Bridging the Digital Divide for Our Students

March 23, 2020
Categories: COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Messaging, General News, Messages from the Provost Tags: COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Messaging, Messages from the Provost

Dear colleagues,

As we adapt to life in a virtual realm, I would like to share some encouragement and early lessons learned. You have been amazing about rapidly moving to remote instruction, but I understand this doesn’t mean your content has been revised pedagogically to be optimized for online learning. Be kind to yourself and your students. We may have to settle for good enough at this time.

We need to remember that the Digital Divide is real and exists for many of our financially stressed students. Many of our students may not have the technology to learn effectively online, and we cannot expect them to bridge this gap by themselves. Just as we are scrambling to figure out the best tools, so are they; and we have the resources of the university at our disposal, they may not. For example, we have learned that Chromebooks, which many students use, are not compatible with WebEx or Respondus.

Atkins Library has distributed laptops to many students, and others are using campus computer labs, at least for now. Most of our residential students have left campus and we are encouraging all students to return home. Further, students may be sharing digital resources with other family members, or they may be working extra hours as a mandatory employee. So synchronous instruction may not work for them.

Please be flexible with your students, and listen to their feedback. Avoid assignments that require our students to come to campus. If you hear they are unable to access software, or use WebEx or Respondus, give them an alternate path to complete assignments. Our students will be served best right now, if the focus is on creative ways to fulfill course objectives, so that every student, regardless of circumstance, can successfully complete the course.

Below is further guidance from OneIT and the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). I encourage you to check out the many workshops CTL continues to provide (new topics added) and take advantage of this training as you can.

Sincerely,

Joan Lorden, Provost

Helping All Students Access Your WebEx Session Content

Some students may not be able to join your live WebEx session for a variety of reasons due to the current pandemic (childcare, eldercare, illness, lack of proper equipment, internet issues, etc.). Here are a couple ideas you may consider to help these students:

  • Share your lecture materials with students ahead of time & ask students to dial in to the telephone number for your WebEx session. If you are using slides, handouts, or other visual aids in your WebEx presentation, you can send these materials to students before the session starts by posting them in Canvas. Then they can dial in by phone to listen and follow along with the materials you had sent to them.

  • Record and share your WebEx sessions with students to review after the fact. Even if students cannot join the live session as it is happening, they could watch the recorded version at a later time. All WebEx sessions can be recorded, downloaded and shared in Canvas, with captions automatically added that are editable by you, to make reviewing the recordings more helpful.

Video Captioning Makes for Greater Accessibility

All recordings, including WebEx recordings, that are uploaded into Canvas are automatically machine captioned with over 93% accuracy. These captions can be edited by the user, too.

Some Students May Not Have the Correct Equipment for Proctored Tests With Respondus Monitor or Respondus Lockdown Browser

For faculty who have students who lack the necessary equipment, you can refer to a new FAQ that explains how you could to determine which students are affected by this and ideas for alternative assessments. Please note that Respondus Lockdown Browser also does not work with Chromebooks.

Students May Not Have Internet Access Readily Available to Them

We know some students have trouble accessing the Internet at home. Students can use eduroam to go online at any of the close to 20,000 eduroam campuses across the US! There are 38 sites across the Carolinas alone, including many campuses in the UNC System. See: How do I log in to eduroam wireless on my computer? and How do I log in to eduroam wireless using a phone/tablet?

Internet Providers and Software Giants Respond with New Offers

Adobe is providing students temporary at-home access to Adobe Creative Cloud for personal use. Active students were emailed Thursday to follow these instructions to enable access to Creative Cloud Desktop Apps on their personal device. Click here for a resource list of IT-related services announced to help you learn, teach, and work remotely. Plus, Barnes and Noble, Pearson, and Wiley have all made electronic content free and available through VitalSource.