Strategies & Solutions

Use this page to determine your best approaches to teaching remotely via Canvas.

General – Some general remote teaching strategies.
Before the Course Starts – How to prepare your course for remote teaching via Canvas.
During the Course Run – How to deliver your course using remote teaching.
After the Course Concludes – How to finish the course and submit grades.

Click each section below to view.

General Strategies

Communicate

Be sure to let your students know how you will communicate with them (you should also include this information on your syllabus). Will you use Canvas Announcements or Inbox? Email? Or some other method(s)? We can (and should) clearly state our communication policies to our students.

Record Your Lectures in Advance

Prepare a recorded lecture in advance using Zoom. Our teams are happy to work with faculty to provide advice about software, microphones, and camera settings as well as to how to deliver your video(s) online.

Host Your Class Online During Your Scheduled Class Time

Penn State offers Zoom video conferencing so you can meet with up to 500 people online simultaneously.

Provide “Before Class” Resources in Place of the Scheduled Class

Provide and assign online readings and/or lecture videos that address the material(s) you would have normally covered in a face-to-face class, and require students to review those prior to class. Then use class time to discuss the topics your readings and recordings covered.

Design Alternative Activities

Create a Canvas-based quiz or assignment or Kaltura video quiz to encourage student accountability for reviewing material that you provide online. You could also open a Canvas discussion forum to provide a platform where students can respond to questions and discuss course concepts.

Review Current Policies

Be sure to review University policies related to absences, emergencies, and class instruction. Most related policies are linked at the beginning of the Penn State Web Learning Contingency Planning for Undergraduate Education site.

Before the Course Starts

Set Course Objectives

Instructional Goals and Objectives

Create Your Syllabus

Creating Stellar Syllabi

Conceptualize Your Course Design

Smeal TLT: Design a Student-centered Course
Basic Design Strategies for an Online Course
Have a Strong Instructor Presence
Smeal TLT: Incorporate Academic Integrity Concepts
Read also the Synchronous and Asynchronous Teaching page on this site.

Create Your Course Schedule

List all due dates for assignments and assessments
List all live session dates.

Create Your Course Content

Use Word to Capture Your Unique Course Content
- Can be Later Uploaded to Canvas or Copied into Canvas Pages
Identify Course Content From Other Sources
- Links, Files, etc.

Create Your Course Files (Recorded Lectures, Word docs, PDFs, etc.)

Organize Your Course Content

List Your Face-to-face, In-class Activities
List Your Online Activities

Create Your Course Assignments and Discussions

Crafting Online Discussion Questions

Create Your Course Assessments

Writing Effective Quiz Questions

Record “Watch Before Class” Lectures

Best for “stable” content. Follow up by in-class discussions.
Zoom Learning Path
Canvas Learning Path: Zoom
Smeal TLT: Do-it-Yourself Video Recording Ideas

In Canvas – Course Development

Creating a simple structure in Canvas
- Getting Started with Canvas
Create a Canvas Orientation for Students
- Link to the Canvas Student Guide
Activate Your Grading Scheme
- Create a Penn State-compatible Grading Scheme
Upload Your Course Syllabus
- Canvas Learning Path: Syllabus
Upload Your Course Schedule and Other Course Files (Recorded Lectures, Word docs, PDFs, etc.)
- Canvas Learning Path: Create Pages and Files
Integrate Your Assignments and Discussions
- Canvas Learning Path: Create Assignments
- Canvas Learning Path: Create and Manage Discussions
Integrate Your Assessments
- Canvas Learning Path: Assessment Tools
- Canvas Learning Path: Create Quizzes and Question Banks
Create Course Modules to Organize Everything
- Canvas Learning Path: Organize Content with Modules