Important reminders for reliable remote instruction
April 3, 2020 8:29 AM

Dear Faculty,

Thank you very much for all your efforts the past couple weeks to ensure the continuity of instruction for our students. This email highlights a few important updates and reminders about making remote instruction as reliable as possible.

Choose the lowest bandwidth option possible

• Our students do not all have reliable, high speed internet access. Nationwide, many users are experiencing degraded internet service as networks are struggling to serve increased home internet and streaming usage. Whenever possible, try to use text, audio or video instead of synchronous content. Live Zoom sessions should only be used for office hours or smaller classes that require student interaction. See the Keep Teaching resources page for guides on creating video lectures and information on how to get one-on-one support. Please try to be accommodating if you have students with connectivity issues.
• If you are planning on using Proctorio for exam proctoring, we recommend doing a practice test at least a week in advance to allow students to test out their configurations. Internet upload speeds are different than download speeds; students who are used to expedient downloading of course materials may struggle with the Proctorio service, as it is reliant on upload speed.

Check your Zoom security settings

• If you are using Zoom, please make sure you have updated the Zoom security settings for your sessions and are aware of how to manage disrupters. The campus is taking Zoom disruption incidents very seriously and trying to make sure our learning environments are not disrupted by explicit content and hate speech. As of March 31, 2020, all newly created Zoom meetings require a password by default. Meeting organizers and course instructors will need to share passwords with attendees ahead of Zoom meetings.

Refer students with access issues to the Student Assistance Center

• The campus has sent multiple messages to students regarding available resources for internet access, loaner laptops and webcams. Despite these messages, some students still may not be aware of ways the university can help them access their remote classes. Please refer students in need of such support to the Student Assistance Center by encouraging them to email helpdean@illinois.edu. Student email requests are answered promptly and tracked until the issue is resolved. We have already shipped out dozens of loaner devices to students and assisted many students with connecting to free internet services from major providers.

Again, thank you for all you have done to ensure the continuity  of our campus educational mission in these unprecedented circumstances.

Sincerely,

Andreas C. Cangellaris
Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost