woman recording herself on a cell phone giving a lecture

January 2022 Newsletter

2022 Newsletter - January

The CIDI monthly newsletter to USU instructors shares the latest news, teaching tips, and technology updates to help you succeed as a teacher.

Sharing Class Recordings - Publicly, Privately, After Class, or Live

The latest COVID-19 surge has affected many classes, requiring instructors to accommodate students who cannot attend the class for a time. Naturally, questions arise about what tools and methods are best for sharing classroom recordings. Here are a few frequently asked questions, with some guidance to help you find what is best for your class.

Can instructors use Zoom in a classroom for remote participation and recording?

Simultaneous participation via Zoom and in-person by students and faculty is a distinct course delivery method at USU: Hybrid Face-to-Face. In unique cases, Zoom can be a tool for letting students participate remotely with a face-to-face class, depending on factors such as the academic department’s stance on Zoom use (with approval), extenuating circumstances (I.e., COVID-19 protocols) and the nature of the class itself. (See USU’s COVID-19 Classroom Accommodations and Protocols pages for more details.)

Are instructors required to let students participate in class via Zoom?

Instructors are under no obligation to provide Zoom to students who are unable to participate in-person, unless requested by the USU Disability Resource Center or Office of Equity. In most cases, recording of lectures is sufficient to accommodate student needs. If Zoom is used to allow remote class participation, it should also be the tool used to record the class.

Which option should be used for recordings, Kaltura Classroom or Zoom?

Kaltura Classroom is generally the best option for recording a class for later viewing when live participation is not wanted. Kaltura records a higher quality video and does not present students with the appearance that Zoom is available as an option. Kaltura recordings can be scheduled. See additional tutorials on using Kaltura Classroom to record lectures.

Zoom is the best option any time real-time, remote participation is needed. Meetings can be recorded, so when a teacher uses Zoom, no other tool but Zoom should be used to record the class. See additional tutorials on recording with Zoom.

Note that Zoom recordings upload automatically to Kaltura, so they can be shared with students in the same way Kaltura Classroom recordings are shared. This may prove useful if Kaltura is used most of the time, but Zoom is used for special purposes. Instructors should not try to use Zoom and record with Kaltura at the same time.

How can a Zoom meeting link be shared with specific students but not the whole class?

To provide a Zoom option to specific students but not the whole class, schedule the Zoom meeting outside of Canvas at https://usu-edu.zoom.us or through the Zoom desktop app. Copy the meeting invitation and send a message to the individual student(s). See our tutorial on sharing Zoom links with specific people.

How can a class recording be shared with one student but not the whole class?

Share a Kaltura Classroom recording with the specific student(s) in one of the following ways:

- Find the video in your MyMedia list and add the student, by A#, as a collaborator/co-viewer. Or,
- Share a hidden Canvas page link: Hide the Pages link in the Canvas navigation. Next, embed the video in a page, publish the page, and share the page link with the students who need to see the video. (Note that students could share this link with others.) Or,
- Embed the video in a Canvas assignment: Assign the assignment to only the student(s) who need it. You can make the assignment ungraded by checking the box "Do not count this assignment toward the final grade.

Share a Zoom recording with specific students by sending them the Zoom recording link. To access the link, login in with your A# and password at https://usu-edu.zoom.us. Click on the Recordings tab, find the recording, and click the share button appearing next to it. Click the Copy Sharing Information button, and then paste the copied content into a message sent to specific students.

How can recordings be shared with the entire class?

Sharing videos with an entire class using a Canvas media gallery works for both Kaltura-recorded videos and Zoom recordings (because Zoom recordings also upload to Kaltura). First, enable the media gallery. Next, publish your videos from MyMedia to the gallery. This needs to be done for each new video that is recorded.

Teaching Tools and Updates

Seating Chart Viewer: View and edit student seating assignments.
OER Grants: Beginning Feb 1, instructors can apply for Open Educational Resource (OER) grants in one of three categories: Adopting existing OER (up to $500), making OER adaptations (up to $1000), or creating new OER (up to $3000). A webinar about OER and the grant process will be hosted on Jan. 26 (Register here). Learn more about the grant here.
CIDI Spring Workshop Schedule - The Spring 2022 CIDI workshop calendar has been posted! Click here for workshop listings and registration.
Canvas Updates: January 15 Release Notes

Teaching Tips: Help if a Course Goes to Red Status

USU Case Containment may assign a course status of "red" "when two or more in-class COVID-19 exposures cannot be immediately contained due to incomplete information." (See USU's COVID-19 Classroom Protocols.) If this occurs, a course will be temporarily taught via Zoom until USU Case Containment clears the instructor to continue teaching in person. The following tutorials are a useful reference for setting a class up to teach temporarily via Zoom:

Contact CIDI

For on-demand support with teaching technologies, contact CIDI at cidi@usu.edu, via chat, or at 435.797.9506 Call via Mitel . Schedule an appointment with an instructional designer to get help making your courses more engaging, usable, and accessible.