Faculty Flu Toolkit
Your how-to guide for working with campus technology
We’ve pulled together some quick tips and instruction sheets to help you put together a plan for staying in touch with your students in the event you get sick and need to teach from home, or if you need to cancel your class and send your students announcements.
E-mailing your students
E-mail is a simple way to communicate with your students. Here are a few ways you can set up your e-mail Contacts lists to e-mail your entire class in one step.
Send e-mail to all students enrolled in your course
What’s required
- For you, a computer with an Internet connection and access to e-mail software.
- For your students, a BC student e-mail account.
How-to handout
Important: If you plan to use this method, don’t forget to advise your students to create their BC e-mail account as soon as possible. Direct your students to the account set-up site at https://bellevuecollege.edu/sam.
Send e-mail to your students using a distribution list you set up
What’s required
- For you, a computer with an Internet connection and access to e-mail software.
- For your students, an e-mail address (doesn’t need to be issued by the college).
How-to handouts
- Note: Instructions for setting up distribution lists on a Mac (using Entourage) or a PC (Outlook) will be available soon.
Tips for ensuring e-mail is effective
- Before an emergency situation arises, send out a test message and request a response from each student to ensure that you can reach all students in your course.
- Remind students who are using personal e-mail addresses (not BC e-mail accounts) that if their e-mail address changes they’ll need to update you with that new information or forward their old account to their new one.
- If students do not have access to e-mail off campus, work with them individually to find a way in which you can contact them should the course be interrupted due to an emergency. For some students, this may be a home or cell phone number that you will keep confidential, for others it may be the e-mail address of a friend.
Using a MyBC Class Site
What it provides
A MyBC Class Site provides a fairly simple way to share (post) documents such as lectures, assignments, and your syllabus to a website that may only be accessed by you and your students. The site comes with other collaborative features such as discussion boards, blogs and surveys.
What’s required
You and your students will each need a computer with an Internet connection. Students will also need to create their BC student network account (at https://bellevuecollege.edu/sam) before they can log in to MyBC and access these sites.
How to request a MyBC Class Site
MyBC Class Sites are available to every instructor at the college at no additional fees. In fact, you don’t need to request one—they are automatically available to you inside MyBC. If you wish to use a MyBC Class Site, follow the suggestions below to get started.
How to start
- View the How to Create a MyBC Class Site demo and read FAQ at https://go.mybcc.net/pages/classsites.aspx
- Log in to MyBC and create your class sites directly from the MyBC home page following the steps outlined in the demo.
- Once you’ve created your site, view the Get Started with MyBC Class Sites demo. This demo will give you a quick intro explaining some basics like how to post a file and how to make changes to the site home page.
Other on-demand training to check out:
- Lori’s SharePoint Tips and Tricks Blog at https://go.mybcc.net/training/MyBC/blog/ [employee password required]
- MyBC Training tutorials at https://go.mybcc.net/training/MyBC/ [student or employee password required]
- You may also contact Web Services staff for assistance with these sites.
Important: When using some features in an online course site, you’ll need to consider how to make the information accessible for everyone—especially if one of your students has requested accommodation through the Disability Resource Center.
Using a Blackboard Vista (Bb) Course Site
What it provides
A Blackboard Vista course site provides a full suite of tools within a central web space that allow you to post announcements and course content (distributed how you wish—on a schedule or all at once). Blackboard Vista provides tools for posting assignments, grading assignments, quizzes/exams, and allows you to conduct discussions, live text chats and more.
What’s required
- An instructor must have previous experience and training on Blackboard Vista to use this resource during an emergency situation.
- Access to a computer with Internet connectivity (both faculty and students).
- Successful completion of the computer set-up instructions provided by Distance Education (available at http://bellevuecollege.edu/frc/cds/browserhelp_2009/) to make sure user computers are correctly configured to work with Blackboard.
Who may request a Blackboard Vista Course Site during a severe flu outbreak?
Only faculty members with previous Blackboard experience and a willingness to work with students to get them acclimated to this software may request a Blackboard site. The reason for this is that in the event of a flu outbreak, support and training may be extremely limited for students and faculty using this somewhat daunting software.
How to request a Blackboard Vista Course Site during a severe flu outbreak?
If you’d like to have one of your previously used sites copied for your use during a H1N1 flu outbreak, submit a request. If you opt to use Blackboard Vista as a means for continuing your course work during a severe flu outbreak (emergency situation), the registration fees ordinarily associated with the use of Vista will be waived. Be aware that in the event of a severe outbreak or limited staff, your request to have a specific site copied may not be possible and a simple, generic template may be the only type of site available to you.
Important:
When using multimedia or time-based presentations, you’ll need to consider how to make the information accessible for everyone—especially if one of your students has requested accommodation through the Disability Resource Center.
Get tips and techniques for producing accessible materials
Recording lectures or demos using Camtasia Relay
Camtasia Relay is software that allows you to record exactly what’s on your computer screen including the screen, mouse clicks, and any accompanying audio (such as narration or explanations).
Ways you might use Camtasia Relay
- Record lectures from your home, office or classroom computer and distribute to your students via the Internet or your class site.
Basic requirements
- The Camtasia Relay recorder needs to be installed on your computer (Mac or PC).
- A computer with an Internet connection (for you and each of your students).
- A microphone for you (instructor) if you intend to record audio.
- A headphone or speakers for both you and your students if your recording includes audio.
How to start
Important:
When using multimedia or timed presentations, you’ll need to consider how to make the information accessible for everyone—especially if one of your students has requested accommodation through the Disability Resource Center.
Get tips and techniques for producing accessible materials
Holding “virtual meetings” using Elluminate
Elluminate is software that allows you to hold web-based, live meetings between two or more people. Before you can begin using the software as a moderator, you’ll need to complete 3 hours of training. Once training is completed, you may request an account to set up your meetings.
Ways to use Elluminate
- Meetings with at-a-distance participants
- Virtual office hours
- Live instruction and demonstrations
- Tutoring and mentoring
- Collaborating on content with others
- Professional development.
Basic requirements
- A computer with an Internet connection (for all participants).
- Training. This training is delivered via two 90 minute sessions. Training must be completed before you request an account. Partcipants who are not moderating a session are not required to complete training.
- An account. (You’ll need to complete training before you may request an account).
- A microphone for you (instructor) if you plan to capture sound input (e.g. your voice). It’s desirable for your students to also have a microphone.
- Speakers or headsets (for all participants).
How to start
- Watch a demo at http://www.elluminate.com/demo/recorded_demos_list.jsp
- Visit the Elluminate information site at https://go.mybcc.net/ir/elluminate/
- Steps for Requesting an Account (which includes 3 hours of training) are outlined at https://go.mybcc.net/ir/elluminate/accounts/.
Note
The use of the Elluminate software is provided by the Washington State Board of Community and Technical Colleges and may be used at no cost by Bellevue College employees.