Resources

The resources listed below represent a variety of resources and service offerings at UNC-Chapel Hill as well as external resources that may help you as you continue your instruction remotely. This is an evolving list as additional resources are identified. If you have suggestions for additional resources, please direct them to the Site Contact link at the bottom of this page.

Also, see In the News for stories about how students and faculty are finding creative ways to succeed despite the challenges of a sudden shift to remote instruction.

UNC Professional School Information

Each UNC professional school may have unique settings, support, and technology. View remote teaching details and support for your professional school.

UNC-Chapel Hill Resources

Below, you will find resources and service offerings specific to UNC to help you make this transition.

UNC Service Desk – View knowledge articles or make a service request through UNC’s Service Desk.
Teaching International Students Remotely – Information from the UNC Chapel Hill Writing Center
Course Drop Accommodation for Full-time Students: Student FAQ – Answers to common student questions about COVID-19 grade accommodations (College of Arts & Sciences)
Guidance for off-campus internet service This guide provides a list of potential solutions to help you obtain or improve internet access from home.
Sakai Help – View Sakai tutorials or request a departmental training.
UNC Libraries Distance Education Page – A list of library services and resources for students and faculty who teach online.
8 Ways to be More Inclusive in Your Zoom Teaching – Chronicle of Higher Education article written by Kelly Hogan and Viji Sathy about using Zoom more inclusively with students.
Fair Use & Emergency Remote Teaching & Research – Copyright law guidelines for remote teaching during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Key Accessibility Considerations in an Online/Remote Environment – A guide provided by UNC’s Accessibility Resources and Service with key accessibility considerations for students with accommodations.
Strategies for Keeping Students Engaged – Tips for remote student engagement from UNC’s Center for Faculty Excellence.
Digital Accessibility Office – Supports students and faculty for accessible digital content.
Creating Your Own Lecture Videos – Guidelines for creating DIY lecture videos.
Strategies for Teaching Writing Online – A resource developed by the Department of English & Comparative Literature for transitioning to remote instruction of English Composition and Rhetoric.
Moving to Remote Instruction During COVID-19 – A guide created for School of Education faculty.
Keep Writing and Learning: Designing Your Online Academic Life – Remote learning tips for students from the Writing Center.

External Resources

Below you will find resources from a variety of external sites and universities. These resources will help you identify best practices when teaching remotely, set learner expectations, and create more engaging learning experiences.

Remote Teaching Strategies and Resources

Why You Shouldn’t Try to Replicate Your Classroom Teaching Online – Makes the distinction between translation and adaptation of classroom strategies.
Maintaining Professional Relationships with Students – Ideas for maintaining professional boundaries in remote learning circumstances, and Maintaining Professionalism: Use of Electronic Communication and Social Media – A guide to understanding professional boundaries and responsibilities in the use of electronic media and communication.
5 Reasons to Stop Doing Timed Exams During COVID-19 – Inside Higher Ed piece on issues related to timed exams.
Remote Teaching Resources for Business Continuity – Crowd-sourced resources with links to many university sites for remote instruction.
Moving to Alternative Instructional Formats – Faculty resources for moving courses online quickly from the UNC System Office’s Digital Learning Initiative.
“Transitioning Mathematics Courses to Remote Teaching” Webinars – A free open-forum webinar series from the University of Texas at Austin
Resources for STEM Education Centers in Response to COVID-19 – From the Network of Stem Education Centers (NSEC)
I suddenly have to move my course online! What should I do? – Ideas and resources published by the American Association of Physics Teachers.
Pearson Resources for Working and Learning Online – A collection of publisher resources and tips for faculty and students
VitalSource Helps – Digital textbooks made available during the COVID-19 pandemic.
RedShelf Responds – A program that offers students free access to ebooks through the end of the term.
COVID-19 Resources for NC Health Science/Professions Schools – Supported by NC AHEC, a Basecamp site with shared resources from faculty at health professional schools across the state of North Carolina.
UNCG Online Course Development Instructional Modules – A suite of instructional modules developed by UNCG to allow instructors to asynchronously engage with content at their own pace to improve both their course design and instruction online.
How to Be a Better Online Instructor – A collection of advice put together by the Chronicle of Higher Education on how to be a better instructor online.
SUNY Free Online Resources for Faculty – Here, The State University of New York, SUNY, has put together a variety of resources to help instructors navigate teaching online and best practices in that environment.

Teaching Online – Useful Videos

Writing Student Learning Outcomes, 2:02 – A short video that walks through the process of writing student learning outcomes to better align course content with what you want students to achieve.
Eight Lessons Learned from Teaching Online, 4:13 – A compilation of recommendations from professionals in the field compiled by EDUCAUSE Review online.
Best Practices in Online Course Design, 21:04 – A longer video from the UNC Center for Faculty Excellence Showcase in 2018 going over some common issues instructors run into when moving a course online.

Teaching Online – Useful Readings and Websites

Writing and Using Learning Outcomes: A Practical Guide – A practical approach to writing learning objectives using Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives from the University College Cork in Ireland.
Active Learning – A number of resources intended to introduce and support Active Learning from the Center for Teaching at Vanderbilt University.
Authentic Assessment Toolbox – A guide to creating more authentic assessments from Jon Mueller, a Professor of Psychology at North Central College in Illinois.
Aligning Outcomes, Assessments, and Instruction – A collection of examples in different disciplines that align the learning outcomes, assessments and instruction from the University of Waterloo in Canada.
Inspiring and Aligned Assessments of Student Learning that are Linked to the Real World – Another resource for aligning learning objectives and assessments that have practical application in the real world from Brigham Young University.
Instructional Strategies for Online Courses – A collection of different instructional strategies when teaching online put together by the University of Illinois at Springfield.
The Impact of Instructor Intervention on the Quality and Frequency of Discussion Posts – A study that examined student posting strategies within discussion forums based on the presence or absence of instructor posts from the Journal of Online Teaching and Learning.
Teaching Online: A Guide to Theory, Research, and Practices – by Claire Howell Major. “In Teaching Online, Claire Howell Major describes for college faculty the changes that accompany use of such technologies and offers real-world strategies for surmounting digital teaching challenges.”
Variables Associated With Achievement in Higher Education: A Systematic Review of Meta-Analyses – Niemiec & Ryan (2009): A good overview of Self-Determination Theory.
D15 Practice Brief – Motivating Diverse Learners Using Culturally Relevant & Responsive Education– An important synthesis of culturally relevant education and Self-Determination Theory.
Improving Student Outcomes in Higher Education: The Science of Targeted Intervention – Harackiewicz & Priniski (2018): A solid review of interest and motivation interventions.
Variables Associated With Achievement in Higher Education: A Systematic Review of Meta-Analyses – Schneider & Preckel (2017): A solid meta-analysis of predictors of higher education success.
First-Generation College Students as Academic Learners: A Systematic Review – Ives & Castillo-Montoya (2020): Examines how scholars study and conceptualize first-generation college students as learners.

Teaching Online – Quality Standards

Quality Matters Higher Education Course Design Rubric – A rubric designed by a national, non-profit organization to help instructors ensure their courses meet quality standards for online course design. The UNC System has a license agreement with QM, allowing you to create a membership account and access the rubric.