Draft:Online COVID Toolkit

	FREQUENT UPDATES: This article contains guidance related to COVID-19 that is subject to change. Check the COVID-19 Response at WSU site for the latest information and direct all questions about this article to TLT (tlt@winona.edu).

	REVISION IN PROGRESS: This article contains useful information, but is being revised to reflect recent updates. Direct questions to TLT (tlt@winona.edu).

This Online COVID Toolkit is intended for instructors preparing fall courses for mostly or fully online delivery under conditions necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. It includes links to checklists, planning guides, sample syllabus statements, frequently asked questions, and other helpful resources for managing new, COVID-related tasks and responsibilities. This is not a guide for designing and teaching effective online courses. It only includes COVID-related guidance to help you prepare for the fall semester.

Official guidance

This toolkit is based on the following official sources of guidance adopted by Winona State University and is not intended to replace them:

Impact of COVID-19 on online instruction

Compared with in-person and hybrid courses, COVID-19 has the least impact on online instruction. In fully online courses with no required in-person meetings, it's limited to supporting students who contract COVID-19 and are too sick to participate for a portion of the semester. The impact is greater in mostly online courses with one or two required in-person meetings, where instructors face the same public health challenges as those teaching in-person courses. Consult the In-person COVID Toolkit for guidance on meeting in person safely. Accommodating students in mostly online courses who can't attend the in-person meetings may be difficult, as attendance in these meetings is often very important (e.g., orientation, a proctored exam, a capstone presentation).

Checklists

Title	Description
Course Readiness Checklist	Determine whether you have accomplished all of your COVID-related course preparation tasks.
Student Readiness Checklist	Determine whether you have prepared your students for the COVID-related changes to your course.

Guides

Title	Description
Interacting with Students In-person	Includes guidance for managing student office hours, advising sessions, and informal interactions with students before and after class.
Supporting Students in Isolation	Includes guidance for supporting students in isolation or quarantine who cannot attend in-person class meetings.
Managing Your Own Isolation	Includes options for handling the instructor's absence from in-person class meetings due to isolation or quarantine.
Preparing for Required In-person Meetings	Includes suggestions for setting student expectations at the start of the semester.

Sample syllabus statements

Title	Description
General Expectations	General statements about accommodation, flexibility, face coverings, and physical distancing.
Unscheduled Absences	Statements about accommodating students who miss class meeting for COVID-related reasons.
Outside Interactions	Statements about managing interactions outside class time.

FAQ

What if one of my online students has to isolate?

Faculty decide how to manage unscheduled absences due to COVID-19 in their own courses and should plan for some students being too sick to participate in class activities for a week or two. In synchronous online courses, that might include allowing students to watch recordings of missed meetings. In asynchronous courses, students might be given extensions on work and guidance on how to catch up when they are able.

External links

COVID-19 Information for Minnesota State Students, Faculty, and Staff

Except where otherwise noted, text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Draft:Online COVID Toolkit

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