Category: uw-resources

The rapid shift to remote teaching has heightened concerns about academic integrity in a fully online learning environment. In response to many requests from campus units and faculty, UW-IT will provide an online proctoring service, Proctorio, for use during spring and summer quarters.

Anxiety’s impact on learning

Since academic misconduct has roots in anxiety — not only anxiety about grades, but also about new, unfamiliar situations, as well as health, safety, income and food security concerns, which are all factors of our current circumstances — instructors might first consider revising their assessments. The UW Center for Teaching and Learning has provided this helpful discussion of quizzes, exams, and alternatives. Re-evaluating assessments in light of the shift to teaching remotely is important, whether or not instructors choose to use online exam proctoring to address academic integrity.

About Proctorio

For online quizzes administered in Canvas, Proctorio can lock down a student’s computer during the quiz. It can also record the student’s webcam, desktop, or web browsing activity. The data captured by Proctorio during the quiz can be reviewed later by the instructor (and only by the instructor) should there be concerns about academic misconduct. Based on settings chosen by the instructor, Proctorio flags quiz recordings that exhibit suspect behavior, allowing instructors to review and evaluate student behavior during the quiz. Any incidents observed should be pursued by the instructor through regular student conduct processes.

Resources

The resources listed below provide an overview of Proctorio, address privacy considerations and other FAQs, and provide how-to guides for both students and instructors. This information has been developed by UW-IT in collaboration with the Center for Teaching and Learning, the Faculty Council for Teaching and Learning, and the UW Privacy Office.

• Instructors: Online Exam Proctoring with Proctorio
• Instructors: How to Use Proctorio
• Students: About online exam proctoring with Proctorio
• Students: Get Started with Proctorio
• Learning Technologies Workshops and Office Hours

Karin

Karin I. Roberts
Canvas Service Manager

UW-IT, Academic Experience Design & Delivery

Veletsianos and Kimmons recently published an early analysis of Twitter feeds of students talking about their online experience. The researchers recognized interesting themes coming from these tweets:

• Students appreciate faculty who remain positive and calm
• Students would like faculty to maintain a proper perspective
• Students appreciate faculty who are empathetic, who are flexible, and who have reasonable expectations
• Professional behavior norms benefit students as well as faculty
• Students want faculty to be comfortable with technology
• Not all students are tech-savvy and connected

EDUCAUSE has published the results of a nation-wide survey for higher education organizations to start assessing the perceived impact of this transition to remote learning. Access to broadband internet and appropriate equipment are mentioned by more than half of the institutions. Access to internship opportunities along with health services are equally recognized as important issues. To take a closer look at the survey’s results visit Educause’s Website

EDUCAUSE has published an interesting article looking at strategies to improve online learning

https://er.educause.edu/articles/2020/3/the-difference-between-emergency-remote-teaching-and-online-learning

Do you want to listen to educators’ experience early on in this process? This podcast gets the conversation started.

What Surprised Us, What We Learned in the First Week of Teaching Online

UW Bothell has been working on developing a simple template for a 10 week course. They are also offering workshops to implement it. If you are interested in learning more about this, please visit this website:

https://www.uwb.edu/it/instructional-continuity

Harley Pan recommended this short video with recommendations to improve your homemade class recordings

A contribution from Marisa Bier…

To prevent people who can watch your Zoom cloud recordings to download them, follow these steps.

1. Navigate to the Zoom recordings page
2. Select Share
3. Disable Viewers Can Download

These tips should be helpful for you as you try to improve your meeting technical quality

1. Split Audio and Video: Zoom and other platforms allow you to connect to the audio component of your conference with your phone. Look at the phone number and conference ID on the meeting invite, and use your phone for audio, and your computer only for video connection.
2. Turn off video (unless necessary). Video increases bandwidth demands, even more if multiple people are sharing their video at the same time. A good practice is to use video at the beginning, but you can ask people to cut their video for all but the presenter/host.
3. Check your environment.
   • Not a good idea for you or anyone else in your household to be streaming great Netflix programs like the Tiger King while simultaneously trying to stream your class Zoom session.
   • Be aware of how many people are using the internet in your household.   The more people actively using the same internet connection will experience more problems.
   • How far are you from your router? Could there be any interference from other devices (Microwave ovens are a frequent culprit).
4. WiFi is less reliable and inconsistent especially for streaming.   If at all possible, plug directly into your cable modem with an ethernet cable..
5. Check your technology:
   • Sometimes one will need to reboot their computer to get better performance.
   • Sometimes rebooting one’s internet router will improve performance.  Contact your internet service provider for specific instructions on how best to do this if you aren’t already familiar with this process.
   • Some older computers might not be able to handle the video requirements to adequately process Zoom video streams.
     • Check if you have other open software that may be accessing the web. It  may be useful to close any other non-essential applications
     • You might consider using another computer/laptop or replacing your existing computer/laptop.
6. How about your home network?
   • Sometimes people have lower level’s of internet service.   They may need to call their internet service provider to see if there is an option for faster service.   Sometimes increasing speed is a switch they flip on their end that will magically increase speed (most likely for an increased fee).  Sometimes they may need to send out new equipment and/or a tech to increase speed.  Sometimes faster options aren’t available in your area.   You may need to explore other internet providers.
   • Mobile hotspotting is a notoriously bad and inconsistent internet connection, especially now that so many people are at home relying on it.   Consider getting cable/DSL/fiber options with either Comcast or Centurylink
   • If your router is more than 6 years old, you may benefit of updating it to a newer model.