Create a “What If …” Plan for Your Courses

It’s cold and flu season, and COVID-19 is in the news. Dr. Brian Harper, Chief Medical Officer at NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine, has been issuing regular updates to the New York Tech community. If you have not already done so, create a “what if…” plan for your courses now, so you have it ready if you need it.

Consider the following as you create your plan:

1. Set realistic goals for instruction: Can you maintain your original syllabus and schedule? How will you keep students engaged with the course content? For example, do you expect students to read new material and complete some assignments? The reading adds structure; the assignments add accountability.
2. Review your syllabus to see what must change: Will you have to change policies? Due dates? Types of assignments? Exams? The more detail you can share with your students, the calmer and more responsive they will be.
3. Review your syllabus to determine priorities: If you can only do one thing during the time the course is disrupted, what would that be? Providing lectures? Collecting assignments and providing feedback? Creating new opportunities for discussion or group work? Determine what can be rescheduled, and what can be shifted online.
4. Choose your tools carefully: If you can use familiar tools and technologies, the transition will be easier for you and your students. Roll out new tools only when absolutely necessary, and the fewer the better. If your priority is to provide lectures, for example, you might use either Zoom (which is synchronous) or VoiceThread (which is asynchronous). If you can, pick only one tool to minimize the technology learning curve for all concerned.
5. Identify your new expectations for students: Now that you have adjusted your priorities and your syllabus, you must also adjust your expectations for student participation, communication, and deadlines. As you think through your expectations, remember that students’ situations will also be disrupted: they may be ill, or have ill family members; they may have slow internet access or only have access to a cell phone, and not a computer. Be ready to respond equitably and compassionately to requests for extensions or accommodations.
6. Communicate early, often, and openly: Once you have made these determinations, communicate them to your students. Be transparent about your thinking, the changes to the course, and what you expect from students. Give your students information about how to contact you, and how soon they can expect a reply. They will likely have many questions — will you send a daily email to the class that addresses multiple questions?

Disruptions are unsettling for everyone. Make your students partners in maintaining course continuity.

To follow up on any of these ideas, please contact me at fglazer@nyit.edu. This Weekly Teaching Note was adapted from materials shared by Indiana University.