Take the following steps to prepare your course before the semester begins:
- ReviewBest Practices and Expectations for Online Teaching at UConn.
- Request your HuskyCT online course site AND request HuskyCT content be restored from a prior semester. Follow the steps outlined by the Educational Technologies Group, “Request HuskyCT Site (help file)”.
- Review ALL pages of your course content and fix any broken hyperlinks, images, instructions, etc.
- Update your syllabus* and any other instructor-specific course materials. (Send the link to your syllabus or a copy of the syllabus to eCampus@uconn.edu to be placed on the eCampus Courses page)
* See the eCampus Syllabus Template
NOTE: Students on athletic scholarship must purchase textbooks through the UConn Bookstore. We recommend that you always notify the UConn Bookstore of your required textbooks. An excerpt from the August 25, 2014 UConn Daily Digest:
Requirements Regarding Textbooks
In order for the University to receive student financial aid from the federal government, we must comply with the Higher Education Opportunities Act (HEOA). One provision of the law deals with access to affordable course materials for students, and requires that the University provide the list of prices and ISBN codes of the required and recommended textbooks for each course listed on our online registration schedule.To comply with the law, it is very important that faculty make course textbook information available before registration begins for each semester. To do this, faculty simply need to provide the information to the UConn Bookstore, which then takes responsibility for making the information available as the law requires. The registration deadlines are published on the Registrar’s website. Information about how to submit textbook adoption information to the UConn Bookstore is available on its website.
Update your course calendar/schedule. Some faculty use the HuskyCT “Calendar” tool to help students see important due dates. Others prefer to include that information on their syllabus or on a stand-alone course menu item. Regardless of location, busy students appreciate having this information. – Need help? See How to Edit the Course Schedule in Blackboard in the eCampus Knowledge Base.
Look for notifications regarding faculty development opportunities eCampus offers as well as CETL Seminars related to online pedagogy.
**Address your Library Resources / Course Reserves / Readings (if applicable).
Update any content open/close dates. Some faculty like to set certain course items to automatically open or close on certain dates/times.
Set up your HuskyCT Grade Center. Your Grade Center Columns have visibility options
Merge your course sections, if applicable. Need help? See “Combining HuskyCT Sites – Why and How” at http://irc.uconn.edu/huskyct-basics/.
Review or create an authentication plan to verify student identities.
See: Guidelines for the Authentication of Students in Online Courses
Arrange online proctoring if your assessment plan includes it.
See: Using Online Proctoring with eCampus and ProctorU
Also see: Remote In-Person Proctoring for Online Courses
Send your students a welcome letter (via uconn.edu email*) that tells them:
- To login at http://huskyct.uconn.edu (using their UConn NetID and password)
- The URL/location of the syllabus
- What materials they need to purchase and where they can get them
- Who to contact if they need technical assistance (Students should click the “Student Help” tab while in HuskyCT or contact the ITS Help Center for login issues)
NOTE: If you would like to also send a copy of your welcome letter to your students’ UConn email addresses, use the “Notify” feature in Student Admin, or the Mail feature in your HuskyCT course to send an email to your students. Here is a sample welcome letter template you may want to use as a starting point.
For more information, contact: ecampus at ecampus@uconn.edu