Online Course Components
As announced on March 18, 2022, the Institute will return fully to in-person instruction by Monday, April 4, 2022. Resources for remote and online teaching are provided on this site if Caltech must shift to remote instruction in the future.
Outside of special emergency permissions granted during the pandemic, Caltech's accreditation is limited to in-person instruction.
The table below presents an overview of common course components, online versions, and specific tools you can use that have been vetted by Caltech. You are welcome to use other tools with which you are familiar; please exercise caution when it comes to student work and grades, as not all digital platforms are secure or FERPA-compliant.
CTLO is here to assist you - please contact us at ctlo@caltech.edu with any questions.
| Course Component | Online Version | Tools and Technologies |
|---|---|---|
| Syllabus | Digital Document and/or Editable Syllabus in Canvas | .DOCX or .PDF file; syllabus template available here; editable syllabus in Canvas |
| Organization of Course Materials and Documents | Course website | Canvas Learning Management System |
| Collaboration Policy and Honor Code | Typical collaboration and honor code policies may need adaptation for online learning. Consider that students may need to access materials online if printing is not available in their homes and guide them on what kinds of digital materials they can share with each other when collaborating. | Documents and/or Canvas |
| Lecture | Asynchronous (pre-recorded) and/or synchronous (live) video (the latter recorded in case students are unable to connect) | Zoom online conferencing |
| Whiteboard/Chalkboard | Digital whiteboard | There are several options that Caltech has tested: explore them on the Digital Whiteboard Technologies page. |
| Class Discussion | Synchronous (live) video; record in case students are unable to connect | Zoom online conferencing |
| Recitation | Asynchronous (pre-recorded) and/or synchronous (live) video (the latter recorded in case students are unable to connect) | Zoom online conferencing |
| Office Hours | Synchronous video, audio, or text chatting | Zoom online conferencing; Canvas LMS |
| Reading, Viewing, Listening Assignments | Post assigned sections of books, links to articles, links to multimedia | Canvas Learning Management System |
| Writing Assignments and Exams | Digital document to articulate the assignment and requirements. Collection of student work via digital documents | Canvas ; Caltech email |
| Quantitative/Coding Assignments and Exams | Digital document to articulate the assignment and requirements. Collection of student work via digital documents. If students need to do hand-written work, they can usually take photos and make a digital file or files of their work to submit online. | Canvas Assignments; Gradescope; Caltech email |
| Labs | Highly dependent on subject matter; learning outcomes for labs may be accomplished digitally through a combination of videos, simulations, virtual labs, and assigned student work. | External or self-created videos, simulations, etc. |
| Lab Notebooks | Digital lab notebooks | Lab Archives |
| Grading | Digital scores and comments on student work | Canvas Assignments and SpeedGrader (includes annotation, voice/video comments), and rubrics); Gradescope |