In Spring 2020, we're teaching in a mode called remote learning, which is a little different from the fully online classes you may be used to from teaching in summer session.

One of the major differences: students have already signed up for a course time, so compared to a summer course, you have a higher chance of students reliably being available during the days/times that your class was scheduled for. And you can use those times to ask students to participate in activities together, such as video conference classes, conferences, presentations, etc. That said, it's a complicated time, and many students' lives and schedules may be different than they'd anticipated (they may be sharing computers, engage in child or elder care, living in a different time zone, etc.), so there's no guarantee that every student will be available at the time your class was scheduled.

When teaching a primarily online course, there are two modes of student contact: synchronous activities (students and instructor participate together in real-time, such as by video or collaborating in Google Docs) and asynchronous activities (students can choose when to participate, how long to spend, etc., on their own schedule).

In face-to-face classes, synchronous and asynchronous activities are pre-defined: class sessions and office hours are synchronous; homework and essay drafts are asynchronous. In the remote learning environment, a major challenge is deciding which content to deliver synchronously versus asynchronously.

The goal of this Canvas page is to present tools and resources to help you achieve classroom objectives synchronously or asynchronously, so you can strike the balance that works for you and your students.