Make a Plan
Communicate with Your Students
The fastest way to communicate with your entire class from within Blackboard is to post an announcement, remember to select the email announcement box as well. There will then be a record on the Announcements page of your message.
Decide if you'll do synchronous or asynchronous teaching or both.
There are two options for instructors to facilitate class sessions remotely:
Synchronous: instructors and students gather at the same time and interact in “real-time” with a very short or “near-real-time” exchange between instructors and students.
Asynchronous: instructors prepare course materials for students in advance of students’ access. Students may access the course materials at a time of their choosing and will interact with each over a longer period of time.
Instructors may choose to engage their students synchronously or asynchronously depending on the course content or material that needs to be taught.
Maintain a Regular "Meeting" Schedule or Touch Point
If your class was meeting once a week or twice a week, you should try to keep that same routine. Give students weekly assignments or activities to keep them coming back and logging into your course. For instance, if your class met on Mondays and Wednesdays, schedule things to be due on those days or schedule virtual meetings. Students should be logging into your course at least twice a week in this case. Not all of these assignments and activities have to be graded. They are touch points that let you know your students are still with you.
