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Best Practices for Faculty

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  2. Center for Learning and Teaching
  3. Best Practices for Faculty

Student Privacy

Every instructor at AUC is responsible for protecting student privacy and ensuring access to course materials. Regulations regarding privacy are specified by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA).

Widespread use of social media and web tools, such as Facebook, wikis, and blogs, has redefined privacy to include public details of student activities, photos, or any information students wish not to share with the entire population of the Internet users.

Faculty members need to be aware that including social media and free web tools in their course may spread information about their students that they don’t wish to share. They are also discouraged from using their personal email address to communicate and share documents with their students. Only AUC email should be used to protect student privacy

Resources for Students

To offer all students equal access to resources faculty are encouraged to take advantage of Open Educational Resources (OER) and provide online articles and reading material online as much as possible. CLT will work closely with faculty members to help develop these resources 

Technology Requirements for Students 

Faculty members are encouraged to include the technology requirements both in their syllabi and in the LMS.

Hardware Requirements

  • A relatively new computer 
  • High-speed Internet connection (minimum 2 MGB)

Note: A mobile device may be used as a supplemental device to the computer, rather than a full substitute, for completing the requirements of online courses.

Software Requirements

  • AUC log account A Moodle/Canvas account (provided)
  • Productivity software (e.g. Microsoft Office and Google Drive)
  • A Web browser compatible with Canvas and Moodle (e.g. Chrome and Firefox)
  • Relevant plug-ins (e.g. Acrobat and QuickTime Player)

Student Training and Technical Support

AUC  provides technical support for all students to complete their online courses and programs, in areas such as email, learning management systems and general computer problems. All students have access to the Help Desk support and various online technical support resources.

Faculty are encouraged to include the following  tips to promote student success in their courses:

  1. Limit distractions. Claim a space in your home or local library on your own and stick to the routine.
  2. Set aside time. Time management is key to being successful, so a good idea is to go through your schedule and set aside time every week to complete the weekly tasks for this course. For example: completing the readings (1-2 hours) - watching videos (1-2 hours, some include important questions, and depending on the time taken to answer these, the overall time may be a bit longer) - finalizing the exercises (2-3 hours, but check for specific guidelines provided for each exercise as some are done in groups, which requires organization between group members).
  3. Log into the course daily.
  4. When you need more flexibility, proactively communicate with your teams and instructors.
  5. Create your weekly work calendar. Stick to it and don’t be afraid to re-adjust.

Students with Disabilities 

It is recommended that all the resources used in an online/ blended course (e.g. videos, PDFs, images) be accessible for students with disabilities and that you include the following statement in the online syllabus:

Any student with a documented disability (e.g. ADHD, autism, spectrum disorder, acquired brain injury, PTSD, physical, sensory psychological or learning disability) who needs to arrange accommodation must contact the Student Disability Services unit (SDS) at +20.2.2615.3918, and meet with an advisor to register and develop an accommodation plan. 

It is the student’s responsibility to communicate his/her needs with the instructor in a timely manner. 

Netiquette

Simply defined, Netiquette means etiquette on the Internet (or net). Setting and following some simple netiquette rules in your online class will ensure your success. Check the following infographic for some guidelines.