Classrooms at Utah State University are idle as faculty members begin to shift their classes to online delivery to due the threat of the coronavirus.

LOGAN – With classes temporarily suspended due to the coronavirus, Utah State University faculty and staff are now facing the daunting challenge of converting more than 6,000 ongoing courses to online delivery methods.

“That will be difficult, but not impossible,” said Dan Allred, an E-Learning enrollment specialist in the university’s Academic & Instructional Services office.

Allred said his optimism is based on the fact that all USU courses, including those previously taught strictly through traditional face-to-face methods in classrooms, have a built-in capability to deliver instructional content online.

That capability is a function of Canvas, a commercial off-the-shelf learning management system acquired by USU several years ago. The computer application is a platform for posting course content, accessing online tests and quizzes, submitting course assignments, soliciting feedback and disseminating grades.

Many USU professors have used Canvas to develop versions of their courses that are delivered entirely online. According to USU spokesperson Emilie Wheeler, the university offers more than 500 self-paced courses that are delivered online. In fact, she adds, USU students have access to 67 programs producing certificates, endorsements, minors or degrees that are delivered entirely online.

But the 497 online courses being offered during spring semester represent only 13 percent of the university’s current class schedule. The remainder of the university’s 6,011 face-to-face courses must be converted to online delivery by Wednesday, Mar. 18. Wheeler added that about 70 percent of those courses are scheduled on USU’s main campus in Logan, while the others are offered at other university locations statewide.

Adding to the difficulty of that challenge is the recognition by faculty members and university officials some academic subjects just don’t lend themselves to delivery via available distance learning technology.

One of the faculty members pondering that problem is Richie Call, an associate professor in the USU Department of Theatre Arts.

“We’re all trying to figure out how to teach acting online,” Call explained, referring to his colleagues teaching performing arts. “There’s certainly a lot of theory and theater history that we can discuss in group chats. Watching videos and analyzing performances, those kinds of things will work online.

“But it’s the performance aspect that we’re all trying to wrap our heads around. We could certainly shift to ‘acting for the camera’ assignments, but that requires technology and equipment that some of our students may not have.”

Wheeler said that faculty members voicing similar concerns about shifting to course content online have been asked to notify their department chairs by Monday, Mar. 16 so that the administration will have time to consider their issues and provide assistance.

Wheeler said university officials are reasonably confident that as many as 80 or 90 percent of USU courses will translate smoothly into online formats, especially since all faculty members are at least familiar with the online function of the Canvas learning management system.

She also noted that the staff members of the USU Center for Innovative Design & Instruction are prepared to assist faculty members in making the transition to online instruction.

“The CIDI people have been in meetings all day (Friday) brainstorming ways to facilitate this shift to online instruction,” Wheeler said.

The CIDI staff includes in-house experts in instructional design, lecture capture technology, graphic design, mobile content delivery, student-centered learning and resolution of accessibility issues.”



Source link