Continuity of Learning for Instructors

Continuity of learning refers to maintaining a consistent and effective teaching and learning experience during any period of campus closure due to emergencies. By providing alternative digital methods for teaching and learning, continuity of learning enables you to continue delivering instruction, engaging with your students, and supporting their learning goals and objectives.

TAMU-CC use the Code Blue Emergency Notification System, a comprehensive alert system that can connect students, faculty and staff during emergency situations. In the event of campus closure and cancellation of classes a message will be sent via the Code Blue system. Please make sure you send an announcement via Canvas to reiterate the outage and rescheduling any work during the outage period and informing your students of the campus closure or class cancellation. Do not assign or expect students to complete their work during this time period.

Using Canvas in the Event of Campus Closure

TAMU-Corpus Christi’s Canvas Learning Management System allows you to continue to teach your course or courses in the event of a campus evacuation or closure. Below are some steps and information to help you place your course online so that you can continue to teach in the event the campus closes.

Prepare your computer for Canvas in order for you to be able to utilize all the features available with your online course. Visit the Canvas Browser and Computer Requirements page for information on how to get your computer prepared.
   
Locate the Canvas version of your course by opening up a browser (we recommend FireFox or Chrome) and navigating to the TAMUCC Canvas website.
  
Log in using your Active Directory information (your User ID and Password that you use to log onto a campus computer or email). Locate your course/s in the list of courses that you teach and open one you wish to work on. Use the Canvas Getting Started guide to help you navigate Canvas.

Short-term campus closure

Adding Announcements: Use Canvas announcements to update students on important things happening in the course. Reassure your students that they can continue learning by logging into your course in Canvas. Once they are logged into Canvas, they can locate your course in the dashboard and continue learning.
- Creating Announcements in Canvas
Sending messages with “Inbox”: Use Canvas’ communication feature, “Inbox” to keep in contact with your students using email.
- Canvas Inbox Tutorial
Adding a Syllabus: One of the essential components of an online course is the class syllabus. Upload a copy of your syllabus to your course so students will know what is expected of them in the course.
- Adding a Syllabus to Canvas

Long-Term Campus Closure

Course Organization: the more organized your online class is the easier it will be for your students to use. Begin by mapping out your course content.
- Use the Course Mapping guide to help guide you.
Adding Content: (Notes, lessons, PowerPoint, instructions) Use Canvas’ content features to add content and organize a variety of media items such as text, graphics, videos, audio, files and links to create an interactive lesson to help your students succeed. Use the guides below to help you add content to your course.
- Create topic or module folders for your lessons to contain the content you will utilize (notes, instructions, readings, videos, images, etc).
  - Creating Modules in Canvas
  - Adding Content to Canvas Modules
- View the features of the Canvas text editor to learn how to use it to create content.
- Helpful guides to add other content to your course.
- - Adding a Canvas Page
  - Adding Web Links
Creating and Managing Interactive features: Use Canvas interactive features to involve students in class discussions and other forms of interactions to help promote learning.
Creating Assignments: Use the Canvas assignment feature to create activities and have the students submit them within Canvas to be graded and recorded into the gradebook.
- Creating Assignments
Creating Assessments: Use the Canvas Quiz feature to create quizzes and exams to be graded and recorded into the gradebook.
- Creating Quizzes
Grading in Canvas: Use Canvas “SpeedGrader” to grade student submissions, activities, and assessments.
- Canvas SpeedGrader

Canvas: Academic Digital Resource Center (A-DRC) - your one-stop shop for digital resources designed to empower you when digitizing your curriculum. The A-DRC was created in response to faculty requests for centralized resources pertinent to academic instructions.  This resource center includes:

a catalog of resources on a variety of pedagogical and technical topics,
on-demand training videos and how-to guides,
discussion community to support interdisciplinary collaboration and foster idea sharing, and
a schedule of professional development opportunities available throughout the academic year.

Tutorials and Guides: 

Digital Learning and Academic Innovations staff will make every effort to support you as you continue to teach your students in the event of campus closure. The best way to contact staff during campus closure is via dlai@tamucc.edu.

Continuity of Learning for Instructors

Using Canvas in the Event of Campus Closure

Getting started and accessing your course online

Guides for short- and long-term campus closure

Additional resources

Digital Learning and Academic Innovations (DLAI)