[Faculty] Re-sending message due to changing environment: Resources for Improving Your Hybrid or Online Course Delivery

Tue Jun 30 09:31:56 MST 2020

Everyone,

I'm sure you have all been following the news that the state of Arizona (along with others across the country) is reversing course and re-imposing restrictions on economic and social activity due to the sharp increase in COVID cases.   President Robbins spent much of last week with the national news media commenting that the UA's plan to bring back students in person in August will also have to be reversed if today's conditions still prevail later in the summer.   It doesn't take a genius to conclude that the odds of us pivoting to online delivery have risen sharply.

For Fall 2020, CALS intends to offer about 25% of all course seats in the full in-person mode, and another 40% of seats in the flex in-person (hybrid) mode.   The remaining seats are either scheduled for Live Online or fully online iCourses.  Through much discussion between department heads and individual faculty, we arrived at what I consider to be a very commendable menu of course modalities  for our students.  It offers options to fit every student's safety and travel concerns, at the same time delivering in the spirit of President Robbins desire to provide a meaningful in-person experience for students.   As usual, CALS faculty came through.

That said, events seem to be conspiring against us.  My message today is targeted at those of you in the first two (in-person) categories.   And it is simple:    we have 7 precious weeks before fall classes start, and a rising probability that they will start online.  I urge you to use this time wisely to begin preparing for the possibility of online delivery.

As I explained in my email from May 11 (repeated below), this effort will actually make your in-person course delivery better.  So, the time will be well spent.  And, even if we do start in person, our experience over the last 3 weeks tells us that there is a significant probability that we'll have to pivot to online delivery later in the semester if the vaunted "2nd Wave" of infections appears.

Unlike in March, there will be no excuse for being caught flat-footed this time.   Please, please, invest some time thinking about how you will adapt your course if the call is made to deliver online.  If it were me, I would be spending time to think through how to break down my lectures into bite-sized pre-recorded segments, posted to my D2L site.  You don't have to have the entire semester done by August 24, just a few weeks worth to give you some breathing room and get comfortable and  practiced at delivering content in the "flipped" environment.  Like last spring, you will still have classes with synchronous meetings scheduled (even if you aren't physically in the campus classroom), so you should also be thinking about how to effectively utilize class meeting times if you've succeeded in getting the key content recorded and posted in advance.  This would be far superior to trying to hold your normal in-person class via Zoom and droning through a lecture for 50 minutes.  And, if we are fortunate enough to be able to convene in person on August 24, your normal presentation will be much the better for working through a "flipped" delivery model.

I refer you to my memo from May (below) and the attached resources sheet.

We'll get through this, but more effectively and with less stress if we work ahead.  Nobody is happy about the uncertainty, but we don't have much choice in the matter.   The disease is boss right now and we have to cope as best we can.  I can think of no team better to be with through this than CALS faculty.  We'll get it done!

Mike

Michael Staten | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Bart Cardon Associate Dean for Career and Academic Services
Professor, Agricultural and Resource Economics
The University of Arizona
Forbes Hall, Room 211
The University of Arizona
PO Box 210036
Tucson, AZ 85721-0036
PHONE: 520.621.1932
statenm at email.arizona.edu<mailto:statenm at email.arizona.edu>
www.mikestaten.com<http://www.mikestaten.com>

 <https://mail.catnet.arizona.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=IhgSDS1aM0-pCxLd45SX6QGVXkA_Y9AICxoYjhJJjkGPbEiiVeur7Ss2XRc_SwTxACxOMDV7S6Y.&URL=https%3a%2f%2fwww.facebook.com%2fCreditWiseCats>   <https://mail.catnet.arizona.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=IhgSDS1aM0-pCxLd45SX6QGVXkA_Y9AICxoYjhJJjkGPbEiiVeur7Ss2XRc_SwTxACxOMDV7S6Y.&URL=https%3a%2f%2ftwitter.com%2fCreditWiseCats>

________________________________
From: Staten, Michael E - (statenm)
Sent: Monday, May 11, 2020 5:44 PM
To: faculty at list.cals.arizona.edu <faculty at list.cals.arizona.edu>
Cc: Hunt, James E - (jeh) <JHunt at ag.arizona.edu>; Ratje, Jeffrey M - (jmratje) <jmratje at arizona.edu>; Antin, Parker B - (pba) <pba at arizona.edu>; Burgess, Shane C - (shaneburgess) <sburgess at cals.arizona.edu>; Rutherford, Janis KM - (jmathias) <jmathias at arizona.edu>; Silvertooth, Jeffrey C - (silverto) <Silver at ag.arizona.edu>
Subject: Resources for Improving Your Hybrid or Online Course Delivery

Colleagues,

Even as we put the Spring 2020 semester into the record books (literally) this week, I know that many of you are already thinking about Fall 2020 and how you'll be delivering your courses.  At this point you know as much as I do, which is exactly what President Robbins and Provost Folks have said on numerous occasions:   we plan to be back on campus and offering  in-person courses in the Fall.

In the coming weeks we'll be seeing multiple revisions of a Campus Re-entry plan.  I suspect the details will continue to evolve, possibly right up to the first day of classes.  But, there are some things we do know and can begin to plan around.  Perhaps the most relevant for instruction is that, if we are able to offer in-person classes, we will have to accommodate both faculty and students who are at higher risk for the COVID-19 disease (e.g., older faculty or immuno-compromised individuals) and don't feel safe returning to campus.  This means that faculty teaching in Fall 2020 (and perhaps Spring 2021) will need to plan how to deliver their course to students in-person and online.  And, depending on the faculty member, they may need to deliver to both groups of students from off campus.

To me, it sounds unavoidable that faculty must prepare for some degree of online/digital delivery.

This does not mean that you must become experts by August!   We all know that mastery of a new craft (like teaching, when you first entered the field) takes many hours of practice, repeated trials, feedback, reflection, innovation and so on.  Don't expect mastery by August.  Shoot for a level of competence that you can feel good about and build upon as you gain experience through the semester.

Everyone on this distribution list who happened to be teaching in Spring 2020 has now dipped at least a toe into online delivery.  The experience was undoubtedly better for some, less satisfactory for others.  But, you pulled it off with only 6 days notice.  You have more warning this time around and will almost certainly do it differently, and better, next fall.  You are already building on your prior experience.

Fortunately, the UA has many resources for online course development and digital learning available to you as well.  The UA Office of Instruction and Assessment (OIA) and the Office of Digital Learning (ODL) each have a wide range of tutorials and other resources to accommodate faculty from rank beginner to seasoned veteran.

Attached is a Quick Reference Guide to these resources, assembled by Jim Hunt, our CALS Assistant Dean for Academic Services.  Jim is available most of the summer to offer guidance and answer questions.  His contact information is on the bottom of the Guide.  I strongly recommend that you take an afternoon and click through the links on the Quick Reference Guide to get familiar with what is available, with a goal of finding a starting point that works for you and your level of experience.

I know that preparing for hybrid or online delivery seems like a daunting challenge for many of you.  Do not despair!  By my count we have 109 days until the start of Fall semester 2020.   Even doing a modest amount every week will get you well-positioned in time for the start of classes.  You will find, for example, that hybrid course delivery is really not so different from what many of you do already.  And the video recording technology is now so easy to use that you'll quickly become confident in recording and posting lecture material in "small bites" after just a few trials.

Every CALS academic unit has faculty members who are already veterans at digital learning and online delivery.  If you don't already know who they are, ask your colleagues or your Unit Head.  We are forming a CALS Faculty Learning Community led by Kayle Skorupski (Nutritional Science) and Arin Haverland (Environmental Science) that will provide peer-to-peer assistance throughout the summer and into the academic year.  I believe you will be hearing from them soon, if you haven't already.   Connect with them, ask questions, take advantage of their experience.

You can do this!  But, the important thing is to just get started.

As always, don't hesitate to send me questions, comments, suggestions.  Helping you prepare for Fall 2020 is my office's top priority this summer.   We have queries out to the provost's office regarding room and course scheduling, changing official "modality" for delivering courses, etc.  Don't worry about any of that now.  We'll keep you posted.

And, thank you again for all that you are doing, and continue to do for our students.   Nobody does it better than CALS!

Mike

Michael Staten | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Bart Cardon Associate Dean for Career and Academic Services

Professor, Agricultural and Resource Economics

The University of Arizona

Forbes Hall, Room 211

The University of Arizona

PO Box 210036

Tucson, AZ 85721-0036

PHONE: 520.621.1932

statenm at email.arizona.edu<mailto:statenm at email.arizona.edu>

www.mikestaten.com<http://www.mikestaten.com>

 <https://mail.catnet.arizona.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=IhgSDS1aM0-pCxLd45SX6QGVXkA_Y9AICxoYjhJJjkGPbEiiVeur7Ss2XRc_SwTxACxOMDV7S6Y.&URL=https%3a%2f%2fwww.facebook.com%2fCreditWiseCats>   <https://mail.catnet.arizona.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=IhgSDS1aM0-pCxLd45SX6QGVXkA_Y9AICxoYjhJJjkGPbEiiVeur7Ss2XRc_SwTxACxOMDV7S6Y.&URL=https%3a%2f%2ftwitter.com%2fCreditWiseCats>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://list.cals.arizona.edu/pipermail/faculty/attachments/20200630/9078dec3/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: CALS Memo on Online instructional resources May 12 2020.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 145862 bytes
Desc: CALS Memo on Online instructional resources May 12 2020.pdf
URL: <https://list.cals.arizona.edu/pipermail/faculty/attachments/20200630/9078dec3/attachment.pdf>