Syracuse University is transitioning to online classes until at least March 30 due to the novel coronavirus, prompting questions from students about the logistics of virtual learning.

The university will suspend all on-campus classes at the end of the academic day Friday, said Chancellor Kent Syverud and Mike Haynie, vice chancellor for strategic initiatives and innovation, in an SU News release Tuesday.

The novel coronavirus causes COVID-19, a respiratory disease that has spread to at least 113 countries, infected more than 118,300 and killed more than 4,000 as of Wednesday. There were 216 confirmed cases of the virus in New York state as of Wednesday, according to the New York State Department of Health.

As classes move online, here’s an explainer on what students can expect:

How will online classes work?

Online classes will be offered in multiple formats that instructors can choose from, University College Dean Mike Frasciello said in a statement to The Daily Orange.

Instructors can offer classes asynchronously or synchronously, Frasciello said. Asynchronous courses are primarily offered without scheduled class sessions or real-time interaction, while synchronous courses allow instructors and students to interact and share class content online in real-time.

“Faculty determine the degree to which asynchronous and synchronous engagements are designed into their courses,” Frasciello said.

Classes will be taught using Blackboard Learn, a learning management system already used for course assignments and class communication at SU.

“Blackboard Learn can support well in excess of 30,000 concurrent users,” Frasciello said. Collaborate Ultra, the tool within Blackboard that will be used for most  real-time virtual classes, can accommodate 500 users per class, he said.

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How have professors and instructors been trained?

About 300 faculty, teaching assistants and professional staff have attended training and information sessions related to online instruction since March 2, Frasciello said. SU employs 1,811 faculty.

More than 200 full-time SU faculty have been trained through the Summer Institute for Technology-Enhanced Teaching & Learning over the past five years, Frasciello said. Another 380 faculty have been trained on the use of digital learning tools, he said.

The Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence, Information Technology Services and the Center for Online and Digital Learning developed a toolkit for instructors to use that consolidates information about going digital, Frasciello said.

How will accommodations work?

Some professors have said that students will be required to virtually attend class at its regularly-scheduled time regardless of time zones. Frasciello said the online classes will accommodate students who live in different time zones, but provided no information about how.

SU has not said how it plans to accommodate students who do not have access to the internet or who have disabilities that prevent them from completing online classes.

Considerations for students who may not have internet access at home had not come up when university officials discussed issues related to moving classes online, said Mike Haynie, vice chancellor for strategic initiatives and innovation, at a press conference Tuesday.

“It has not occurred to me,” Haynie said.

Students with questions about disability-related accommodations should contact the Office of Disability Services, Haynie said in an SU News release Wednesday. Those who need technological support completing their coursework remotely should contact the ITS Service Center, he said.

Published on March 12, 2020 at 12:21 am

Contact Michael: msessa@syr.edu | @MichaelSessa3