Instructors and infrastructure ready for online classes, MUN says

With in-person classes halted, remote instruction will begin at Memorial University Monday, and officials with the university say they're ready for the move to online classes.

"Folks have been doing the work to be ready to go," said Gavan Watson, associate vice-president in charge ofteaching and learning.

"I would say that the institution's prepared. The instructors that I've been chatting with have been working night and day to get ready for Monday."

Watson said much of the infrastructure for remote instruction is already in place, but some testing was needed to ensure it could handle the increased demand.

"We needed to make sure that all those systems were going to be ready so that faculty could use them and that they would handle the kind of load that we're expecting to see," he said.

"Based on the work that we've done we know that there'll always be little hiccups but [we] aren't expecting any big surprises."

Instructors adapting course material

Watson said there have been challenges for instructors to adjust to teaching online, and changes had to be made quickly to complete the semester, but he's been impressed with their ability to adapt.

"It's really a question of what's the most important thing they want the students to walk away [with] at the end of the course and get them to think about how to achieve those particular outcomes in a different setting," he said.

"They are building into their plans ways to ensure that students know that even though the learning environment has shifted, they know that they're an important part of that learning environment."

Moving lectures and seminars online has proved easier than doing labs remotely, Watson said, but labs are less frequent at this point in the semester.

"In cases where that hands-on learning couldn't necessarily happen because of the shift to remote instruction, we know that instructors are thinking about how they might be able to do those things differently," he said.

"They may not be able to ask students to demonstrate that they can manipulate instruments in the ways that they might have done in a typical semester, but we know that they're considering how students can demonstrate that they're doing that."

Finals done remotely

Watson there will also be no invigilated exams this semester

"All the final assessments will be taking place through remote means, either facilitated through the learning management system with a timed quiz, or a final exam might be a take home paper where students have a longer period of time to complete that work and submit it," he said.

"Students will be able to have the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding and comprehension of the material."

Instructors are now able to redesign their courses to change final assessmentswith allowances being made for low-tech options, as not all students have access to high-speed internet.

Despite the challenges, he said instructors want students to succeed as classes move online.

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