Resources to support remote students

Helen I. Malone, PhD Vice Provost for Academic Policy and Faculty Resources | September 21, 2021

Dear instructor,

Thank you for your many efforts to create an engaging learning environment for our students. I appreciate your hard work and dedication ensuring that our students have an excellent educational experience in a safe and healthy environment.

I am writing because during the semester, you may be asked to formally or informally accommodate one or more students who are unable to attend your in-person class because they are sick or in quarantine. Our students are expected to stay home when they are ill, and they rely on your accommodations to be successful. Please work with students who stay home because they are experiencing symptoms. For the health and safety of our entire university community, staying home when sick is the right thing to do. I know that our students who are ill truly appreciate your willingness to work with them as they recover.

I also appreciate that accommodating your students takes time and effort, and I want to make certain you have the information and resources necessary to support these students. The Office of Distance Education and eLearning (ODEE) partners with Student Life Disability Services to provide technology that can help to accommodate students.

Below you will find resources available to assist you as you work with your students. Please reach out to classroomhelp@osu.edu if you have other questions or classroom needs.

Again, thank you for all that you are doing.

 

Sincerely,

Helen I. Malone, PhD

Vice Provost for Academic Policy and Faculty Resources

 

Resources for instructors

Pool Room Technology

If you are teaching in one of the over 300 pool classrooms on Columbus campus managed by the ODEE, find out about technology available to you this semester.

On-Site Assistance

You can request a consultation or on-site assistance from ODEE’s Classroom Services team. They can teach you how to use specific classroom technologies and come up with strategies to meet student accommodations.

CarmenZoom Resources

The Teaching and Learning Resource Center offers guidance for using CarmenZoom to either simulcast your class session to allow remote students to participate, or to record your class session and share with remote students.

Other Possible Strategies

  • Provide the opportunity to make up missed exams and/or have exams conducted via Carmen
  • Have students volunteer to record classes for peers who are in quarantine or isolation, out sick, or taking a personal day from class
  • Help your students build a buddy system, where students zoom their buddy into class so they don't have to be absent
  • Consider offering equivalent work that could be offered for missing class so students don't get penalized for missing class due to illness