FAQ

A: Currently CDLI does not provide or support online proctoring solutions. We are, however, happy to talk with you about other ways to promote academic integrity in distance courses. 

A: Students will primarily be using Canvas and Zoom which are supported widely across many different computer systems and devices. Students will also need a working webcam and microphone, which are usually integrated into laptops or Chromebooks.   

Canvas System Requirements 

Canvas recommends the most up-to-date version of Chrome, Firefox or Safari. These browsers can run on almost any computer including Chromebooks. 

Canvas on Mobile Devices 

Canvas can also be accessed from most mobile browsers, and has native mobile applications: 

• Canvas Student for iOS 
• Canvas Student for Android  

Canvas Teacher for Faculty 

• Canvas Teacher is available for iOS and Android for faculty to use.  

Zoom System Requirements  

Zoom will run on almost any computer or mobile application on iOS, Android, or Microsoft Surface. Check out the System Requirements page for full details. A webcam and microphone are recommended for full participation.  

Join a Zoom Meeting via Phone  

Students or faculty with poor internet connections or hardware issues may also join or host a meeting on Zoom by telephone. Check out the guide: 

• Join a Meeting by Phone 

Test Zoom 

Both students and faculty can test out their broadband connection to Zoom and ensure their webcam and mic are working, by going to: 

• Join Zoom Test Meeting

1. What are they? 
   

The definitions below are from Stanford University’s “Teaching Effectively During Times of Disruption” Google doc.

Synchronous Delivery: Instructors and students gather at the same time and interact in “real time” with a very short or “near-real time” exchange between instructors and students.   

Advantages of Synchronous Teaching 

1. Immediate personal engagement between students and instructors, which may create greater feelings of community and lessen feelings of isolation 
2. More responsive exchanges between students and instructors, which may prevent miscommunication or misunderstanding
   

Disadvantages of Synchronous Teaching 

1. More challenging to schedule shared times for all students and instructors 
2. Some students may face technical challenges or difficulties if they do not have fast or powerful Wi-Fi networks accessible 
   

Asynchronous Delivery: Instructors prepare course materials for students in advance of students’ access. Students may access the course materials at a time of their choosing and will interact with each over a longer period of time.

Advantages of Asynchronous Teaching 

1. Higher levels of temporal flexibility, which may simultaneously make the learning experiences more accessible to different students and also make an archive of past materials accessible.   
2. Increased cognitive engagement since students will have more time to engage with and explore the course material. 
   

Disadvantages of Asynchronous Teaching 

1. Students may feel less personally engaged and less satisfied without the social interaction between their peers and instructors.  
2. Course material may be misunderstood or have the potential to be misconstrued without the real-time interaction. 

Our Recommendation 

Given our current situation and the strengths and weaknesses listed above, CDLI recommends that in most cases faculty should Use Synchronous Delivery via Zoom Web Conferencing.  However, we also encourage faculty to include asynchronous elements (especially asynchronous discussion boards and recordings of synchronous class meetings) in their courses.

Why Synchronous?

The strengths of synchronous teaching—immediate personal engagement with the instructor and fellow students and the feelings of community that proceed from that--are very much in line with the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm and cura personalis. It is also much less time-consuming for faculty--especially those who have not used technology before--to convert their courses to synchronous delivery.

Since our spring quarter 2020 students already have scheduled course times (and faculty should hold their courses during the regularly scheduled times) one of the weaknesses of synchronous delivery doesn’t necessarily obtain. The other weakness – student access to technology and the internet – is addressed in our answer here. 

Why not Asynchronous?

Look, we love asynchronous delivery at CDLI. Our Course Development Program focuses on working with faculty to build high-touch asynchronous courses that create the student engagement and community one typically finds in Seattle University’s face-to-face courses. But it takes a long time to do this--typically 6-12 months to develop an asynchronous course that can meet CDLI’s course review standards. Most of just us don’t have that much time. 

If you’ve already developed an asynchronous course with CDLI that has passed course review, we absolutely encourage you to offer it during spring quarter. We also encourage faculty to include asynchronous activities in their synchronous courses. For more information on how to do this, we recommend faculty attend one of our Instructional Continuity Workshops.

However, if because of technical issues or personal preference you would rather offer your course in asynchronous modality we strongly recommend you implement some of the suggestions outlined in our Best Practices section.

A: Yes. Captioning services are available for videos created by faculty and posted to Canvas, and Disability Services is partnering with 3rd party vendors to provide live captioning for Zoom class  meetings. Please encourage your students to reach out to Disability Services for all accommodation requests.  

A: A number of internet carriers around the country are offering free or reduced service to help mitigate the demand for desktop and mobile internet access as institutions move their work online.  

Internet Access

• Low cost internet options are available for Seattle residents, so you can stay connected and complete work at home.
• FCC agreement stating that providers will waive late fees, not cutoff service for lack of payment, and open hot-spots.
• Comcast COVID-19 response: offers free WiFi for 2 months to low income families plus all Xfinity hot-spots are free to the public during this time. These hot spots are located all over the city and even throughout suburban areas – wherever a business or home has Xfinity wifi they are also a hotspot.
• AT&T COVID-19 response: offers open hot-spots, unlimited data to existing customers, and $10/month plans to low income families
• Verizon COVID-19 response: no special offers, but following the FCC agreement.
• Sprint COVID-19 response: follows FCC agreement, provides unlimited data to existing customers, and, starting Tuesday, 3/17/2020, will allow all handsets to enable hot-spots for 60 days at no extra charge (I expect others will follow).
• T-Mobile COVID-19 response: follows FCC agreement, plus unlimited data to existing customers, and, coming soon, will allow all handsets to enable hot-spots for 60 days at no extra charge (I expect others will follow).
• Internet Essentials program: 60 day free for qualifying families (then $10/month). Effective Monday, March 16, 2020, Internet Essentials will increase speeds from 15/2 Mbps to 25/3 for all customers in response to emergency measures associated with Coronavirus (COVID-19). This speed increase will happen automatically - no action is required by customers.
• Charter Free Internet offer for 2 months

A: Yes, given the following: a class recording that includes student participation and Personally Identifiable Information (PII) can be posted on Canvas for the students in the class to view--the key is that access must be limited to students in the class.

If you record your classes, University Counsel suggests including the following language in your syllabus:

• Class Recordings: Zoom meetings of this course may be recorded.  Any recordings will only be available to students registered for this class.  Recordings may not be reproduced, shared with those not in the class, or uploaded to other online environments.