This update is provided for archival purposes only.

Public Health guidance and University of Waterloo operations may have changed. For the most up-to-date information, please visit our COVID-19 frequently asked questions.

Supporting instructors remotely

Wednesday, April 8, 2020

This message from CEL, CTE, IST and the Library originally appeared in the Daily Bulletin.


In mid-March, in response to the COVID-19 situation and with the safety of the campus community top of mind, the University made an important decision to cease all in-person activities and exchanges, including traditional, in-class teaching. All courses, exams and academic milestones would be adapted for online delivery.

Teaching and learning remotely is not a simple thing. Modifying and even recreating course materials for remote teaching in a very short period of time, and ensuring the proper supports are in place, poses many challenges.

Delivering a quality University of Waterloo academic experience

Waterloo has been engaged in distance education for more than 50 years and has been providing technology-enabled learning, both fully online and blended, since the late 1990s. The experience and expertise this has instilled in our faculty and staff, coupled with the commitment of the University community to continue to provide a full academic experience for all students, gives us the unique advantage to effectively overcome these challenges.

A collaborative support network

The Centre for Teaching Excellence (CTE), Centre for Extended Learning (CEL), Instructional Technologies and Media Services (IST-ITMS), and the Library have formed a Teaching and Learning Support Team that will coordinate and guide the teaching and learning support services required during this transition.

Important resources are available on the Keep Learning website. Here, instructors can find advice and direction on how to conduct remote teaching successfully, including course design, assessment options, consideration for accommodations, and educational technologies that can enhance the teaching and learning experience.

Instructors can now also request assistance with course design, teaching strategies, or course reserves through a new, central email address, remoteteaching@uwaterloo.ca.

As we near the end of the winter term and prepare for spring courses, the Keep Learning website, Teaching and Learning Support Team, and staff of these instructional support units will be integral to delivering a quality University of Waterloo academic experience during these extraordinary times.

Did you know?

Subject librarians  are available to provide help with research consultations, course reserves and other learning and teaching support. Research Guides  on many subjects are also available online.

By the numbers

Staff of these instructional support units have helped our instructors prepare to teach hundreds of in-class courses remotely and have done an extraordinary job of responding quickly and effectively to these and related support requests.

A look at some of the stats following the decision to move courses online:

  • From March 16-30, the four-person LEARN support team received ~740 support tickets.

  • The WebEx conferencing tool was a top choice to quickly replace classes synchronously in the winter term, hosting ~500 sessions per weekday (with over 32,000 total participants in a two-week period). With more time to plan, instructors are advised to use asynchronous activities where possible.

  • Since March 9, CTE staff have done more than 450 consultations with instructors with topics ranging from web conferencing tools for online lectures to final exams.

  • Library chat hours have tripled in number to ~63 hours each week, while chat interactions have increased from an average of 80 to 230 per week.

  • CEL has received over 125 support requests of various types, including changes to grade breakdowns and assessment structures, moving winter exams and spring courses online, and requests to change or copy existing online course modules.