Distance Education Insights, and Resources

March 15, 2020

Online Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic

What do we gain and what do we lose when classrooms go virtual?

Scientific America

USDLA Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information 

In cooperation with state and local authorities we are closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation, in Nashville and we will let you know if circumstances warrant any changes.

Feel free to access resources regarding distance/online learning below to aid in your organisations transition.

United States Distance Learning Association

EDUCAUSE COVID-19 Resources

This resource page was created to help higher education institutions plan for possible campus disruption by COVID-19, or Coronavirus 19—a respiratory disease caused by a novel (new) coronavirus.

EDUCAUSE

How to adapt courses for online learning: A practical guide for faculty

To help university faculty transition to remote instruction, the university has launched the website keepteaching.jhu.edu, where faculty can find a curated list of frequently asked questions that is updated daily, links to divisional resources, and guidance for preparing to teach remotely.

Johns Hopkins University

COVID-19, Online Learning and Mission-Driven Learning Designers

Have you checked out the open spreadsheet that Bryan Alexander and friends have created to track university transitions from residential to online classes? The list of schools rapidly spinning up online courses in response to COVID-19 is quickly growing.

Free, Online Learning Resources When Coronavirus Closes Schools

The coronavirus pandemic isn’t just changing how we live, it’s also changing how we learn. Over 300 million students worldwide are currently not attending school due to quarantines, and that number is expected to increase over the coming weeks, as more countries and cities shutter schools indefinitely. Many colleges and universities canceled in‐​person classes for the remainder of the semester, switching to online instruction. Some K‑12 public schools have movedto virtual schooling in the wake of closures, with instruction happening over videoconference and worksheets moving to Google Docs.

Cato Institute

Understanding Network Impacts of Increased Online Learning Activities

This document describes how campus, regional, and Internet2 networks provide access to cloud-based learning today, and what will change as campuses migrate to online learning by off-campus students. This information is intended to help campus leaders understand these changes.

Internet2

Cloud Computing Resources and Steps Internet2 is Taking to Support the Research and Education Community

As the COVID-19 pandemic requires teaching, learning and administrative functions to move online, the research and education community has become increasingly reliant on cloud services to meet the needs of faculty, staff and students.

At present, our focus in this area at Internet2 is supporting our members by:

  1. Ensuring connectivity to cloud services over research and education networks
  2. Supporting the acquisition or expansion of licensing for cloud services through transparent and predictable community negotiated pricing and contract terms
  3. Facilitating the sharing of information and best practices

Internet2

Google Announcements

For 21 years, Google’s mission has been to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. Helping people get the right information to stay healthy is more important than ever in the face of a global pandemic like COVID-19. Since my last update, we’ve accelerated our work to help people stay safe, informed and connected. Here are the latest developments in our ongoing global response.

Google (Alphabet)