Helping You and Your Students Balance Multiple Course Modalities

These days, just keeping track of what day it is can be a challenge. And this fall, both you and your students may have to keep track of several different course configurations—navigating between in-person, hybrid, remote, and online courses. Luckily, there are some great strategies available to help you and your students balance varied schedules, structures and expectations. And, all of these strategies are cornerstones of good teaching, so adapting them provides a payoff both now and later!

Helping your students: clear and frequent communication is key.

One of the best ways to help your students successfully navigate the maze of course modalities they’ll face this fall is by providing open and regular communication. The more students hear from you about the course, the better they’ll understand your goals and course expectations and the more willing they’ll be to check in with you.

• Create a clear course schedule. Make sure things like due dates and assignments are easy to find on your syllabus, and make the general pace or flow of the course visually evident (e.g., bold lines between days, consistent marking for synchronous sessions). Use the calendar in Blackboard and remind students to check their Drexel email accounts daily.
• Use principles of online course design to organize your Blackboard courses. Organizing course materials in weekly content areas or folders can help students stay on track regardless of the course modality. Employ a pattern of delivering new “chunks” of content followed by learning activities and assessments, rather than clustering readings in one section and activities in another. These “chunks” help students digest material before moving on, and visualize connections between content, activities and assessments.
• Aim for consistency in basic design across activities and assignments. For example, perhaps discussion board posts are always due on Mondays, project updates are on Wednesdays and quizzes are on Fridays. Changing the day that the same kind of activity is due just makes for confusion and missed assignments. Whatever structural sequence you settle on, try to replicate it as closely as possible with each new week, unit, or module that your students encounter.
• Start before the course begins. Create a short message that acknowledges how the term might be different, shares the specific steps you’ve taken to help students navigate your course, and provides students with some strategies for keeping their schedules organized. These strategies might include a weekly planner, calendar alerts, or more involved project management tools such as Office 365 Planner or Microsoft Teams. Discuss these strategies in your first session or asynchronous point of contact.
• Employ the buddy system. Ask students to exchange contact information with at least one other classmate and encourage them to have frequent check-ins with each other.
• Keep students on track weekly. At the beginning of each week, clarify what content the class is tackling this week, upcoming assignments and reminders about due dates. You can also text students with reminders. Students are more likely to appreciate these moves when the text keeps them from forgetting about tomorrow’s quiz!

Helping yourself: plan thoughtfully, reflect and adjust.

The good news is by helping students stay on track, you'll also be helping yourself by reducing the number of logistical questions students ask about your courses. However, below are a few additional recommendations from faculty who have been teaching courses in multiple modalities for years.

• Construct your own plan. If you’ve never been the weekly planner type, now might be the time to change that! Be intentional about the ways you’ll keep track of your classes this fall. You might consider using a paper planner or one of the many planner apps to keep track of to-do lists and course-related tasks. Blocking out weekly times for course prep and grading is also a must!
• Look for time-savers. Consider places where you can “batch” or streamline your approach. Does it make sense to grade the same kind of assignment across courses? If you work well in the morning, should you place your office hours then to make extra use of unexpected free time? Conversely, are you staggering due dates so that you are not inundated? Consider additional ways to design assignments now that will save you time on grading later.
• Bounce new ideas off of colleagues. Remember that you are not alone. There are a number of faculty at Drexel who are happy to brainstorm ideas, troubleshoot issues, share what's worked for them, or simply listen! Complete the online request form to meet with one of Drexel’s many Peer2Peer Network faculty experienced in teaching online or ask a CASTLE faculty fellow advice about a particular approach you are planning.
• Remember to care for yourself. Just as you want to support your students, we also remind you to be good to yourself. Whenever possible make time for breaks, intentional distraction, exercise or contemplative practices; employ strategies for getting adequate sleep; and laugh out loud at least once a day. Doctor’s orders.