for both you and your students.
Keep Teaching Series
Assignments & Assessments in Webcourses@UCF
The Division of Digital Learning has scheduled several small hands-on workshops through Zoom next week, March 31st-April 3rd, centered around using Webcourses@UCF for assessing your students’ learning. Topics covered will include using Webcourses@UCF for graded discussions, assignments, and quizzes. During these hands-on sessions, attendees will be guided through the skills needed to use Webcourses@UCF during remote instruction at UCF.
REGISTER NOW!Announcements & Updates
03/19/2020 – Remote Instruction to Continue Through the Summer Semester
UCF will continue with remote instruction through the Summer A, C and D semesters, which all start on Monday, May 11.03/17/2020 – *UCF Alert* Remote Instruction to Continue Rest of Spring Semester
UCF and all state universities are extending remote instruction through the end of the spring semester, under official direction from the Florida Board of Governors, which oversees the State University System.03/16/2020 – Faculty Multimedia Center Closed
The FMC will be closed Wednesday, March 18 until further notice. If you have an appointment already scheduled, please contact fmc@ucf.edu. Remote consultations will be available upon request.03/15/2020 – *UCF Alert* UCF will move to temporary remote work for most employees starting this week.
For the safety of all members of the UCF community in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the university will transition to temporary remote work for at least two weeks.Getting Started
Where should you start when moving your face-to-face course to an online course? Adapt your in-class activities for an online environment. If using publisher content, check to see if there are online resources you can share with students. Upload your PowerPoint presentations, other documents, and reading materials to your online course in Webcourses@UCF.
Things to Consider When moving your course online
Your personalized checklist for moving your courses online
- Understand the Basics
- Publish your course
- Review and update your Syllabus
- Review and update your schedule
- Communicate with students online
- Deliver Live Lectures Online
- Record and post lectures
- Provide content alternatives
- Ensure content accessibility
- Manage student assignments
- Foster student-to-student communication online
Summer 2020 Faculty Remote Instruction Guide
The Division of Digital Learning has compiled an FAQ for questions pertaining specifically to the Summer 2020 term. Faculty who are teaching during Summer 2020 should review the guide for more information about teaching remotely during the Summer 2020 term.View Guide
UCF Keep Working
UCF IT has assembled some remote working frequently asked questions for faculty and staff. This should help ease your transition to teaching remotely and assist you in being more productive, no matter where you work.View Guide
Understand the Basics
Do you have minimal experience with Webcourses@UCF (Canvas)? Perhaps you have only used Webcourses@UCF to record academic engagement activities or for the gradebook. If so, you may want to review some of the key features and tools the platform offers for offering course content online. Watch the Webcourses@UCF Faculty Tour or enroll in Essentials of Webcourses@UCF for more information about Webcourses@UCF.
Tour Webcourses@UCF
Essentials of Webcourses@UCF
Essentials of Webcourses@UCF is a self-paced, just-in-time online training course for anyone who wishes to learn the tools and functionality of the university’s learning management system (LMS), Canvas by Instructure. This excellent and comprehensive professional development course consists of a series of interactive tutorials on how to use Webcourses@UCF.
Learn More & EnrollPublish Your Courses
Ensure your course is published. Courses that are not published will not be available for students to access. For instructions on publishing your course, please review the following documentation: How do I Publish my Course?
Publishing your Content
Be sure to click Save & Publish when creating any content in Webcourses@UCF (Assignments, Quizzes, Pages, etc.), and make sure your Modules are published, too. This will allow your students to view the content after you have published your course.Review and Update your Syllabus
Review your syllabus and determine what changes need to be made. Should assignment deadlines be updated? Will course policies need to be altered? Develop a plan and share the updated syllabus with your students immediately to prevent confusion or questions. Review UCF’s Syllabus Policies and How to Use the Webcourses@UCF Syllabus Template.
Review and update your Schedule
Determine priorities during this period. What activities should be rescheduled? Include flexibility in your schedule to accommodate the duration of an online course transition. Consider using UCF’s Due Date Changer to quickly change due dates for assignments already listed within Webcourses@UCF.
COMMUNICATE WITH STUDENTS ONLINE
Connect with your students online by providing positive leadership and a strong online presence. Instruct students to activate their Webcourses@UCF notifications so that they don’t miss critical communications. Let students know how you will communicate changes to them, whether it be through the Inbox (course email) or course announcements.
Configuring Notification Preferences
Students and faculty should configure their notification settings when working in an online modality.
Using Announcements in your Course
Announcements are a great tool for communicating with students about activities or updates in your course.
Using the Inbox within Webcourses@UCF
Use the Webcourses@UCF messaging system to stay in contact with your students. Review What is the Inbox? and How do I use the Inbox as an instructor? for more information about using the Inbox tool within Webcourses@UCF to communicate with students.
Using the Chat Tool as an Instructor?
If you prefer using instant messaging to communicate with students, schedule online “office hours” using the Chat tool in Webcourses@UCF. Be aware that sensitive information such as grades should not be communicated in Chat because it is viewable by all students in the course.
Deliver Live Lectures Online
Use Zoom if you wish to deliver live lectures to your students remotely.
Schedule Live Lectures in Zoom
The university offers a campus-wide license for Zoom, a video conferencing platform for online classes, meetings, conferences, webinars, and lectures. If you prefer to continue holding your class synchronously at its scheduled time, but in a virtual format, you may do so using Zoom.
All UCF faculty, GTAs, staff, and students with an active NID have access to Zoom. To create a session outside of Webcourses@UCF, navigate to: http://ucf.zoom.us/. Use your NID and NID password to log in. If you need assistance, contact Webcourses@UCF Support.
View Zoom GuidesIntegrating Zoom Into Webcourses@UCF
Review the following pages for assistance integrating Zoom into your course: Enable Zoom in Your Course and Zoom FAQsZoom User Capacity
UCF’s Zoom class capacity is 300. If your class has an enrollment of over 300, you will need to pre-record lectures for your class to view. You may pre-record lectures in Zoom or with the tools described below.Record and Post Lectures
There are several different options for recording video content and posting it to Webcourses@UCF. Below are several resources based on what may work best for your course.
Chunk Lecture Recordings
Recording full lectures is not advised. Unless your lecture is action packed, students will have trouble staying focused on your video for a full 50-minute lecture. Technology-wise, you are also likely to run into download and playing problems with a long video. Instead, think about how to restructure your presentation into chunked segments. Ideally, each segment should be concise and focused on a single topic and between 3-7 minutes in length.Conferences Within Webcourses@UCF
If you are already using the Conference tool in your course to deliver live lectures or even pre-record lectures, we recommend you continue to do so. If you are interested in creating live lectures online or pre-recorded lectures for the first time, we recommend you explore Zoom (listed above).
Creating Video Lectures Within Webcourses@UCF
You can record videos directly in Webcourses@UCF in the Rich Content Editor. Keep in mind to keep your videos short to maintain student attention and subject retention. Technology-wise, you are also likely to run into download and playing problems with a long video. Instead, think about how to restructure your presentation into chunked segments. Ideally, each segment should be concise and focused on a single topic and between 3-7 minutes in length. If you need assistance, contact Webcourses@UCF Support.
Using Skype for Business
You can schedule synchronous lectures with your students using Skype for Business. Review Enhancing Your Online Course with Skype for Business for how to facilitate remote lecture within Skype.
Creating Video Lectures with Panopto
Using Panopto
We recommend this method of lecture recording be used only by faculty who are already using Panopto for their V and RV courses. Faculty who traditionally teach in a face-to-face modality should explore other methods of lecture capture in this section.Do you teach an V or RS course that uses Panopto? If so, your videos are automatically placed in a folder for your students to view within Webcourses@UCF. As classrooms are likely unavailable during this time, you can record lectures using Panopto’s Desktop Recorder on your computer. The Quick Setup Guide linked below shows you how to download and use the Desktop Recorder. Be sure to select the correct folder for your class. The formatting should follow your course number and section. If you need assistance, contact Webcourses@UCF Support.
PowerPoint to MP4
Do you have PowerPoints (PPTs) already created for your lessons? You can add audio to your slides and export your PPT as an MP4 to upload to Webcoures@UCF as a video. Try to limit the amount of time you speak over each slide to keep your video short.
View GuidesUsing YouTube in Your Course
YouTube offers a wide variety of videos that you may want to use to cover face-to-face content. Check out channels like YouTube Learning for videos to add to your course. You can embed YouTube videos within Webcourses@UCF.
If you decide to create your own videos, you can upload your videos to YouTube and embed them directly in Webcourses@UCF. Keep your videos between 3-7 minutes long, and add captions if possible. If you’re worried about uploading videos that can be viewed by anyone on YouTube, set your videos as ‘Unlisted’ so that you can share the link with your students, but they aren’t viewable by the general public.
Provide content alternatives
In the event of a quick transition to an online environment, it may not be feasible to record your own lectures or convert content into an online format. In this case, search for alternative content methods that can be embedded into your online course to save time and resources.
Students and Mobile Learning
During this period of remote instruction, some students won’t have access to a desktop computer or laptop and will use a smartphone or tablet to complete coursework. Please consider the following suggestions to assist your students during this extraordinary time.- Encourage students to download the Canvas Student app to access Webcourses@UCF and Zoom for video conferencing.
- Note: If students have older mobile devices, the Canvas Student app might not be supported, but mobile web access to Webcourses@UCF is still available.
- Encourage students to use UCF-supported cloud services such as Office 365 or the User Files of Webcourses@UCF to sync course material across devices.
- Typing long papers can be difficult on mobile devices. Consider allowing students to handwrite and submit scanned written assignments.
Provide Additional Resources
Substitute missed class sessions by providing additional readings or online materials, and follow up with an online graded discussion related to the information. Assign additional textbook readings or search for online articles that cover your course’s subject matter.
Work with Publisher Content
If you use publisher content, check with your publisher for online resources to share with students in Webcourses@UCF.
With the inherent challenges of getting print books from the bookstore during this time of remote instruction, consider offering an eText or digital course materials instead. An added benefit of digital course materials is that they may qualify for the First Day inclusive access program through Barnes & Noble. This opt-in program allows students to immediately access their digital course materials through Webcourses@UCF at a discounted rate prior to the add/drop deadline and defer payment through their student account.
First Day Adoption for Summer 2020
The deadline for eligible summer courses to join the First Day program has been extended to Thursday, April 2nd. For more information about the program, including the link to request access for your course, please visit the Division of Digital Learning’s First Day page.UCF Libraries Services and Resources
Take advantage of online library services and resources. In addition to e-books, articles, and streaming videos available to you and your students, request library instruction, get answers to your copyright questions, and suggest consultations for your students with in-depth research needs. If you have questions, connect via Ask Us!, contact your Subject Librarian directly, or browse other services and resources.
Using LinkedIn Learning
LinkedIn Learning offers over 10,000 accessible videos covering a wide range of topics including business, software, technology, and creative skills. These learning modules are available for free for all UCF faculty, staff, and students. Search for LinkedIn Learning modules that can supplement or replace your face-to-face lectures, and embed the content directly into your course in Webcourses@UCF.
Watch this YouTube video for instructions on how you can share LinkedIn Learning videos within your course: Sharing Learning Videos
Explore LinkedIn LearningEnsure Content Accessibility
For known students with disabilities connected with Student Accessibility Services (which would be identified through a previously received Course Accessibility Letter for Student Accessibility Services), the transition to an online course may pose some academic barriers that may warrant reasonable accommodations. The good news is there are a number of resources and tools available for you to use. To learn more about what resources and tools are available to you, please review the Webcourses@UCF Accessibility/UDL Guide.
If a student connected with Student Accessibility Services contacts you about necessary online accommodations, do your best to address. The bottom line is, during a campus emergency, do what you can to help your students and don’t let it overwhelm you. However, if a student has a need that you can’t address or if you need assistance in making your course accessible, please contact Student Accessibility Services (sas@ucf.edu or 407-823-2371).
Manage Student Assignments
An important consideration in transitioning from face-to-face to online is how to accept assignment submissions remotely. Webcourses@UCF consists of several tools that meet this need, from assignments to discussions to quizzes. Browse the guides below for information on each. All graded activities create a column in the Gradebook in Webcourses@UCF.
Creating Discussions
Create discussion boards in which students can interact with each other. Review How do I create a discussion as an instructor? for instructions on how to create discussion threads.
Creating Assignments
Create assignments that allow students to submit face-to-face activities online in a variety of formats from file uploads to text entries to website URLs. Link Materia widgets to an assignment for a grade.
Using the Gradebook
Use the Webcourses@UCF Gradebook to consistently notify students of their grades. Keep in mind that for the Gradebook Totals column to be accurate, all scores for the semester must be included. Keep in contact with your Chair about when and how to submit grades. Review the Webcourses@UCF Gradebook Guides for a complete list of guides and video tutorials for using the Webcourses@UCF Gradebook.
Creating Quizzes
Review Quiz Options to learn more about Quizzes. You can find more information on creating, managing, and grading quizzes by reviewing Webcourses@UCF Support Quizzes/Survey Guides.
Accessibility Accommodations for Quizzes
If you choose to offer a quiz or exam online, students with accessibility accommodations may need extra time to complete the exam. CDL has created a quiz extension tool that allows you to easily add time to quizzes for students needing accommodations.Test Proctoring
For faculty who offer quizzes and exams online, the University offers two options for test proctoring: ProctorHub and Respondus LockDown Browser.
For first-time users interested in a simpler proctoring system, consider using ProctorHub. If you are interested in using LockDown Browser, we encourage you to contact Webcourses@UCF Support.
ProctorHub
ProctorHub is a tool that can be added to a Webcourses@UCF course to assist with assessment authentication and to help curb cheating. ProctorHub uses a test taker’s webcam and web browser features to record test-taking sessions. Instructors are able to review individual testing sessions should they suspect issues of academic integrity.
Respondus LockDown Browser
Respondus LockDown Browser is a custom browser that locks down the testing environment within Webcourses@UCF. Students are unable to copy, print, chat, or access any other applications or websites during an online exam. To use LockDown Browser for your quizzes, you will first need to enable it in your course.
Foster student-to-student communication online
Encourage your students to communicate with each other. In the event of an emergency transition to an online course, students will likely have many questions concerning updates, assignments, or other course-related topics. By fostering student-to-student communication through tools such as Discussions or Collaborations, you may mitigate the amount of time you spend answering student questions to focus on other course tasks.
Creating Discussions
Consider creating a discussion board for student questions. Encourage students to post questions and answer questions posted by others. Review How do I create a discussion as an instructor? for instructions on creating discussions within Webcourses@UCF.
Collaborations Tool
Allow students to work together on assignments as a class or in small groups. Review What are Collaborations? and How do I create a Google Docs collaboration as an instructor? for more information about collaborations within Webcoureses@UCF and how to create them.
Using the Chat Tool
Promote the Chat tool for quick instant messaging among students. Note that all chat messages are viewable by the entire course. Review What is Chat? and How do I use Chat as an instructor? for more information about the chat tool and how to use it.
Get Support
We get it. Technology can have its challenges. We’re here to help. The Webcourses@UCF Support team provides support to our students, faculty, and staff for any technical assistance, concerns, or questions related to online learning at UCF. Whether it’s Webcourses@UCF, Panopto, Materia, Obojobo, or Personalized Adaptive Learning, we provide the assistance you need.