Virtual Support Sessions

For Course Resilience Planning, this page includes tips and tools that can lessen the impact on students and their learning. You can start by making your materials and lectures available online via Quercus. The resources below can help guide your process.

For support with your online teaching, please reach out to the Teaching Technology Support Team by emailing tts.artsci@utoronto.ca.
We can set up individual consultations using MS Teams, Bb Collaborate, or by phone to help you.

How To Use This Page

If you don't know where to start with moving your course online, try "Tools for Moving Online."
To navigate this page, select a button below for a topic, and you will be pulled down to that corresponding section.
At the end of each section, select "Back to top" to return to the main menu.

Before You Start

Start here! Learn about, turn on, and download the tools that will prepare you for online teaching.

Communicate with Students

Online communication tools, including the Quercus Inbox, announcements, and emailing students directly.

Online Assessments

Set up online submissions and assessments using the built-in Assignment and Quizzes tools.

Teach Online

Learn how to hold live lectures using Quercus and Office 365 tools.

Record My Teaching

Record your lecture, podcast, or other teaching activity ahead of time for students to access anytime.

Student Collaboration

Organize group assignments, discussions, and presentations for collaborative learning.

Virtual Office Hours

Hold online office hours that are flexible for you and your students.

Policies

Find information on academic policies.

Campus Updates

Keep up-to-date on U of T news and urgent alerts.

Considerations Before you Start

Make all Course Materials Available Online: Ensure all course documents and materials are linked or posted through your course site (eg. syllabus, readings, library links). You can do this in Quercus via through the Files, Pages, or Modules tools.
Enable Course Tools in Quercus: Some Quercus tools need to be enabled before you can access them from the course menu.
- Enable Bb Collaborate in your Quercus course if you are using it to teach live, run virtual office hours, or record a lecture.
Turn Notifications "ON": Keep communication lines open by ensuring your notifications are "ON" and recommending that students keep their notifications on as well.
Gradebook Settings: If you are new to using the online assignments and Gradebook in Quercus, these settings will ensure you have control over the release of student grades and assessments.
Download these useful tools:
- Snagit - lecture capture video and screen capture/recording screen capture and voice capture of your presentation.
- PowerPoint - an Office 365 tool that can be used to record narration over your slides.
- Teams - an Office 365 tool that can be used to teach online, share content with participants, run virtual office hours, and record lectures.
- Update your Microsoft Office apps by following the instructions at the U of T site.
ACT (Academic & Collaborative Technologies) has a general table outlining the differences between institutionally available video-conferencing tools.
Accessing MyMedia - a U of T platform for storing video and audio files which can be embedded in your Quercus course or shared via a link
Accessing Microsoft Stream - an Office 365 platform for storing video to be shared limited to the U of T community

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Communicate with Students

There are multiple tools for communicating with students.

If you would like to use U of T email to communicate with your students, the UT Advanced Group Tool can be used to download the email roster from your course for communication via Outlook, Webmail, or another email client. Copy the email addresses into your email client (preferably into the BCC field for privacy) to send messages to your students.
You can use Microsoft Teams to chat with your students and TAs and hold meetings online. Please review the Microsoft Teams instruction page for details. The Teams integration in Quercus now allows you to book meetings directly in your Quercus shell.

Quercus Communication Tools

Quercus navigation bar with comminication tools highlighted - announcements, advanced group tool, discussions, inbox

The Announcements Tool can be used to post messages to the entire class when there is no need for a reply.
The Discussions Tool can be used for asynchronous back-and-forth communication. This is also where most student-to-student communication takes place in Quercus, and it can be used to showcase student work.
The Inbox Tool can be used to send messages from Quercus to students' Quercus Inbox.

In addition to the tools above, you can create "on-the-fly" videos using the Rich Content Editor (available in any Quercus tool with a text editor). This tool can easily help you create video or audio-only content.

Media Recording RCE.png

Run Online Discussions

The Quercus Discussions tool can be used as a forum for students to ask questions 24/7 and wait for responses from their instructors, TAs or other students.
The Discussion tool needs to be enabled for students to access it.
Discussions can be organized by theme or topic or you can leave a section for general questions in an open forum.
Please review the documentation on creating and managing online Discussions or watch the Discussions video guide.

Online Discussions Interface

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Teach Online

For live teaching, we highly recommend using wired Internet (or very reliable wireless), a headset with a microphone, or a good quality USB microphone. However, basic built-in tools (laptop webcam and microphone) or recording on your smart phone are viable options. Please review this information on video conferencing tools at U of T and Arts & Science.

Teaching Tool

What Does It Do?

How Do I Get It?

Bb Collaborate

Image result for bb collaborate

U of T's webinar tool is fully integrated with Quercus. Instructors can easily schedule and host sessions accessible to all students in a course.

Features include: audio and video conferencing, screen-sharing, chat, "raise hand," ad-hoc polling, and the option to record sessions for students to view later (instructors control all participant settings).

Up to 250 participants for a regular session. Instructors can also turn on a "large group/webinar" session for up to 500 participants.

People outside of U of T can be invited to join through a guest link.

You can create online sessions with date restrictions, or use the "Course Room" for quick, ad-hoc meetings.

All instructors have access to the tool within their courses (you must enable the tool first in your course settings).

Learn how to: set up a session, record a session, and provide the recording to students.

We recommend that students participate over computer audio instead of telephone to avoid long-distance charges.

NOTICE: The telephony/dial-in option uses a local Toronto number, but users who are not local or do not have Canada-wide calling in their plans may still incur long-distance charges. You can disable the option for students to dial-in in the session settings.

Do your students need to present in your class? You can let them share their screens and files with the rest of the class by making them "Presenters" in the session.

MS Teams Meetings

Image result for ms teams

MS Teams Meetings is a video conference tool that is available to all faculty, staff, and students through Office 365 (the U of T email system).

Features include: audio and video conferencing, screen-sharing, chat, "raise hand," customized background, blur background, and recording (recorded meetings are automatically saved to Microsoft Stream, and instructors must set permissions for viewing access to students).

Up to 250 participants.

Anyone can join via meeting link, even people outside of U of T.

The Teams integration in Quercus now allows instructors to book meetings directly in their Quercus course.

We highly recommend downloading the full Microsoft Teams app using your UTORid and password.

To access the web version instead, login to mail.utoronto.ca with your UTORid and password, and click the "waffle" icon to access U of T Office365 services.

Learn how to set up and run Teams Meetings, and watch this helpful video introduction.

Instructions to join a meeting can be shared with students.

For audio issues, you can manage your settings.

NOTE: Any reference to "Channels" is not available for teaching.

Skype and
Skype for Business

Skype icon

Skype (consumer) and Skype for Business are both video conferencing tools that provide audio and video conferencing, screen-sharing, and chat features.

Both tools have the option to record.

Skype supports up to 50 participants.
S4B supports up to 250 signed in participants.

Skype (consumer) is a freely downloadable tool and contains some limitations.

Skype for Business is available for U of T faculty and staff through Office 365. It can either be used through the web app, the full desktop app, or directly from UT mail.

Note: This tool will be retired July 31, 2021.

Zoom

Zoom is a popular video conference tool but is not institutionally-supported at U of T.

Please review this information on video conferencing tools at U of T and the Faculty of Arts & Science.

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Record My Lectures

Record your lectures ahead of time to develop asynchronous teaching and learning materials. Refer to the CTSI Lecture Capture page to learn more on how to use lecture capture effectively in teaching, alternative uses, as well as potential challenges.

Teaching Tool

What Does It Do?

How Do I Get It?

SnagIt

Image result for snag it

U of T's institutionally-licensed tool for lecture capture for asynchronous teaching. You can do video and screen capture/recording in the tool itself, or you can edit existing video files.

Record a Video: Create a webcam recording of yourself teaching, or a capture a recording of your voice + computer screen. Note: You cannot capture your webcam and computer screen at the same time, but you can switch back and forth.
Capture Images: Take screenshots or import existing images to edit them (the "blur" feature is particularly helpful).
Edit Videos: Import an existing video file on your computer to make basic edits, such as trimming out unwanted parts.

When your recording is ready and saved to your computer, you can upload it to a streaming sites like MyMedia or Stream and then embed the video in your Quercus course.

All faculty, staff, and students can download SnagIt using a UTORid and password.

Learn how to record a lecture video and share it with your students.

Learn how to take a screenshot, edit images, make a video from images (to demonstrate a process or series of steps), or create an animated GIF.

For help, contact q.help@utoronto.ca.

PowerPoint

Office 365 tool that can be used to record narration over your slides to be posted as a video in your Quercus course.

PowerPoint has the added advantage speech-to-text captioning or subtitles.

All faculty and staff can download Office 365 ProPlus, which includes the full desktop Microsoft Office, including PowerPoint.

Login to mail.utoronto.ca with your UTORid and password, and click the "waffle" icon to access U of T Office 365 services.

Learn how to record your PPT presentation.

Bb Collaborate

Image result for bb collaborate

U of T's webinar tool is fully integrated with Quercus and has a recording feature for lecture capture.

You can record a live session with your class and share the recording for later viewing.

You can also record yourself (alongside a co-instructor or TA) teaching in a room and then make the recording available for students to watch anytime.

All instructors (or people with a course staff role) have access to the tool within their Quercus courses (note that you must enable the tool first in your course settings).

Learn how to set up a web conference, record a session, and provide the recording to students.

We recommend that students participate over computer audio instead of telephone to avoid long-distance charges.

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Hold Virtual Office Hours

Teaching Tool

What Does It Do?

How Do I Get It?

Bb Collaborate

Image result for bb collaborate

Blackboard Collaborate is a webinar/web conferencing tool that can be used for virtual office hours. Features include audio or video conferencing with screen-sharing ability.

Located within Quercus courses, you can create online sessions with date restrictions, or use the "Course Room" for quick, ad-hoc meetings.

All instructors (or people with a course staff role) have access to the tool within their courses (Note: you must enable the tool first in your course settings).

Learn how to set up a web conference, record the session, and provide the recording to students.

We recommend that students participate over computer audio instead of telephone to avoid long-distance charges.

MS Teams Meetings

Image result for ms teams

MS Teams Meetings is a video conference tool that is available to all faculty, staff, and students through Office 365 (the U of T email system).

It can be used for virtual office hours with your student. You can leverage the meetings tool to schedule calendar invites, and launch a video or audio conference with screen-sharing ability.

The Teams Meetings integration in Quercus now allows instructors to book meetings directly in their Quercus course.

We highly recommend downloading the full Microsoft Teams app using your UTORid and password.

To access the web version instead, login to mail.utoronto.ca with your UTORid and password, and click the "waffle" icon to access U of T Office365 services.

Learn how to set up and run Teams Meetings, and watch this helpful video introduction.

Instructions to join a meeting can be shared with students.

For audio issues, you can manage your settings.

NOTE: Any reference to "Channels" is not available for teaching.

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Online Assessments

Quercus has two tools for accepting student submissions online (the Assignments tool and the Quizzes tool) which can then be assessed and graded by the instructors or TAs. These tools can be used for assignments, tests written outside of class, and online quizzes.
Assignments:
- The Assignments tool can be used to create a drop-box for students to submit digital copies of their submissions.
- The Assignments can be configured to accept a variety of file types -- see a complete list of accepted files.
- Learn how to configure your Assignments or watch the Assignments video guide.
Quizzes:
- This tool can be used for online quizzes or surveys.
- Please review the documentation on creating Online Quizzes.
- Note: At this time, we recommend using the Classic Quizzes tool (versus New Quizzes) for fully functionality.
The "Assign To" field can be used to manage multiple deadlines in case accommodations or extensions are needed.
Note: In order to manage the release of grades after submissions have been graded, please review the documentation on the Grade Posting Policy or watch the Grade Posting Policy video guide.

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Facilitate Student Collaboration

Group activities can be facilitated online using Quercus Groups, Bb Collaborate, and some Office 365 tools.
Quercus Groups:
- Quercus allows for managing group activities online.
- Creating groups allows students to have access to a group Homepage with tools to post discussions, announcements, files, and wiki pages for sharing with the group.
- Please review the instructions for creating Groups or the UT Advanced Group Tool.
- Note: Creating groups always creates group homepages which are an extension of your course and need to be monitored by accessing the group homepage from the People tool.

Group Home Page Access.png

Bb Collaborate:
- Bb Collaborate can be used to run online meetings for student groups
- This webinar tool can be used to run student presentations where students can share content for a class audience
- The tool can also be used for breakout groups during an online lecture to promote engagement and student collaboration during core content instruction
- Note: Bb Collaborate has a cap of 250 users per session.

Bb Collaborate Interface

Office 365:
- Teams - this tool can be used to hold meetings online and allows students to organize and hold small group sessions
  - The Teams integration in Quercus now allows you to book meetings directly in your Quercus shell.
    - Note: Teams has a cap of 250 users per section
- OneDrive - this tool can be used to share and collaborate on documents in real-time with version control
  - Note: Sharing can be managed to limit access to documents for specific users, users at the institution, or anyone with a link

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Policies

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Campus Updates

Campus Status
- Check this website for important messages and updates posted about the University's status and closures. Find information about emergency contacts.
UTAlert
- Register to receive urgent telephone, email, or text alerts.
Quercus/Canvas System Status Information
- Instructure (the company behind Quercus/Canvas) posts system updates in case of outages or planned maintenance on their system status page.
Bb Collaborate System Status
- Blackboard Collaborate posts status updates in case of outages or planned maintenance on their system status page.
Continuity Planning for Instructors at the University of Toronto
- Access the Center for Teaching Support and Innovation (CTSI) guidelines for instructors, including the University of Toronto Policy on Academic Continuity