Faculty Resources

Teach.caltech.edu contains comprehensive information for teaching your course online.

Quick Reference

• Caltech Adaptable Teaching Series
• Online Teaching
• General Advice and Guides
• Moving Course Components Online
• Lab and Experiential Courses
• Communicating Expectations
• Working with TAs
• Assignments and Exams
• Electronic Course Reserves
• Technology and Tools
• More Tools and Tech

Important Things to Consider

Student Experience

Students may be accessing courses from different time zones, have limited or shared access to computers and internet bandwidth, and working under different stresses due to the pandemic and/or working in isolation.
Should they need it, students should be encouraged to access resources at Student Wellness Services.

Support Site for Students

A new support site for students' online learning needs is available: http://learn.caltech.edu. Instructors may want to add this link to their course syllabus/website.

VPN Usage Guideline

Please DO NOT USE Caltech VPN when accessing platforms and tools for teaching and learning, such as Zoom, Google Drive, Google Hangouts Meet, and Gradescope. Doing so will degrade the overall experience and may not work properly. Applications requiring VPN can be found at: http://imss.caltech.edu/news/vpn-usage.

FERPA Compliance, Security, and Use of Other Applications

Due to compliance issues (including student privacy and copyright) associated with the public posting of recorded lectures, instructors should only post recordings on the most up-to-date recommended applications listed under /tech-tools.

Learning Management Systems

Canvas

Gradescope

Gradescope is an online tool for submission and grading of problem sets, quantitative assignments, and coding assignments; Caltech now has an institutional license.

Tools for Live Online Meetings

Zoom

Zoom is a video conferencing app that allows you to share your screen and record your session.

Zoom can be used for:

• Lectures and live discussion
• Screen-sharing
• Whiteboard drawing
• Office hours and individual meetings
• Pre-recorded demos and lab experiments
• Breakout rooms

Faculty members automatically have a pro license with these features:

• 300 maximum participants
• Unlimited time
• License for one year

For seminar (colloquia) classes that are open to non-students for synchronous/live streaming, be careful to follow Zoom security recommendations when sharing links/invitations, and share recordings only with enrolled students and approved auditors. See: https://teach.caltech.edu/ferpa-security

Zoom Security

• Please find information here about how Caltech has evaluated Zoom and recommendations for updating your software and reviewing your settings: https://imss.caltech.edu/services/information-security/security-issues/advisories/zoom-privacy-and-security
• Recommendations for Zoom settings when scheduling and hosting a session with a non-Caltech guest lecturer can be found here: http://teach.caltech.edu/tech-tools/zoom-guide/schedule-meeting-guest-lecturer

Helpful information from Zoom

Google Hangouts

Google Hangouts has been implemented as an alternative to Zoom and to allow students to have unlimited collaboration sessions. Learn more at http://learn.caltech.edu/tech-tools/google-hangouts.