The uncertainty of students’ home environments, particularly in how they access class from home, can affect how they access course materials. MSHE has suggested polling students on their home-based technology access and availability. Consider the following insights and model to accommodate varying levels of student access to your course.
Be concise and intentional in Canvas
- Organize your Canvas course clearly so that students can quickly find the readings they need to download or print.
- See examples of how faculty use Pages or Modules to organize their Canvas course sites. Ask Chris Neary, who has developed a Canvas template for MSHE courses.
- Create weekly summary emails or Canvas announcements where students can easily access the readings or other materials needed for the week.
Adapt material to varying technological capacity
Consider your use of technologies in your course. What are the advantages, and what are the trade-offs? Daniel Stafford formed a continuum grid model that illustrates levels of bandwidth (students’ technological capacity) with levels of immediacy (must students complete this now or do they have time?)
- Consider low-tech alternatives on assignments. If the assignment calls for a video submission, will a written contribution to a discussion board suffice?
- Support video materials with written transcript. If a student is unable to view a video, allow them to read a transcript of contents. If you want to produce a video, record using your Northwestern Zoom account—recording it automatically generates a written transcript. If you use an external video, transcript options may be available at the source. Chris Neary is happy to assist you with this setup.