Remote-accessible teaching (REM) is a strategic and voluntary initiative focused on the courses students are most likely to take in Terms 4-7, identified by a department as important for progress to degree. The University defines a “remote-accessible” (REM) class as one which officially allows students who are not physically present to enroll and achieve the same course objectives. Fully-online courses are REM by default.
For an in-person course to acquire official REM status, the academic department administrator must designate it as such with the Registrar via Banner, prior to the beginning of the semester. An instructor or department may choose to limit REM enrollment to students who have been given explicit permission by the University to study remotely (such as a documented accommodation from Student Accessibility Services or by permission of the Dean of the College). The REM designation will be visible in cab.brown.edu.
Remote Accessible Course Scenarios
Designing and delivering such a course requires forethought and planning. Remote accessible courses should account for the importance of substantive interaction between instructors and students, specifically the vital role of instructor presence. Although not exhaustive, the scenarios detailed below offer possible modes of delivery for Remote Accessible Courses.
Lecture Recordings & Separate Remote Sections
Instructors teach in-person, record each class session, and deliver the recordings to remote students via Canvas. Or instructors teach in-person and host separate virtual sessions for remote students.
Description: In this scenario, the instructor lectures in class, records each session, and provides access to captured lectures via the Canvas Media Library. All course activities, assignments, and other content are posted and organized in Canvas.
To help engage all students, in-class teaching activities can be connected with online discussions. For example, online discussion prompts invite all students to ask questions of the week’s content, and the instructor then answers those questions during the next in-class lecture. Further, instructors should arrange Zoom office hours for remote students.
If applicable, instructors should ensure remote students can see what is written on the whiteboard in the lecture recording. Other in-class activities should have online analogs to ensure remote students can fully participate.
Instructors can also teach some course sections in-person and others in a virtual fashion. In this scenario, remote students would be expected to join synchronous virtual sessions. In courses with both Lecture and Discussion sections, lectures may be recorded and remote discussion sections hosted over Zoom.
This scenario is most applicable for larger courses that offer multiple lecture sections or hold multiple discussions sections.
Support from Media Services can help ensure lecture recordings are of optimal quality.
Effort: Medium to High
Recommended Resources: Learning Design consultation, DLD Media Consultation, Media Services
Ideal for: Seminars, Mid-Sized Courses (<50 students), Large Lecture
Potential to Carry Over Materials to Subsequent Terms: Medium to High
Fully Online
No in-person sessions. Instruction is recorded and delivered via Canvas or instructors host virtual synchronous classes via Zoom.
Description: This is the most labor intensive, but also the most durable, scenario. In partnership with a learning designer, the instructor creates a fully online course. The course design likely includes either none or optional synchronous sessions. All assignments and discussions take place online, and lectures and instructional videos are recorded and posted in Canvas. The instructor can work together with the DLD Media team to produce higher quality lecture videos. For a 14-week course, the design process should begin at least four months before the course launches.
Effort: High
Recommended Resources: Learning Design Consultation, DLD Media Consultation, Brown Approved Guidelines for the Review of Fully Online Courses, Department of Education’s requirements for acceptable online courses
Ideal For: Seminars, Mid-Sized Courses (<50 students), Large Lecture
Potential to Carry Over Materials to Subsequent Terms: High
Virtual Exchange/Synchronous Lecture
Instructors teach in-person and remote students join live class sessions via Zoom.
Description: In this scenario, the instructor simultaneously teaches both in-person and remote students. Remote students may be co-located at a partner institution or separated at various locations. All course activities, assignments, and other content can be posted and organized in Canvas or another approved platform. Instructors could use a digital whiteboard or other means to ensure remote students can view the black/whiteboard. Group activities should be carefully planned to ensure remote students can fully participate.
Support from Media Services is vital to ensure all parties can see and hear each other. In situations where instructors are co-teaching with a partner institution, advanced coordination of conferencing technology is strongly advised.
A consultation with the Sheridan Center is strongly recommended as soon as planning begins to coordinate technologies with partner institutions (four months in advance of the course start date is needed for course design).
Effort: Medium
Recommended Resources: Learning Design consultation, DLD Media Consultation, Media Services
Ideal for: Mid-Sized Courses (<50 students), Large Lecture
Potential to Carry Over Materials to Subsequent Terms: Medium