Information Technology (IT) provides many tools and resources for students, faculty, and staff to work remotely in the event of an unexpected campus closure.
This article is intended to point you to the tools you'll need to carry on with instruction, to keep up with classwork, or to work remotely in the event that campus is closed.

Are you familiar with all the tools UNI offers for remote teaching? Do you feel confident using them? What about adapting an in-person course (or components of it) into a remote format?

Whether you're just getting started with UNI’s eLearning tools or have years of experience, this article brings together a curated set of resources to support you at any stage.

At UNI, every course listed in the Student Information System (SIS) automatically has a corresponding Blackboard course. This integration is designed to make it easier to adapt in-person courses for online delivery—whether for a short-term need or a long-term shift. You might be closer to enhancing your teaching with these tools than you think!

Just getting started? No problem!

• Review the Academic Contingency Planning article for key guidance on planning for remote education in case of contingency situations if your course is usually in-person

  • You might also consider using the Quality Matters (QM) Emergency Remote Instruction checklist to become familiar with a variety of techniques for ensuring the quality of your online instruction

• Internet bandwidth capabilities and your students' own mental bandwidth (especially during emergency/widely-impactful contingency situations) are a significant consideration to take into account while planning for remote instruction; the following presentation collaboratively put together by the IT-ETMS and CETL departments in March of 2020 cover considering these factors in detail: Remote Possibilities: Considering your Students' Bandwidth

• Another presentation to consider is Are you Prepared?, which was given to CBA faculty in March of 2020

Unsure of where to get started with learning about using your eLearning Suite tools?
Visit this article for a variety of on-demand videos intended for beginners, including more advanced topics further along:
Getting Started with the UNI eLearning Suite for Faculty/Staff

On occasion, workshops about using various eLearning Suite tools are offered. Interested? You can visit the Faculty/Staff Workshops Calendar to see what all sessions are available.

A handful of videos for getting started with Blackboard, Panopto, and Zoom follow:

• Getting Started with Your Blackboard Learn Course

• Getting Started with Panopto

• How to use Zoom with your Class

• Adding Library Remote Resources to my Blackboard Learn Course

• Remote Possibilities: Considering your Students' Bandwidth

• Spring 2020 Academic Contingency Bb Learn Template Instructions (Google Doc)

  • instructions include a link to a Spr 2020 era Bb Learn Template intended to ease & quicken the transition from in-person courses into remote education

  • Video tutorial for this template, other tips (Panopto video)

Below is a table identifying specific things you may need to do with your online course resources, with matching links to our articles (and in some cases, articles created by the tool's vendor) covering how to use the recommended eLearning Suite tool for that purpose.

Students should contact their instructors to receive information on how classes will continue in the event of campus closure or other routine interruption.
Below are a variety of resources for the eLearning tool suite.

There are multiple ways that faculty and staff can work remotely and still access their necessary IT resources.
To learn more specific information, faculty and staff should get in contact with their IT support staff by submitting a Service Hub request or by calling the IT Service Desk at 319-273-5555.