UVACollab HelpUVACollab DocumentationGetting StartedCourse and Collaboration SitesTransitioning to Online Teaching with UVACollab: A Brief Checklist

Transitioning to Online Teaching with UVACollab: A Brief Checklist

Create course sites, if necessary.

If you haven't created course sites associated with your courses, you can use the Site Builder tool to create them quickly and easily. We recommend selecting the From Template option and the Basic Course template, which will automatically add a suite of helpful tools to your site—including the Online Meetings tool, with which you can create and join virtual meetings for your course in Zoom.

Add key tools to existing course sites, if necessary.

You can also add tools to sites you've already created. Depending on your needs, you may want to add one or more tools for communication, collaboration, assessment, and evaluation.

  • Communication: Announcements; Site Email
  • Collaboration: Online Meetings; Discussions
  • Assessment: Assignments; Tests & Quizzes
  • Evaluation: Gradebook; Gradebook Classic

Use Announcements or Site Email to communicate with your students.

Announcements and Site Email allow you to share important information and updates with your students. Announcements posts recent messages on the overview page of your site, and can also deliver messages as email notifications. Site Email provides a single email address that contacts everyone in your site.

Tip: When sending an announcement, select the Email Notification option to post the announcement in your site and also email it to your students.

Note: To avoid message rejections when sending an email to a site email address, make sure Outlook is installed on your computer (opens in new window) and/or mobile device (opens in new window) and is configured for your UVA email account. Alternatively, use the Outlook Web App (OWA) (opens in new window) to send messages to your site email address. 

Use Online Meetings to create and join virtual meetings with Zoom.

Online Meetings connects your site to the Zoom web conferencing platform, where you can create and join virtual meetings for lectures, discussions, office hours, and more. Recording, screensharing, chatting, polling, breakout rooms, and other features are available.

The type and size of the files you want to upload to UVACollab will often determine how and where to upload them. For example, video files, such as lecture recordings or video clips, should be uploaded to your site's Media Gallery; text-based files, such as PDFs and Word documents, are typically uploaded to Resources in your site.

Use Resources to upload text-based files

Use Media Gallery to upload videos

Media Gallery can store very large file sizes, but be aware that when uploading very large files, your network connection may timeout before the upload completes.

Use Discussions to create options for text-based conversations.

Discussions provides a structured forum in which students can post comments or reply to their classmates.  

Use Assignments to collect and evaluate papers or other work.

Assignments includes options for individual or group submissions, and accepts almost all file formats. You can enter grades and comments for each submission on the grading screen, or download the grading spreadsheet and work offline.

Use Tests & Quizzes to deliver and score quizzes or exams.

Tests & Quizzes offers a wide variety of question types, including multiple choice, matching, true/false, short answer/essay, and file upload. Quizzes or exams can be configured to be available during a particular time period, and can also include time limits that begin when the student starts working and submit when the designated time has expired.  

Use Gradebook to calculate course grades.

UVACollab includes a Gradebook tool, which displays entered grades using a spreadsheet layout. It includes the ability to separate items into categories, to apply weights to calculate items as a particular percentage of the course grade, and to export course grades to SIS.

Tip: Updating your gradebook with the latest items and grades is an important way to prepare for the unexpected. If you become sick and are unable to continue teaching, your colleagues will need this information as they assist you in completing your courses.

Have questions? We're here to help.

UVACollab Support and other teams and individuals throughout the University are here to support you during this time. Contact UVACollab Support for assistance with any of the tools or features available in UVACollab. The Teaching Continuity website (opens in new window) also includes contact information for support staff (opens in new window) for most schools and related organizations.

General information and updates regarding COVID-19 are available on the Coronavirus Information (opens in new window) page.