Teaching Remotely

When in-person class activities are disrupted due to emergency closure of the College or widespread absences, instructors may need to use alternative instruction methods, such as moving your course materials and learning activities online.

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Academic Continuity Resources

To support Minnesota State faculty and staff with their academic continuity planning, the system office has alternate technologies available at no additional cost (D2L Brightspace, Kaltura MediaSpace, Zoom, Office 365).

• Alternative Delivery Where to Start?
• Minnesota State Guides for Faculty
• Vendor Provided Guides
• National Resources
• Faculty Assistance Drop In Sessions (Zoom video conference)
• One-on-One Assistance (Zoom video conference)

Academic Continuity Resources »

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Online Teaching Tools

We recognize teaching online requires preparation, training, and ongoing professional development. However, there may be events that do not allow you to get training prior to teaching online.

Here we recommend supported technology tools to help you transition your courses online quickly.

D2L Brightspace

D2L Brightspace is the learning management system software we use at Northland. Brightspace has a broad range of features that can help faculty make their courses more efficient and more effective whether it is face-to-face, hybrid/blended, or fully online.

D2L Brightspace Sign-In »

D2L Support & Professional Development
For additional D2L support and professional development, please:

1. Sign-in to D2L Brightspace
2. Click the Ongoing tab
3. Select _D2L Support & Professional Development

Helpful Links

• Getting Started - Navigate Brightspace Learning Environment (video)
• Announcements - Create an Announcement (video)
• Assignments - Create a Submission Folder (video)
• Content - Add an Existing Activity (video)
• Quizzes - Create a New Quiz with New Questions (video)
• Zoom - How to download and install Zoom (.pdf)
• Zoom - How to create a Zoom meeting within D2L (.pdf)

Zoom

Zoom is an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, collaboration, chat, and webinars across mobile devices, desktops, telephones, and room systems.

How can I get help with Zoom?
There are many ways to get assistance with Zoom video conferencing.

• Zoom Help Center
• Zoom Tutorial Videos
• Zoom Live Training Sessions

Helpful Links

• How to install the Zoom client and sign-in for the first time (.pdf)
• Minn State Zoom User Training Manual (.pdf)
• How to join a Zoom meeting (video)
• How to schedule a Zoom meeting in Outlook (video)
• How to schedule, share, and start Zoom meetings from your mobile device (video)
• How to configure your audio and video in a Zoom meeting (video)
• How to record a Zoom meeting (video)
• How to share your screen in a Zoom meeting (video)
• How to share and collaboratively annotate a white board in a Zoom meeting (video)
• How to use and manage Zoom break out rooms (video)

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Keys for Online Teaching Success

Communication

Communication is always key, and it's essential to keep in touch and interact with students, no matter where you are. While email is always an option, we offer additional tools that help you keep communication manageable, quick, and personable.

• D2L Brightspace Announcements
• Communicate about deadlines by adding due dates to your D2L Assignments, Quizzes, and Discussions.
• Encourage students to turn on notifications in D2L to get emails and/or text message updates.

Content

D2L Brightspace offers a variety of document types and it is easy to link documents from your OneDrive account.

• Upload Documents, links, videos, and other teaching materials to D2L Content.

Assessment

You can still quiz students, hold in-depth discussions, and collect essays and papers in D2L Brightspace.

• Under the Assessment menu you can find:
  • Quizzes
  • Assignments
  • Grades
  • Rubrics
• Under the Communication menu you can find:
  • Discussions

Online Meetings & Chat

If you want to hold virtual office hours or maintain your face-to-face class schedule, Northland's online meeting tool, Zoom, can help. Communicate early with your students to determine their level of technology availability (computer, webcam, internet speed) and comfort before requiring online meetings.

Video

Video provides your students with a substitute for your in-class lectures, gives them a sense of your presence in the online classroom, and offers them an alternative to traditional assignments such as presentations.

• Zoom for live online screen sharing and presentations