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Managing COVID-related disruptions to teaching and learning

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Overview

This page provides guidance and support for managing disruptions to teaching and learning caused by COVID.

This year disruptions will be different to those we experienced in 2020. Short-term absences of individuals or localised groups are far more likely than systemic disruption. The resources below provide just-in-time information to navigate the scenarios most likely to arise.

We have collated some key resources below. If you can’t see what you need you can browse the full archive of resources.

The central role of unit coordinators and other teaching staff is to maintain continuity of teaching. Wherever possible all teaching will remain consistent with the Unit description in Handbook. The most likely disruptions to teaching will come from sudden staff absences, due either to illness or a need to self-isolate. Take the following steps to plan ahead:

  1. Consider each learning activity

      In the event of a staff absence determine whether each will be:

    1. Taught by another staff member (preferred whenever possible)
    2. Provided online
    3. Postponed
  2. Prepare your teaching team
    • Discuss contingency plans for each learning activity (see above).
    • Identify teaching buddies for essential activities in both on-campus (e.g. labs, tutorials, clinical sessions) and online units. Check the buddies are added to the relevant CANVAS site.
    • Check that staff are ready to use the Virtual Classroom if required. In Canvas this is Teams. If you plan to make recordings or content or demonstrations, see this guide for recording content using Panopto.
    • Ensure the team is familiar with all the supports that they can refer students to: Staff Quick Guide: Support for Students
    • Take home key teaching equipment each day, including laptop. Check the Learning technologies checklist to ensure people have what they need.
  3. Prepare your students

    Post this message as the first Announcement in each unit site to provide reassurance that ECU is ready and able to manage any disruptions.

In the event that teaching is disrupted, inform students of the disruption and the alternative arrangements. Use the following Teaching Disruption Scenario – Announcement Scripts as a guide. Advise students to closely monitor emails for updates on the return to normal teaching. In addition, include the following information where relevant:

If you need to move learning activities online, help is available from the friendly eLearning Assist staff at elearningtraining@ecu.edu.au

Use the following resources as a guide:

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