Keep on Teaching: Support for LaGuardia Faculty

tree in mist

Photo: jrsnchzhrs on flickr Creative Commons

In collaboration with IT and other college partners, we are committed to supporting faculty to continue teaching in a range of situations that include possible disruption of in-person classes. Here are some resources and considerations for faculty. Also, check out these helpful FAQs for faculty and staff using CUNY resources.

Support Circles

For faculty and staff working directly with students.

  • Social Anxiety & Isolation: Tuesday, May 19 @ 3:30-4:30p
  • Stress & Overwhelm: Wednesday, May 20 @ 4-5p
  • Recent Loss & Grief: Thursday, May 21 @ 3:30-4:30p

These Circles will be facilitated by colleagues in HR, Students Affairs, Academic Affairs.  To sign-up, please complete the very brief form online at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FacStaffSupportCircle . Given the nature of Circle practice, we’ll limit each conversation to 10 participants.

Preparing for Distance Education Teaching

How do you access the CTL’s faculty webinars on distance education?
Go to the CTL’s YouTube channel, where you can access the following webinars and more:

Have you stored your teaching materials so you can access them off campus?
Log in to dropbox.cuny.edu with your CUNY [not LaGuardia] credentials: e.g., Irma.Faculty84@login.cuny.edu to use your free CUNY dropbox storage.

Can you log in to your LaGuardia email from off campus?
Sign in to Outlook here.

Do you have your log-in info for CUNY tools?
Check that you’re able to sign in to your CUNY First suite (this includes Blackboard, CUNYFirst, and DegreeWorks) with your CUNY login.

Know how to get to other important LaGuardia links for faculty?
The Faculty/Staff portal has links to Web Attendance, ePortfolio, the Library, and more!

Need tech help with Blackboard?
Send an email to blackboardsupport@lagcc.cuny.edu.

CUNY is providing temporary “after hours” Blackboard help between 8pm and 8am and on weekends, for both faculty and students.

Want Blackboard 9 info or training?
LaGuardia’s Blackboard Orientation Webinar (46 min)
Teaching Remotely (CUNY-wide Blackboard info)
Instructor Tutorials by topic (Suffolk U)

Haven’t yet taught online and want some basic info?
Leveraging Blackboard (Lehman)

Wondering how to quickly adapt your course from in-person to distance learning?
Quick Tips on Transitioning Modes of Instruction from Face-to-Face to Online (CUNY Grad Ctr)
FAQs for Going Online in a Hurry
(Lehman)
Going Online in a Hurry (Chronicle of Higher Ed)

What are some general best practices for teaching online?

Teach Anywhere Best Practices (Stanford)
Ten Best Practices for Teaching Online (Designing for Learning)

How do I get help with other IT questions?
Email ITHelp@lagcc.cuny.edu or NetAdminHelp@lagcc.cuny.edu, create a ticket, or call 718-482-6134.

Is there an online community about teaching during this time?
Yes! Check out this CUNY Continuity slack channel started by CUNY Grad Center’s Teaching and Learning Center.

Teaching Synchronous (Real-time) Sessions

How do I use Blackboard Collaborate Ultra to teach in real time (a.k.a. synchronous sessions)?
Overview and Getting Started (Lehman)
Blackboard Collaborate Ultra for Moderators: Get Started (Blackboard)
Translating On-Campus Course to Distance Learning Course: (excellent 1-hour webinar from John Jay)
Blackboard Collaborate Instructions (pdf)

Why and how would I use Zoom.com?
Zoom – easy-to-use free video conferencing that will enable you to hold real time class sessions online. Students can use it via phone if they don’t have computer access. Also see Zoom: Teach Online Class Sessions (U. of Minn.) However, Zoom is not officially supported by the college at this time.

Communicating with Students

What’s my plan for communicating with students and for my Office Hours?
How will students reach you? When can they expect a response? How and when can they “meet” with you? Be sure to let them know.

What if students don’t have wifi? How can they get access?
See the Resources & Tools section of CUNY’s Continuity for Students page, which also has helpful sections on academic deadlines, for dropping, ‘W’, pass/fail option, distance learning tips, and more.

How will my Deaf or hard-of-hearing students access my courses?

  • ensure all students can understand all lectures and learning interactions if you’re meeting via video or audio by providing access to the student’s interpreter or a live captioner
  • caption and provide a transcript of any videos you make and then post for students to watch
  • make sure all your assigned videos have decent quality captions; if not, provide transcripts or consider an alternative assignment.

How will my blind or vision-impaired students access my courses?
Communicate with your student disability services office for best practices on accessible online resources, and check the CUNY Reasonable Accomodations Guide.

What other disability and access issues do I need to consider and plan for?
Accessible Teaching in the Time of Covid-19

CUNY Campuses’ Continuity of Instruction

Check out CUNY’s FAQ for faculty and staff on accessing and using CUNY technology to support remote teaching, learning and work.

Although some resources listed below are campus-specific, these faculty-focused sites have information that is useful beyond their campus

Baruch
BMCC
City College
Graduate Center
Hostos
John Jay
Lehman
Queens College
Queensborough Community College

Compiliation of CUNY/SUNY Instructional Continuity Resources and more from CUNY CAT/QCC

Helpful links from other colleges and publications

Spreadsheet of multiple higher ed campus responses with emphasis on continuity of instruction

How Can I Keep my Class momentum? (West Virginia U)

Making the Shift to Online: Emergency Preparedness Webinar from the Online Learning Consortium  (recording from March 6, 2020 is free, but requires sign-in)