A Student’s Perspective on Best Remote Teaching Practices

By Sindhu Sadineni

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This guide was created from the perspective of a student who wanted to share insights from her role as a full-time student, a Technology CoPilot, and a Student Technology Consultant working for the Office of Information Technology. 

1. Identify your teaching objectives and your students’ learning need

When preparing to teach through remote technologies, ask yourself:

  • What are the most important things about your course and how can those be recreated online?
  • What aspects of the learning experience, activities, and assessments might need to change for the remote teaching format, and how?
  • What is the best platform on which to recreate them, and with what tools? 
  • Pro tip: consider maximizing the use of tools that you AND your students are already familiar with, such as Canvas, Zoom, and Google.
  • What are some of the ways we can still build the classroom learning community?

2. Set your expectations 

Clear expectations remove barriers to learning. Consider using a few minutes of your class time during the first week to familiarize your students with course expectations and using these features. Include your expectations in lecture, on your syllabus, and on Canvas. Consider defining parameters for interacting and engaging during online activities by asking yourself:

  • Do you expect students to find a non-distracting environment when class is in session?
  • Would you like students to use their webcams? Or, is it okay to have a photo or image displayed?
  • Do you want students to display their preferred pronouns in addition to their names? 
  • Should students mute their microphones when not speaking? 
  • Can students unmute themselves to interject? Or, should they wait till you open up for questions? 
  • Can or should students use the chat features to engage with you and other students?
  • Are students expected to use the raise hand feature? 
  • What topics or speech is off-limits, if any? 
  • Pro Tip: Familiarize your students with class expectations as a “syllabus quiz” on Canvas.

3. Your Canvas course page is your most valuable tool.

Organize the course content in chronological order, whether by modules or weekly summaries.
Give yourself flexibility by updating the modules one week at a time. 

  • Link your Zoom link, expectations, and due dates prominently on your course Canvas page- **. 
  • Have clear, uniform names for files you upload to the course uniformly throughout the semester. For instance, ABCD1122_class_presentation_week1 so the students can easily find and organize them in their folders. Remember that they might be organizing files for five or six classes each semester.
  • Make Canvas/Course navigation maps or make a Course tour video and add them prominently to the homepage to make sure students know where to find class assignments/where to post discussions/submissions/how they can expect to receive important announcements. There’s a subtle line here, when multiple formats are allowed for students to accomplish an assignment, that is a trendy, sensitive way for students to express themselves and remain vested in their work. When multiple navigation routes through materials are possible, that is a guarantee that some vital content will be missed. 
  • If there were too many questions to address during class, consider answering them via a Canvas announcement. 
  • Pro tip: Request help from a Learning Technology Consultant to set up your course. Consult with a Universal Design for Learning consultant to optimize your students' learning.

4. Encourage webcam use. 

Listening to a disembodied voice over slides can be very disengaging. Similarly, having a conversation without seeing the person on the other end removes many of the social cues we rely on to understand one another. For these reasons, both the instructor and students using a webcam for discussions or other interactive activities can improve engagement and learner satisfaction. If a student feels uncomfortable with sharing their webcam, encourage them to add an avatar to their Zoom user profile.

5. Do a test run by yourself, with a TA, or with your Tech CoPilot.

Assess the level of comfort you have with your course’s technologies and identify the areas the co-pilot can be of help. Could they monitor the chat? Look out for raised hands? Interject with chat questions at appropriate times? Call on students?

6. Create student engagement and community 

  • Allow students to “hang out” and make Google Documents for the class to collaboratively engage. Allowing students to and not immediately ending your meeting when you finish class are ways to promote this.
  • Encourage your students to have informal study sessions on zoom outside of class time to build community. You can incentivize their collaboration by giving extra credit for attending informal zoom sessions.
  • For smaller class sizes you can make a Google document for your students to make a collective study guide, adding what they think will be on the midterm, etc. If you’re teaching a writing class or have paper submissions, you can give out an example of a paper on a Google document and have your students collectively add comments, ask questions, and make modifications to it. 

Campus pedagogical and technology resources

Improving your remote classroom format may seem daunting, but there are a number of campus groups available to help. Below is a list of some of those resources with a description of their area of expertise.

Student Technology Consultants (STC) are undergraduate staff members who are here to support faculty, graduate instructors, and teaching assistants in the College of Arts & Sciences who are interested in implementing innovative technologies in their classrooms. STCs provide suggestions and/or recommendations about technologies that support faculty members' teaching goals, students' learning styles, and course structures. To request an STC, fill out the form at:

Do you need help with setting up your Canvas course? Meet with a Learning Technology Consultant (LTC.) LTCs are available for one-on-one consultations with faculty members, instructors, TAs, and staff either in-person or via Zoom web conferencing. They can assist you with a wide array of topics relating to Ƶ Boulder supported technologies, including Canvas course design, exploring new tools and functionalities, maximizing student experience, and effective teaching with technology practices.

The ASSETT team is available for one-on-one and small-group consultations that are tailored to the unique pedagogical needs of faculty, courses, and programs under the College of Arts & Sciences.  Our services are designed to help you teach more efficiently and effectively with tools suited to your comfort level, learning objectives, and technical expertise.  To schedule an initial consultation, email us at assett@colorado.edu. 

The Learning Experience Designer team provides support to Ƶ-Boulder faculty who transitioned to remote teaching and learning. The LXD’s provide consultations, course design assistance, and evaluate academic technologies. For more information about the LXD team, visit .

The Center for Teaching & Learning supports Ƶ’s community of educators through teaching consultations, seminars, reading groups, and additional services. For more information about Remote and Online Teaching assistance:

If you have other concerns or are unsure what resources to seek, place a help ticket via the , contact the IT Service Center at oithelp@colorado.edu, or call 303-735-4357. 

Useful links:

from Columbia’s Center for Teaching and Learning
from the Chronicle of Higher Ed [Connect to the VPN to access this article]
from Faculty Focus.