Remote Instruction Checklist

The COVID-19 crisis will only exacerbate preexisting barriers preventing all students from accessing and succeeding in your courses. Use the below checklist to determine how well you’re already mitigating these issues. If you fail to check one or more boxes, refer to the “Accessibility and equity considerations in remote instruction” section of the resource center.

• Your course meets all ADA requirements, and has been reviewed for ADA compliance.
• Students understand how to access your institution’s accessibility services.
• Students understand how to protect their data and privacy with regards to any tools introduced or recommended throughout the course.
• Your course is designed to mix asynchronous and synchronous delivery.
• Your course is accessible in an asynchronous format to students without consistent access to Wi-Fi.
• You have a clear pedagogical rationale for any required synchronous instruction.
• Course policies and assignments accommodate students with shifting life and home priorities.
• Clear policies address student conduct issues (e.g., microaggressions in online discussion forums).
• You are proactively reaching out to support students who might be struggling the most with the migration to remote instruction.
• Video content is accessible to students with special needs.
• Written course materials are accessible to students with special needs.
• You provide sufficient warning if upcoming coursework contains mature content, such as violence or nudity, as students may need to share their study space with family, young siblings, and children.

Students will have to quickly adapt to the new remote course format, and will need to understand new technologies, expectations, and course policies. Use the below checklist to determine how well you are orienting your students to this new environment. If you fail to check one or more boxes, refer to the “General Guidance for all Remote Instruction” section of the resource center.

• You have demonstrated to all students how to interact with course materials, with you the instructor, and with one another in the remote course format (e.g., how to navigate the LMS, how to access course materials, how to access assignments, how to submit assignments).
• An updated syllabus is available to all students so that they understand and may review both your expectations and any curricular changes from previous terms.
• A centralized, up-to-date, written portal provides important course updates to students (e.g., Announcements section of your LMS).
• Your contact information, communication preferences (e.g., how students should contact you), and communication expectations (e.g., how long students should expect to wait for a response) are clear to all students.
• Students know what technology they will need to succeed in the course, and how to troubleshoot any technology issues that may arise.
• Students know how to access academic and/or student services support offices and resources.

Without in-person instruction, and frequent reminders, many students can fall behind on larger assignments or neglect to take advantage of learning opportunities in a remote environment. Use the below checklist to enhance your pedagogical approach in your remote courses. If you fail to check one or more boxes, refer to the “General Guidance for all Remote Instruction” section of the resource center.

• You preemptively set due-date reminders when posting a new assignment to the LMS.
• You immediately share notes, outlines, or recordings of any lectures you present.
• You share your presentation slides, lecture script or notes, and any other supplementary materials with students immediately after class.
• You link to (and cite appropriately) external resources that supplement your course materials and provide students with additional opportunities to engage with concepts outside of class.
• You have developed sample workplans with clear informal deadlines to help students stay on track to complete larger assignments without in-person accountability.

Students interacting with and learning from one another is a hallmark of the higher education experience, and not something you want to lose in a remote environment. Use the below checklist to ensure that your students have ample opportunities to engage with one another. If you fail to check one or more boxes, refer to the “General Guidance for all Remote Instruction” section of the resource center.

• You have developed and shared clear conduct policies and expectations for online discussion.
• You actively promote civil peer-to-peer discussion and clearly outline what behaviors are unacceptable.
• You have developed and shared discussion rubrics to guide student behavior.
• You acknowledge and encourage student participation as much as possible.
• You prompt and encourage deeper thinking and engagement with the material when students share their thoughts and observations.
• You provide expertise where needed to keep conversation on track and progressing.
• You use your institution’s LMS chat and/or discussion forum functions to allow students to engage with you and with one another on their own time.

In a remote environment, you will likely have to adapt how you provide feedback to students on the assignments and projects they submit. Use the below checklist to ensure that your students understand how and when they will receive feedback from you. If you fail to check one or more boxes, refer to the “General Guidance for all Remote Instruction” section of the resource center.

• You set clear expectations for when students will hear back from you (e.g., email responses within 24 hours).
• You promptly acknowledge you’ve received submitted assignments.
• You provide timely feedback on submitted assignments according to the expectations you set at the beginning of the remote instruction period.
• You hold virtual office hours where students can engage directly with you over chat, discussion forum, video, or phone.

Standard student evaluation and assessment practices may no longer account for students’ and instructors’ new reality. Use the below checklist to guide conversations on temporary course-level changes to scheduling, testing, student academic engagement, and academic integrity practices. If you fail to check one or more boxes, refer to EAB’s “Six ways instructors should revise student evaluation and assessment practices” article.

• Remove synchronous participation requirements from final grade calculations.
• All online exams are asynchronous, open-book, open-note, and open-Internet.
• Students have several days to access and take online exams.
• Online exam questions do not require students to enter complex formulas or diagrams within format-limiting textboxes.
• You have randomized the questions, and question order, students receive for each concept or content area.
• You have clearly articulated to students what academic integrity in an online setting means to you, avoiding excessive references to cheating or how you plan to prevent it.
• You require students to sign a statement on academic integrity prior to entering an online assessment.
• You do not rely on any cheating prevention methods, like lockdown browsers or online proctoring services, not already authorized by your institution.
• You employ multiple assessment strategies to measure content knowledge, attitudes, and skills.
• You offer multiple opportunities for students to give feedback on course content, format, technology, and accessibility, and you use formal and informal student feedback to help plan instruction and student assessment.