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Step 4: Develop key course policies
In addition to a host of standard course policies, it is strongly recommended to evaluate the following policies in light of remote teaching and the pandemic.
- Grading policies: Try to avoid strict grading curves in remote environment. Remote teaching is enhanced when collaboration is encouraged and strict curves tend to discourage collaboration.
- Internet Reliability Policies: Even the best internet can go down without warning. Clearly determine how you will handle this before the course begins.
- Students with documented disabilities: Make sure to plan for students that will require accommodations.
- Communication policy: Having a clear policy around email communication and communication through discussion boards can help with workload issues. Suggestions include (a) specific “email office hours” as the times you will be answering emails to set appropriate expectations for students on response times; (b) if you have synchronous lectures, set aside 5 – 10 minutes before and after class for just answering student questions; (c) plan for leveraging the discussion boards for questions
- Sick policy: As we expect cases of COVID-19 to potentially surge, etc., make sure you have a policy that can handle higher than usual impacts on students due to severe illness and potential requirements to isolate and/or quarantine.