Teaching Remotely

Canvas and Zoom are the primary tools for conducting on-line courses, as recommended by the University and the Law School. Canvas is a Learning Management System that can be used to communicate with students, distribute syllabi, course materials, and assignments, as well as host student discussions and more. Zoom is an online web conferencing tool that will allow you to share your screen and any presentations with the class, and for audio and video participation.

All Spring Quarter 2020 classes have a corresponding Canvas site, which will be automatically updated with the class’s roster of enrolled students. In preparation for the Spring Quarter, Law School IT will automatically publish all class sites on March 27, 2020.  In advance of that date, faculty  may prepare and upload materials to Canvas and publish the site when all relevant updates for a course are completed.

In addition to Canvas sites, the Law School is using Zoom for online course meetings. You should have already received a Zoom account invitation from ITS for your University account, which you can access at uchicago.zoom.us using your CNET ID and password. If you have not already logged in and claimed your Zoom account, you should do so as soon as possible. If you have any issues, please reach out to the Help Desk (helpdesk@law.uchicago.edu).

Zoom has a “Canvas Integration” which makes it very easy to manage your classes with Zoom via Canvas. To help prepare for the quarter, the IT department will schedule Zoom sessions for course(s) with dedicated rooms/meeting times and make ups via Canvas, and you will be able to launch the sessions through the Canvas interface as well. Documentation, including Quick Start Guides may be found below.

Students will be able to join your class at the regularly scheduled time, using the Zoom link posted via the Canvas course site. Additionally, all Spring Quarter 2020 classes will be recorded automatically.  At the beginning of your first class session, please make your students aware that all class sessions will be recorded.

You may also use your Zoom account to conduct virtual office hours, one-on-one discussions with students, or to conduct class for courses that do not have a set meeting time or location—such as some seminars or individual research projects. You may schedule private meetings directly via the Zoom interface (uchicago.zoom.us) and those meetings will not show up in Canvas.

Finally, the University does allow students to provision Zoom accounts for free, which may be used by students on outside group work, for research, or experiential learning requirements.

In addition to notices via email, we will also keep this page up-to-date with relevant information.

University Resources

The University "Teaching Remotely" site features some great training videos with information which will also be applicable at the Law School. Courses of interest to Law School instructors includes:

Advanced Trainings

Canvas Resources

Video: Canvas and Zoom Training Session - September 2, 2020

Comprehensive Law School Canvas Instruction Guide (PDF/Video series)

Quick Guides and Videos by Topic:

  • Logging into Canvas (PDF/Video)
  • Navigating to Your Course’s Canvas Site (PDF/Video)
  • Posting a Syllabus (PDF/Video)
  • Creating Modules  (PDF/Video)
  • Adding Files to Your Canvas Course (PDF/Video)
  • Posting an Announcement (PDF/Video)
  • Posting an Assignment (PDF/Video)
  • Starting a Discussion Thread (PDF/Video)
  • Start a Scheduled Class Session (or Make-up Class) in Zoom via Canvas (PDF)
  • Scheduling Office Hours or Student Meetings in Zoom via Canvas (PDF)
  • Sending Messages via Canvas (PDF/Video)
  • Changing Your Notification Settings (PDF/Video)
  • Additional Help (PDF)

In addition, the University provides many resources for learning Canvas which go into greater depth and can help you develop the best practices for using Canvas as a resource for your classes. You can find those guides here:

Zoom Resources

Video: Canvas and Zoom Training Session - September 2, 2020

Comprehensive Law School Zoom Instruction Guide (PDF/Video series)

Quick Guides and Videos by Topic:

  • Installing Zoom (PDF/Video)
  • Logging into Zoom Application (PDF/Video)
  • Logging into Zoom Website (PDF)
  • Testing Audio and Video (PDF/Video)
  • Start a Scheduled Class Session (or Make-up Class) in Zoom via Canvas (PDF)
  • Entering a Zoom Meeting (PDF)
  • Managing Participants on Zoom (PDF/Video)
  • Sharing Your Screen in Zoom (PDF/Video)
  • Using Chat in Zoom (PDF)
  • Using Breakout Rooms in Zoom (PDF)
  • Ending your Class Session on Zoom (PDF/Video)
  • Logging out of Zoom (PDF/Video)
  • Schedule an Individual Zoom Meeting (PDF)
  • Using Polls in your Zoom Meeting (PDF)
  • Creating a Zoom Meeting Template (PDF)
  • Attendance Information (PDF)
  • What To Do If Your Internet Goes Down (PDF)

Additional Zoom Resources

Getting Help

Law School Help Desk:
(773) 834-5300
helpdesk@law.uchicago.edu

Monday-Friday, 8:00am-6:00pm

University Resources