Academic Continuity - Coastal Carolina University
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Academic Continuity Resources 

Academic Continuity

Academic Continuity (AC) is the process of maintaining continuity of learning in the event of a large-scale emergency or disaster or the capability to quickly resume teaching given such an event. It is the extent to which operations can be sustained which enable affected students and faculty to continue academic activities during the response and recovery phases despite the disruption caused by the emergency or disaster. Read more about Emergency Preparedness at CCU. 

Coastal Carolina University strives to maintain academic continuity when normal academic activities are disrupted. While natural disruptions may encroach on a faculty’s ability to teach, the Coastal Office of Online Learning has provided digital solutions to assist with class restructuring and make-up activities.This site will provide you with instructional guidance and resources for assisting you with academic continuity or academic recovery where needed. This resource page includes downloadable templates and guides, as well as tutorials that will assist you with preparing your digital learning instructional materials. For more information on Academic Continuity, please see the Academic Continuity Guide (downloadable).

CCU Digital Learning Resources

Resources for Faculty

Resources for Students

  • E-LearnReady - No sure if you have what it takes to be successful in an online course? Take this free E-LearnReady assessment to get yourself ready for an online course. 

  • MERLOT is one of the best, freely available Open Education Resources (OER) curation tools available, which assesses and compiles all other OER items and saves you time by pointing to other resources both inside & outside of the MERLOT system. You can search by the format of content (assignments, books, articles, simulations, etc.), and most importantly, save yourself time by searching for high-quality materials. MERLOT is integrated with our Moodle LMS.

  • The South Carolina Department of Education maintains an interactive map of WIFI hotstops throughout the state. Click here to view the map.

    WiFi Access – If you need WiFi access and do not currently have, contact your local cable provider directly. Spectrum, Charter and others have announced free Wi-Fi for students during this time.Charter will offer free Spectrum broadband and Wi-Fi access for 60 days to households with K-12 and/or college students who do not already have a Spectrum broadband subscription and at any service level up to 100 Mbps. To enroll call 1-844-488-8395. Installation fees will be waived for new student households. Click here to learn more regarding Spectrum's response to COVID-19.

  • VitalSource: VitalSource Helps is a program offering free access to ebooks for students who may have lost access to course materials with the rapid move to distance learning. Visit bookshelf.vitalsource.com to access free ebooks through May 25. VitalSource Helps provides access to an expansive catalog of ebooks, but some content may not be available (custom books, course packs, courseware, lab manuals, etc). Students and faculty MUST SIGN UP with their University email account. Do not use your University password. Limit of 7 books available through this resource. Barnes and Noble, Wiley Publishers and others have partnered with VitalSource. View the VitalSource help page for FAQs and tutorials. 

  • If you need a resource, contact your instructor via moodle or their email address. They will have access to other resources for you and can assist.

Additional Digital Learning Resources

Digital Learning and Technology Tools 

Below is a list of instructional technology tools that integrate with the campus' Learning Management System (LMS), Moodle. For questions about Moodle or any of the tools listed below, please contact the Coastal Office of Online Learning (coastalonline@coastal.edu). Faculty, if you are need of a laptop, please complete the Kimbel Laptop Request. Form. 

 Technology Tools  Description  Utilization of Tool 
 Academic Integrity Tools  Tools available to prevent cheating and
plagiarism.

Respondus Monitor & Lockdown Browser 
Turnitin

Personal/Lecture Capture
(recording) 

 Allows for live classroom lectures to be 
recorded and gives faculty the ability to
perform personal captures from their 
computers and/or mobile devices. Personal
capture includes voice over Power Points,
videos of themselves, and recording of
your device screen. Please read the Echo360 
Guide to Academic Continuity. 		 Echo360
Learning Management
System		 The campus' learning management system
is used to help faculty create effective
online course materials such as quizzes,
discussion forums, assignments, etc.

Moodle
Streaming Videos Online video collection of movies, 
documentaries, educational films, etc. Read
more on Streaming Videos at CCU.

Kanopy
Kantola
Remind Text App Free, safe text app that allows you to
communicate with students. See tutorial on how to utilize Remind.

Remind 
Web Conferencing/Live Streaming An online tool that allows you to hold 
live meetings, presentations, virtual
office hours, etc. 		 Skype for Business
Microsoft Teams
Echo360


Top 5 Tips for Academic Continuity

"We're operating in the real-not the ideal"-Karen Costa

1. Recognize that this is temporary, and that the core is always good teaching. Faculty know what can go "online" even in a temporary basis, and what cannot. Digital learning units (such as COOL) are here to assist, but the core of academic quality and teaching resides with our faculty, always. 

2. Understand that not all students have access to all technology, wifi, and the necessary software platforms. Great Chronicle article on this as COVID-19 spreads. Be mindful of differences in access and accessibility. One great item to keep in mind at CCU is that our Ally accessibility platform is built into all of our courses--just upload your files, and our students can listen in mp3, download as a pdf or electronic braille, or even take advantage of the BeeLine Reader to increase reading comprehension. Remember when uploading videos that we still need to have WCAG 2.1+ AA compliant closed captions added; feel free to submit your files to us for captioning. 

3. Crowdsourcing of various compilations of remote teaching practices from many universiites have great ideas and suggestions. Seeing examples of great practices by other faculty and campuses is the best way to compile all the best ideas-check these Remote Teaching Sites out for additional ideas!

4. Outreach to students is critical--human interaction, student support, and being mindful of the stress of this transition for us as faculty, as well as for our students, is critical. This 6 minute How to Outreach to Online Students screencast from the fabulous Karen Costa ("We're operating in the real-not the ideal") summarizes excellent digital and online learning outreach tips, helping us to prioritize communication with our students and cut through the technology to focus on our teaching. Outreach can be through email, texting, Moodle announcements, Moodle discussion, Remind texts, synchronous or asynchronous discussions, and other formats. 

5. Last, but not least, take a look at the tools we already have available, and consider that there may be functionality built into the core LMS (Moodle at CCU) that you were not aware of. Some of the core functionalities allow us to collect assignments, post and reply to one another in discussion forums, administer and grade tests and exams, and even group collaborate through wikis or private reflection in journals. 

How to Operate Offline (without internet)

In an academic continuity situation in which some faculty or students may lose electricity, or access to internet temporarily, finding a means for communicating with students and building and posting content is still critical for us as faculty. Some tips:

  • Students and faculty can access Moodle offline via the Moodle Mobile App from their mobile device.
  • There are several tools that can be used offline to create lectures and other instructional materials. Tools such as Echo360 can be used offline to record lectures and personal captures and PowerPoint can be used to create presentations and record screencasts, and may be uploaded once internet connection is restored to Moodle, Echo360, YouTube, or your preferred hosting platform.  
  • The Remind texting app is also a straightforward, FERPA-compliant means for communicating with students who may have inconsistent access to the internet.