Research Guides: Delivering Instruction during COVID-19/Campus Closure: Home

Asychronous Instruction

This method of instruction would work well for courses who are not really using Zoom to meet regularly or for those faculty who are teaching several sections of the same course and would prefer a more flexible approach to their instruction.
This method also provides more flexibility for students since it allows them to view or complete instructional material at their own pace when most convenient for them.
We all have varying levels of experience with instruction, developing instructional materials and comfort level with instructional technology tools. Use what you're comfortable with, good instructional material doesn't have to be fancy. Check-out the suggestions provided in the webinar Information Instruction at a (Social) Distance (specifically Tips for Going Asynchronous).
Make sure your documents are accessible, video's captioned, etc. Check-out the suggestions provided in the Quickly Implementing Accessibility Tools webinar.
- Video caption - using a script will make captioning a video easier. If you don't use a script, use the voice relay captioning provided by YouTube and then edit it for corrections. If you use Google Slides then you can record using the live captioning feature.
- Microsoft PowerPoints - tips for making your presentations accessible
- Libguides - Best Practices for accessibility

This method of instruction would work well for those courses already meeting via Zoom on a regular basis but can be used as an option for any course.
Make sure you communicate clearly with the faculty member regarding who creates the Zoom meeting link. Faculty should be responsible for sending the link to their students.
One of the main benefits of live Zoom sessions is that they provide students with real-time discussion, Q&A with a librarian. This kind of connection and community can be beneficial, especially right now, when campus is closed.
Keep it simple and succinct. It would be better to provide a more focused shorter instruction then to overwhelm them with too much.
If you have time, supplement instruction with a Libguide or handout and make sure students know how to contact you with questions.If you comfortable, you may want to consider offering students the option of scheduling a Zoom consultation to go over how to do a search, etc.
Pause regularly during the instruction, long enough to encourage students to ask questions. Ask the faculty member if they would be willing to moderate the questions for you. This often helps the instruction flow better and ensures that you won't miss questions.