Draft Plans for Running a Virtual Class

Let me frame this post first with some initial thoughts... Sometimes life throws us all a curveball. Coronavirus is here, and CDC and others have warned us that major disruptions are coming. This is a very serious situation with a lot of levels, nuances, emotions, and sadly tragedy. People have and will suffer, and first and foremost I am wishing you all the best and hope you can stay strong and safe.

Some basic things I'm doing now to help keep my students and myself safe:

1. Inform my students about what they can do.
2. I bring cleaning supplies to class daily to clean desks.
3. I also bring tissues and will bring hand sanitizer when it's in stock again.
4. I've adjusted my attendance policy, and am asking students to stay home if they feel sick.

School closure is a strategy used in country for social distancing. This is used to flatten the epidemic curve to slow spread, provide necessary time and capacity for medical care, and a necessary part of battling a disease to keep people safe.  I'm for whatever keeps us the safest.

What this means is many of us may have to teach virtual classes. I'm on quarter system, and we are wrapping up winter term. Spring term starts at the end of March, and that could be when things change significantly. People on semester system might need to switch in the middle of the term, so that brings its own set of issues.   

A bit about some of my relevant background. Many of us have not taught online. I haven't, at least not a fully online class. I have taught hybrid online here and there, and have run faculty development workshops using zoom and a couple other tools.  Tools like zoom are going to make this easier, and I think the tech is there to make this work well enough. 

I'm sharing my own draft plans via google slides (linked HERE and embedded below). These are my draft thoughts on how to organize class via a simple framework, which others might find useful as a starting point.  I'll update this regularly as things develop. I know there are much more experienced people on this issue, so find and share resources you have.

At the bare minimum, an instructor can give lectures via zoom at the scheduled class time, and setup office hours via zoom. I personally will do much more, since I use IBL methods, but I think it's worth sharing that switching to virtual is not that scary, and certainly worth it given the situation.