Getting Started – Where to Begin

All UCI courses will be remote for spring quarter. To help BioSci faculty transition and succeed in an online environment, we’ve created this page as a resource that will be updated continually throughout the quarter as new information is available. There are a variety of tips, tools, and best practices to make the remote learning environment successful for both you and your students. Below, we have included information on technological needs, as well as instructional suggestions and resources.

woman working on a laptop from home

Remote Teaching Resources

The Division of Teaching Excellence and Innovation and the Office of Information Technology have created new web pages for technical support:

Remote resources
Technical Support
Boot Camp Webinars

Please use this as a starting point for setting up key technology needs for remote teaching.

Questions

If you have additional questions on setting up key technology, please contact the EEE Support Team at eee-support@uci.edu, and they will direct you to the appropriate point of contact.

Tools for Successful Remote Teaching

Tools for Successful Remote Teaching

Teaching Resources for BioSci Faculty

BioSci has created a Google Doc for faculty which includes resources to assist with your remote learning experience. There currently is a PowerPoint with information on best practices for remote learning, and the Google Doc will be updated continually with resources as they become available.

Teaching Resources

UCI Canvas

UCI Canvas is an online platform for UCI courses. It’s your and your students one-stop shop for readings, lectures, discussions, assignments, exams, and grades.

VPN (Virtual Private Network)

You can use the UCI VPN if you need to access scientific papers online or use other resources available through the UCI network. If you use the Web VPN option, be sure to select “WebVPN” as the Group before you log in. See instructions here.

You can also download the Software VPN app to enable VPN for all connections – not just those via web browser.

But my home internet is unstable!
Click here for suggestions from OIT.
Click here for resources from UCI TeachPrep. Feel free to share this link with your students, too!

Zoom

The university has enabled Zoom teleconferencing access for all faculty. You can use this link to log into your account and determine whether you currently have a “Basic” or “Licensed” account. Meetings for those with “Basic” accounts are limited to 40 minutes, so if you’d like to have longer meetings please contact a department administrator to sign up for a “Licensed” account, which is free for UCI faculty.

Once you’ve logged into your Zoom account, you can change your profile and settings. For example, you may want to allow anyone on the call to share screens if you’d like to look at files with your students or colleagues while on Zoom. Only use this feature with trusted entities, otherwise click here to utilize security measures suggested by OIT.

How can I prevent Zoombombing? And when did that become a word?

See the guidance from OIT:

If you experience Zoombombing, please report it to techprep@uci.edu.

Helpful links and resources for Zoom

Yuja

Want to capture just your slide presentation? To record your slide presentation alone, or include a picture-in-picture recording of yourself presenting the lecture, use the YuJa desktop-based lecture capture software.

YuJa can record lectures straight from your desktop and store the video file on their servers. You can also store files created with other video capture software, including Zoom. YuJa provides a digital media library in which you can store everything online. And you can also link the stored videos to Canvas.

Faculty Coaches

The following faculty members are happy to serve as resources to assist faculty and lecturers with remote instruction technologies. Please check the above resources first, but then email them directly to request assistance.

Melanie Cocco, MB&B (mcocco@uci.edu)
Celia Faiola, EEB (cfaiola@uci.edu)
Catherine Loudon, EEB (cloudon@uci.edu)
Grant MacGregor, DevCell (gmacg@uci.edu)
Adrienne Williams, DevCell (adriw@uci.edu)

Collaboration between colleagues

FYIs and Need to Knows

Learning Assistants (LAs):

The Division of Teaching Excellence and Innovation and the Certified Learning Assistants Program (CLAP) is encouraging faculty to consider using Learning Assistants (LAs) remotely as another means of student support during this quarter of remote instruction. LAs can assist in facilitating discussion sections, Canvas discussion boards, or small group meetings. LAs can also provide live support by facilitating group discussions during synchronous remote lectures, managing students in Zoom breakout rooms, or holding virtual office hours/drop-in tutoring.

CLAP has created resources to help faculty get started with this process: https://dtei.uci.edu/learning-assistants-3/

Dry Ice:

Mark your calendars! Dry ice scheduled to be delivered to 1439F MH every Monday.

Additional Resources and Information

Tips and Advice

  • Asynchronous versus synchronous: Michael Dennin, Vice Provost of Teaching and Learning and Dean of Division of Undergraduate Education, offered the following advice: “For consistency, when it comes to asynchronous versus synchronous, it is truly a balancing act in terms of access versus engagement. We will be providing multiple levels of advice and suggestions in this space as we move forward. The short answer is that it is best to leverage both modes where possible but not have grades rely on synchronous, where possible, because of all the issues with access and stable tech.”
  • Virtual office hours: Use a shared Google Doc to create virtual office hours. The Division of Teaching Excellence and Innovation is providing this as an option for faculty who need assistance with technology. Click here to view the document. 
  • Stay up to date on the latest information: Online Education’s Faculty Focus Blog provides great and current information on online teaching. In addition, Elizabeth Pollard from San Diego State University created the following chart to offer ideas for how you might deploy educational technologies to transfer face-to-face teaching strategies into an online modality: Pedagogy in the Time of COVID-19.
  • The UCI School of Social Sciences created a fantastic list of tips and tricks from social sciences faculty and beyond:

UCI Disability Service Center

The DSC Office is now closed until further notice.
However, DSC staff, services, and support will continue to be available remotely, 8:00am to 5:00pm, Monday-Friday.

Please click the link below to learn more about updates from the DSC related to COVID-19.
https://dsc.uci.edu/covid19/

Donating Personal Protective Equipment

UCI Medical Center is in urgent need of supplies for our frontline care providers and staff. To help, UCI School of Medicine students are hosting a personal protective equipment (PPE) drive from Monday, March 30 to Saturday, April 4. Please consider making a donation to help protect our healthcare providers who are working tirelessly during this unprecedented time.

UCI Medical Center is accepting the following supplies in unopened and unused condition:
• N95 Respirators
• Surgical Masks
• Face Shields
• Protective Goggles
• Disposable Gloves
• Hand Sanitizer
• Isolation Gowns

Drop-Off Locations and Dates

3/30, 3/31, 4/1, 4/2, 4/4 @ 8 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Gavin Herbert Eye Institute Parking Lot
850 Health Sciences Rd, Irvine, CA 92697

3/30, 3/31, 4/1 @ 8 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Albertsons Ladera Ranch
27702 Crown Valley Pkwy Suite B, Ladera Ranch, CA 92694

For questions or concerns, please email donatemasksucisom@gmail.com.

Thank you for your support!

Mental Health Resources

Susan Samueli Integrative Health is offering free virtual well-being services for UCI employees, including Sleep 101, What is Stress?, Mindfulness and Meditation, Guided Acupressure, Guided Massage, Yoga, Stress Management Strategies (all non-contact).

UCI Psychiatry Department offers a Faculty and Staff Support Line with supportive therapy, techniques to manage anxiety, and other resources to provide emotional help during this difficult time. Sign up for a FREE 30-minute support session (links below). You will receive an email confirming your appointment. A counselor will call you at the designated time.

If you would like access to free, confidential counseling services for you or your family, contact ComPsych Guidance Resources, your Employee Assistance Program (EAP), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at:

Phone: (844) 824-3273
http://www.wellness.uci.edu/facultystaff/eap/introduction.html

The Center for Student Wellness & Health Promotion invites you to join them each week

to virtually interact with therapy dogs and cute pets! Say hello and introduce your pet to our participants. No pets? No problem! All are welcome to join to see the animals and enjoy some lighthearted fun.

Sign Up Here 

PLEASE NOTE: If you are feeling suicidal, go to the nearest Emergency Room or call the National Suicide hotline at 1-800-273-8255.

Travel

UCI is prohibiting all non-essential University-sponsored International Travel to any country to reduce
the risk of potential spread of infection to other areas and in support of global health. For  more information, please click the links below:

Local Source for COVID-19 Info

You can visit the new website created by UCI Health for the latest information from expert voices on your health and wellness, testing, clinical trials, policy, technology, education, social issues, as well as insights and analysis on the real-life implications of these developments.
https://oc-covid19.org/

Additional Resources and Links

Who are the Equity Advisors?

Many of the faculty resources added to the BioSci remote website were brought to you by the SOM Equity Advisors (with a few edits for BioSci).

The Equity Advisors work with the Deans and the UCI Office of Inclusive Excellence to support UCI’s commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion.

An Equity Advisor is a senior faculty member, appointed as Faculty Assistant to the Dean in their respective schools. Equity Advisors participate in faculty recruiting by approving search strategies and raising awareness of best practices. Additionally, they organize faculty development programs, with both formal and informal mentoring, and address individual issues raised by women and underrepresented minority faculty.

Please send any updates or additions for the faculty resources on the remote site to Aimee Edinger (aedinger@uci.edu).

Aimee Edinger Portrait

BioSci Equity Advisor:
Aimee Edinger