We will update this page with new communications throughout the semester.
Table of Contents
Past Updates
JULY 9, 2020
Four Steps to Jump-Starting Your Fall Course Transition
With the start of the fall semester less than seven weeks away, we wanted to share four steps to getting started with the Fall Course Transition Services available through Syracuse University’s partnership with Blackboard:
- Contact help@syr.edu to preview the Fall 2020 Blackboard course shell and decide whether to apply it to your specific course.
- Finalize your syllabus.
- Prepare your first two weeks of content.
- When you’re ready, contact Blackboard Transition Services using the Course Is Ready for Transition Form.
Your content will be uploaded and populated to your course. All of your content belongs to you.
As a reminder, we strongly encourage all instructors to utilize the Fall Course Transition Services. If you have questions about your course, you can contact the faculty support team (help@syr.edu).
Information Technology Services also has partnered with the Center for Online and Digital Learning, the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence and the Office of Online Student Success to create the Online Success Toolkit. The Online Success Toolkit provides a central hub to promote successful online teaching and learning for new and returning faculty and students alike.
Available materials for faculty include course preparation guides, resources for supporting students and information regarding upcoming training and consultation opportunities. We will continue to update and enhance this resource throughout the summer and during the semester.
Please also remember these online coaching and consultation opportunities:
- Teaching and Technology Tuesdays (Tuesdays at noon ET)
- Overview of Blackboard Course Transition Services (Tuesdays at 6 p.m. ET)
- Course Development in Blackboard: Open Q and A (Thursdays at 10 a.m. ET)
- Zoom Training: Teaching with Zoom (multiple times available)
- Faculty Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Access Workshop Series (asynchronous)
- Identifying and Reducing Implicit Bias in Pedagogical Decision-Making
- Establishing Civility and Positive Climate in Your Teaching Environment
- Problematizing Identity and Intersectionality on the College Campus
- Transparent Teaching: An Evidence-Based Inclusive Practice
- Navigating Challenges of Diversity in the Classroom
We look forward to working with you.
JULY 7, 2020
Aligning Your Course for Success in Any Format
Using the Fall 2020 Course Checklist, faculty can ensure that their course outcomes align with their assessments, assignments and activities. Aligned courses:
- Support students from underrepresented backgrounds.
- Require fewer explanations for why students must complete particular assignments—faculty can cite specific, pre-established outcomes.
- Foster an atmosphere that encourages learning.
Another advantage of an aligned course: It can pivot easily from format to format. If you have developed a clear vision and materials for your course, we recommend working with Blackboard Academic Services as part of our Fall Course Transition Services to build out the first two weeks of your course, which will ease you into the mixed delivery format. Blackboard Academic Services will show you how to upload content, create assignments, build assessments and more.
Using this approach, you don’t need to have a semester of content ready—only the course alignment and the first two weeks of materials. If you have questions about your course alignment, you can work with the faculty support team (help@syr.edu).
We strongly encourage instructors to utilize the Fall Course Transition Services. To request assistance or to find out more information, please fill out the Fall Course Development Form.
You can learn more about how ITS is helping faculty prepare for the fall semester by listening to the new episode of Behind the Monitor, the official ITS podcast. Please also remember these online coaching and consultation opportunities:
- Teaching and Technology Tuesdays (Tuesdays at noon ET)
- Overview of Blackboard Course Transition Services (Tuesdays at 6 p.m. ET)
- Course Development in Blackboard: Open Q and A (Thursdays at 10 a.m. ET)
- Zoom Training: Teaching with Zoom (multiple times available)
- Faculty Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Access Workshop Series (asynchronous)
- Identifying and Reducing Implicit Bias in Pedagogical Decision-Making
- Establishing Civility and Positive Climate in Your Teaching Environment
- Problematizing Identity and Intersectionality on the College Campus
- Transparent Teaching: An Evidence-Based Inclusive Practice
- Navigating Challenges of Diversity in the Classroom
We look forward to working with you.
JUNE 30, 2020
The Fall Course Transition Process
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This is not the semester that anyone envisioned. We realize that everyone’s situation is slightly different in terms of family, resources and more. Even so, please remember that you are not alone—we are all in this together. We look forward to helping you make the best of a challenging situation.
March 12, 2020
To support the transition to online course delivery effective at the end of the academic day on Friday, March 13, we will continue to send regular communications to ensure you have the most up-to-date information related to online teaching and learning. If you haven’t already, please bookmark the Academic Continuity Resources toolkit available at at Syracuse.edu/coronavirus/academic-continuity.
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