Dear Faculty Colleagues,
As you have no doubt heard many times by now, due to COVID-19 health and safety considerations a lot of UT Austin course content will be delivered online this fall. We are writing you on behalf of the Online Education Task Force (OETF). OETF is part of the president’s fall planning initiative, and we were created to save you time and make it easier to deliver great online course content in the fall. Our membership includes faculty from a wide range of colleges, supported by learning and technology specialists from the Provost’s Office, the Faculty Innovation Center, Liberal Art Instructional Technology Services (LAITS), and the Texas Institute for Discovery Education in Science (TIDES).
Most of our classes will be affected by online delivery of content in one way or another.
- Some of us will be unable to teach in person for safety reasons (see the provost’s recent email for details)
- The largest 400 courses will be provided exclusively online because our campus does not have the classroom space to accommodate the enrolled students at 40% capacity. This will provide additional classroom space to accommodate smaller courses.
- Many other courses (other than those that must be restricted to in-person delivery) will be providing content online to students who are unable to be in class.
RIGHT NOW, it’s important that you discuss your plans for how you will teach your fall courses with your department chair or dean as final decisions regarding room reservations will be made shortly.
In the coming weeks, we promise we are not going to send you an extensive list of resources you need to sift through, the vast majority of which are not relevant to your situation. Instead, we hope to offer you specific and concise training as well as useful tools that will make a meaningful difference to you, without requiring a huge investment of your time. In fact, the entire goal is to save you time.
Help this summer
- Online Training (available July 1) – The Academic Planning Task Force has indicated that completion of an appropriate level of training for online teaching will be expected of anyone teaching online. The OETF is currently working with experts from around campus to create a two-hour module that is designed to save you time and to help you to enhance your online teaching skills.
- Canvas Templates (available mid-July) – Course templates will be designed to simplify the process of setting up and supporting online courses. A standard selection of course components, including integration of teaching tools, for the most common course frameworks will be available.
- Knowledge Sharing (available now) – We have created a Canvas page for the sharing of ideas and best practices relating to online teaching. We will send you an invitation to contribute to and explore the discussions in the near future. From these discussion boards, and other sources, we will curate a selection of Online Tips and Tricks and will include them on the Canvas page for you.
What can I do NOW? All experienced online teachers have told us that the key is extensive preparation.
- Whatever your level of experience is with Canvas, now would be a great time take the next step in designing the Canvas presence for your fall courses. The Canvas team is ready and willing to help. A lot of good material is available on their page, including a list of upcoming workshops. There is something for every level, and if your exact issue is not addressed, they are happy to do one-on-one consultations.
- Talk to your college leadership. Many colleges have resources available to support online teaching.
- Check out the Faculty Innovation Center Commons for guided help in online/blending course planning.
Save the Date!
- The OETF online teaching module will be available by July 1. We will notify you once it is ready.
- The Provost’s Teaching Fellows and Faculty Innovation Center will be hosting a summer version of Eyes on Teaching on July 22-23 for faculty to visit a variety of online and blended classes and share best practices. New to Eyes on Teaching? Read about the Spring 2020 event.
Best regards,
The Online Education Task Force Team
Please contact one of the OETF Co-chairs with questions or for more information:
Brent Iverson, Dean, School of Undergraduate Studies
Jen Moon, Chair, Provost’s Teaching Fellows
Dave Platt, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Academic Affairs