During the transition to online coursework, our faculty have been working hard – and working together – to learn about new resources and prepare the best learning techniques for their students.

Dr. Kate Hayden, assistant professor of chemistry, and Dr. Amber Wagner, assistant professor of creative and applied computing, have helped lead workshops and create new resources for faculty, staff, and students.

On Wednesday, March 18, nearly 50 faculty members attended workshops – in groups of ten or fewer – about tools like Moodle, Microsoft Teams, and Screencast-O-Matic that will be vital throughout the rest of the term. Others viewed a recorded presentation from home, which can be found here. This recording is just one video in the YouTube playlist Hayden and Wagner created for those teaching and learning remotely.

“Faculty are working very hard to creatively restructure their courses into an online format that still promotes the level of interaction to which we are accustomed in our face-to-face courses,” Wagner says.

Face-to-face instruction is an essential part of the BSC learning experience, and these tools, which can utilize video and audio calling, will help replicate that as much as possible.

“We want to ensure that we can deliver the best educational experience we can under these circumstances, but we also want to make sure that the online environment is accessible and flexible for all our students,” Hayden says. “Some are having to help with their parents’ businesses, help babysit or even homeschool younger siblings, or at the very least are competing for internet bandwidth at home.”

BSC has provided resources that students can access for free, and our faculty and staff can work with students who need more assistance making this transition. Hayden and Wagner also reached out to students through their first video to let them know about these resources and how much faculty and staff already miss them.

“A recurring theme is that faculty are just as disappointed about losing the face-to-face aspect of their classrooms as the students, and they are trying to simulate that level of interaction as best as they can,” Wagner says.

Alongside our faculty, other departments on campus are working hard to move their services online, including the Library, Counseling Services, the Academic Resource Center, and the Writing Center. Find more information on these resources below.

“Our mantra for the last week has been ‘While we are working remotely, none of us are working alone.’ I hope that is a message that resonates with our students as well,” Hayden says.

The Library

Members of our library staff are committed to meeting the needs of the campus community during this unusual time. Access to the building and our print and media collections will be available to BSC students and employees by request on an as-needed basis, and electronic resources are available 24/7. Find more resources and get in contact with someone on staff by visiting library.bsc.edu.

Academic Resource Center

The Academic Resource Center is providing online tutoring through Microsoft Teams. Students can visit ARC Tutoring in Teams to explore subject area channels, where they will be able to chat, make audio and video calls, join video conferences, screen-share, and live edit with ARC tutors. Appointments are also available. Email [email protected] with questions.

Writing Center

The writing center staff will be providing online tutoring services via email Sunday through Thursday for the remainder of the term. To set up a tutoring session, students can email a writing center coordinator – Jessica Robbins at [email protected] or Laura Tolbert at [email protected] – with their paper and a description of major concerns. Please allow 24 hours for them to look over a paper and return it with comments.