Remote Readiness
In the event that work or academic functions are disrupted for a prolonged period of time, you may find it necessary to work or teach a class off campus. Catawba College provides a variety of services to connect you with colleagues and students remotely, so that work and learning can continue uninterrupted.
Learn More:
In preparation, you should make sure you have tested your access to the following equipment at home:
- Laptop or desktop computer - If you have been issued a laptop by Catawba College, you should plan to use it at home; it will have all the software and hardware (e.g. webcam and microphone) you need; when transporting your laptop, please use the laptop case you were issued to help prevent damage, and don't forget the power cord!
- Microphone - this may be built into your laptop or computer, or you may use an external device such as a USB microphone or headset
- Webcam - a camera may already be built into your laptop, but you can also use an external USB camera for video conferencing
- Internet - through a commercial internet service provider (e.g. Hotwire, Spectrum) or through a wireless hot spot via your mobile phone
The best case scenario is to know these options will work for you BEFORE you actually need them. Test access to your equipment and resources at home before the need arises.
Contact the IT Help Desk if you have any questions or issues. We can help get your questions answered about how to work from home.
If you do not have equipment at home that meets the standards above, please let your supervisor know. IT does have a limited supply of loaner equipment. Supervisors should contact IT for information on loaner equipment or purchasing equipment for employees.
The documentation below is provided for faculty needing to teach remotely:
Provide Your Course Resources Online
All classes taught at Catawba have a pre-built course site in Blackboard Learn. You are already set up as the instructor of the class and your students are already enrolled in the class. Begin populating your course site using the information below.
Contact the IT Help Desk if you need further assistance.
Post Key Class Materials
- Add content such as your class notes, readings, and presentations.
Communicate with Your Class through Blackboard
- Announcements are an ideal way to post time-sensitive information critical to course success. Add announcements for due dates for assignments and projects, changes to your syllabus, corrections/clarifications of materials, and exam schedules.
- The email tool allows you to send email to other people in your course without launching a separate email program. You can send email to individual users or to groups of users.
- Course messages are private and secure text-based communication that occurs within your course among course members. Although similar to email, you must be logged in to a course to read and send course messages. VIDEO: How to Facilitate a Class Discussion
Using Blackboard Collaborate for Live Office Hours, Live Lectures, or Taped Lectures
We have moved up the integration of Blackboard Collaborate Ultra into all courses in Blackboard; it is now fully available. Collaborate can be used to hold live office hours, or to hold live lectures, or to tape lectures you can post. It is similar in features to Zoom and Webex but integrated into Blackboard so students do not need any additional logins, a distinct advantage over any other tool. You can find Collaborate in the Tools menu on the left side navigation.
- Quick Set-Up Guide
- How to Set Up Audio and Video
- How to Record a Lecture
- How Students Can Join a Live Session
Assess Your Students
- Assignments allow you to create and edit assignments as well as grade assignments submitted by students. See this video on how to set up an assignment.
- Tests and surveys functionality allows you to measure student knowledge, gauge progress, and gather information from students. How to Set Up an Auto-Graded Test
Record a Lecture
See the information below about ONLINE MEETINGS AND VIDEOCONFERENCING. All of these solutions can be used for lecture capture.
Hold a Synchronous Class Online
See the information below about ONLINE MEETINGS AND VIDEOCONFERENCING. All of these solutions can be used for lecture capture.
Online Meetings & Videoconferencing
Blackboard Collaborate is the PREFERRED and recommended solution for online meetings and videoconferencing for Catawba College faculty. Information on other solutions is provided below as well.
Microsoft Teams combines modern online meeting technology with persistent chat (similar to Slack), file storage, and collaboration. Since it is part of Office365, you can use Office Online tools like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint to edit files as a team in real-time. The full functionality of Teams is available to faculty and staff, but anyone you invite can join a Teams meeting.
Note that one downside of Teams currently is that it does not provide a phone dial-in option for virtual meetings and video conferences. It is strictly Voice Over Internet Protocol (or VoIP). So while Teams is great for collaboration and file sharing, if your virtual meeting requires a dial-in phone number, you should consider one of the other videoconferencing options (like Collaborate or Zoom or WebEx) to provide this functionality.
To get started with Teams, log into Office365 (aka Webmail) and choose Teams from the waffle menu (app launcher icon) at the far left. While Teams is fully functional in most browsers, you can also download a Teams app for your computer or your smartphone.
See the Training topics, under the Help menu, for Teams how-to information. Also, see the links below.
- How to Get Started with Teams (see virtual meetings at minute 26:57)
- How to Record a Lecture, Presentation, or Meeting (see minute 3:53)
Zoom offers a free Basic license to higher education. Compare Basic vs. Professional licenses. The main limitation on the free Basic license is the 40 minute meeting time limitation on meetings with 3 or more participants. Catawba IT can add your Catawba email address to the College's Zoom account as either a free Basic user or as a Professional user. If requesting a Professional account, please provide a budget code for the monthly charges.
WebEx has expanded the capabilities of their free version in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Download WebEx and Learn More.
Virtual Private Network (VPN)
VPN creates a “tunnel” between your computer and the campus network that identifies you as a member of the Catawba College community even when you are not connected directly to the campus network, allowing you access to restricted network resources.
Please note that most Catawba resources, such as Blackboard, CatLink, Office 365 (aka Webmail), and CRM Recruit don't require the use of VPN.
Services that do require the use of VPN include:
- Banner data entry forms and batch job submission (aka Banner INB or Banner 9 Admin Pages)
- Synoptix reporting
If your work from home involves using a service that requires VPN, verify that your Catawba-provided laptop has the OpenVPN GUI app installed (click the Windows Start icon, type OpenVPN, and see if the OpenVPN GUI app appears). If it does not, or you are not sure, contact the IT help desk for assistance. Note that IT can only install VPN on Catawba-owned equipment.
Access Your Catawba Phone and Voicemail
Even when you are off campus, there are options for accessing your calls and voicemail:
- You can check and manage voicemails by calling 704.637.4240.
- You can forward all your campus phone calls to your off-campus phone number. To do so, press the "Forward" button on your campus phone (the first black button right below the display screen). Then enter the number the calls should be forwarded to preceded by a 9 (e.g. 9704#######) or a 91 for a long distance number (e.g. 91336#######). Then press the “Done” button when complete.
- Whether forwarding to a local or long-distance number, you should test this forwarding feature before depending on it. If it does not work, your phone setup may need to be modified by IT. Contact IT for assistance with this.
- To stop your campus phone from forwarding calls, press the "CheckFW" button on your campus phone (the first black button right below the display). This button then becomes the "CanclFW" button. Press it. Your campus phone calls will no longer forward until you repeat step 2 above.
Remote File Access
You can access the files you have stored on Catawba's network drives (i.e. the H drive or the I drive or the T drive) from off-campus by following these instructions:
Cloud File Storage
Microsoft One Drive for Business, available through Office365 to all Catawba faculty, staff, and students, allows you to store files in the Microsoft cloud, making them available to you on any device with internet access as well as on your smartphone. Although not the best choice for extensive file sharing and collaboration, it does have limited file sharing capabilities. For instance, you can get a link to a file or folder you have stored in OneDrive and share that link with anyone who needs access to the files.
Online Collaboration
Note that the Blackboard Learn LMS is the preferred method for online collaboration with students in a class environment. Faculty should visit the TEACHING ONLINE/REMOTELY section for guidance on teaching online.
Microsoft Teams combines modern online meeting technology with persistent chat (similar to Slack), file storage, and collaboration. Since it is part of Office365, you can use Office Online tools like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint to edit files as a team in real-time. The full functionality of Teams is available to faculty and staff, but anyone you invite can join a Teams meeting.
Note that one downside of Teams currently is that it does not provide a phone dial-in option for virtual meetings and video conferences. It is strictly Voice Over Internet Protocol (or VoIP). So while Teams is great for collaboration and file sharing, if your virtual meeting requires a dial-in phone number, you should consider one of the other videoconferencing options (like Collaborate or Zoom or WebEx) to provide this functionality.
To get started with Teams, log into Office365 (aka Webmail) and choose Teams from the waffle menu (app launcher icon) at the far left. While Teams is fully functional in most browsers, you can also download a Teams app for your computer or your smartphone.
See the Training topics, under the Help menu, for Teams how-to information. Also, see the links below.
- How to Get Started with Teams - 1 hour YouTube video; Note that information on how to use Teams for virtual meetings is at minute marker 26:57 in the video
- Teams: How to Record a Lecture, Presentation, or Meeting - 3:53 minute YouTube video
Online Meetings and Videoconferencing
Besides Microsoft Teams mentioned above, there are other options for online meetings and video conferences. Note that all of these options allow screen sharing and recording, so all can be used for team collaboration and creation of video content.
Blackboard Collaborate is a new videoconferencing option available to Catawba College faculty, staff, and students through the Blackboard Learn Learning Management System (LMS). While most faculty and students will access it directly from courses in Blackboard that are being taught at Catawba, staff and other employees can access it from a special Blackboard course called EMPLOYEE_COLLABORATE.
Blackboard Collaborate Instructions for Staff:
(Faculty should visit the TEACHING ONLINE/REMOTELY section for guidance)
- Log into the Blackboard Learn LMS with your Catawba username and password.
- Find the My Courses channel on the landing page (typically on the far right).
- Click on the course labelled EMPLOYEE_COLLABORATE.
- Click on the Blackboard Collaborate icon from the course menu on the far left. After you do this, the right-hand side of your screen will be labelled Blackboard Collaborate Ultra, there will be a hamburger menu that takes you to Sessions or Recordings, and you will see an option to Create Session. A session is a virtual meeting or video conference in Blackboard-speak. Click on Create Session to set up your virtual meeting. How to Create a Session.
- Invite attendees to your virtual meeting by sending a guest link through email or through another communication channel (e.g. Teams).
- As the host or moderator of the session (aka virtual meeting), you will log back into Blackboard (see steps 1-3 above) and Join the session that you created in step 4 above.
- How to Moderate a Blackboard Collaborate session. Read More.
- You can share your desktop screen and lots of other content in Blackboard Collaborate. Learn how.
- You can record your Blackboard Collaborate virtual meetings (and by recording a meeting with just yourself, you can create online learning video presentations). Learn More about Recordings.
Zoom offers a free Basic license to higher education. Compare Basic and Professional Licenses. The main limitation on the free Basic license is the 40 minute meeting time limitation on meetings with 3 or more participants. Catawba IT can add your Catawba email address to the College's Zoom account as either a free Basic user or as a Professional user. If requesting a Professional account, please provide a budget code for the monthly charges.
WebEx has expanded the capabilities of their free version in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Download WebEx and Learn More.
Download virtual backgrounds featuring Catawba College photography for your Zoom meetings or other online conference calls below:
