Some of you may have heard Gov. Holcomb’s announcement today. He is telling Indiana residents that they should stay home to help contain the coronavirus. As you can read in President McRobbie’s message, which you should have received today, IU continues to be open, although we want to limit the number of people who are on campus. We understand that some faculty may be coming to campus this week to pick up necessary items or use technology.
To help prevent the spread of the virus, we ask that you significantly limit your time on campus. If you need something from your office, please make just one visit to campus (and practice social distancing while you are here) this week. If you need technology, please try to acquire what you need and avoid coming to campus after this week. If you anticipate needing to be on campus after Friday, March 27, please notify your dean. For staff, continue to work with your supervisor who will guide you on working remotely from home.
Faculty messages to students: To those instructors who have already touched base with their students to provide some guidance about how you're approaching the rest of Spring, thank you. To those who have not yet sent out any communication, be aware that staff across campus are starting to receive more questions from students (some curious, some more anxious) about what will be happening in specific classes. We have been advising them to look for a message from you this week. If at all possible, a short note by tomorrow (Tuesday 3/24) with even a brief update will help students plan forward. I am sharing an idea from Heather Kennedy-Eden
“One thing I have done this week is I went to the announcement tab on CANVAS and did a video. It is super easy, on the announcement tab screen just use the video button.
Then, use record media and it gives you a countdown 3-2-1, and then you start recording video. I just wanted them to see my face, know this was going to be okay, and I introduced them to my home office so they could see what it would look like when I talk to them or teach for them online. Then, once you are done recording, just save it, be sure to put a title on the announcement and just tell them you have a video for them to watch and then publish it. Really easy! I think for students who might be anxious about this new way to have class, it might comfort them to see me and know that we will get through this together.”
Reporting COVID-19 cases - It is important that as an IU Kokomo employee that you report COVID -19 cases to Jake Hobbs, at jakehobb@iu.edu our emergency management person. It is important to report if you or someone you have been in contact with has a confirmed case. The cases that should be reported are: those who are laboratory-confirmed positives, meaning a test was performed by the CDC, the state, or a private lab. The second group are those who have been clinically diagnosed by a healthcare provider as either a presumptive positive or a probable case. We would like both of these types of cases to be shared with us, so we can provide guidance and support. It would be really helpful to determine next steps if we had name and contact information (preferably phone numbers, but emails as well) and which category you fall into.
From CTLA
The Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment (CTLA) consultants and staff are working remotely and readily available virtually to help support your teaching efforts. We will be monitoring incoming email and voicemail during business hours Monday - Friday, 8am-5pm. Consultations after hours will need to be arranged by appointment. Please email ctla@iuk.edu with your needs. We will be in contact with you as soon as possible. Also remember to review CTLA faculty resources on our website, www.iuk.edu/ctla.
CTLA Programming and Training through end of March
3/24/20 1:00 – 2:30 pm Zoom: Teaching Remotely (90 minute online session)
3/25/20 10:00am -12:00 pm Using VoiceThread to Engage Students Workshop (online via Zoom)
3/25/20 1:00 – 2:00 pm Finding OER Resources, Olga Korne (online via Zoom)
3/31/20 9:00 – 11:00 am Canvas: Modules & Pages (online via Zoom)
IU Learning Technologies also has training this week
In preparation for classes resuming on Monday, March 30, 2020, we have added additional webinars this week to help faculty prepare. These webinars will focus on topics that include Kaltura, Zoom, CN Post, purposeful online discussions, and adapting your syllabus to the course changes taking place. You can find the full list of webinars and the registration links at: https://ctl.iupui.edu/Workshops-Events/Events/keep-teaching.