U. of T. Guidelines Regarding the use of Cloud/Third-Party Technologies
Recommendations and Suggestions
Other Considerations when Using a Third-party Response System
Wi-Fi Awareness Video
If you are considering using a third-party classroom response system such as Learning Catalytics, Socrative or other, please review the information below. For more information about recommended best practices, get in touch by emailing the UTM Library Instructional Technology Services Team or callling 905-601-8859.
U. of T. Guidelines regarding the use of Cloud/Third-Party Technologies
Instructors may wish to use social media, third party and/or cloud-based technologies (tools beyond Quercus). These tools would be considered to be a tool beyond Quercus if the University of Toronto does not have an agreement with the company. There are several things to be aware of when using a tool beyond Quercus and below is a link below to University of Toronto Guidelines.
University of Toronto Guidelines regarding use of Cloud/Third-Party technologies:
https://teaching.utoronto.ca/resources/tools-beyond-quercus/
As noted in the U. of T. guidelines, use of a third-party service that is not supported by the institution or division, nor through a contract relationship, should not be made mandatory.
Recommendations and Suggestions
A third-party classroom response service cannot be made mandatory. We recommend that instructors provide an alternative to the third-party classroom response service if one will be used. Instructors can ask students to inform them at the start of the course if the students decide to use the system or the alternative provided by the instructor. We recommend that instructors do not assign grades, or assign only a nominal grade amount (e.g., 2%) for participation using a third-party service. For students who decide to opt out of using the service, alternative methods of assessment must be set out in the first week of class through the syllabus, or on Quercus (Canvas) or other communication tools used in the particular course.
Some third-party service tools may ask students to provide their student number or student ID when they sign up to use the service. In place of the University of Toronto id, instructors can ask students to use a combination of their UTORid and Student number that would be unique for the student taking the course. Another suggestion is to ask students to provide a pseudonym and to inform you of it. If students are using their utoronto.ca email addresses to sign up for an account, then they should use a different password than the one that they use for U. of T. systems. Instructors should provide information about use of the system in their syllabi and also provide separate instructions to help students sign up for the system in a way that will ensure that student data is kept secure and private.
Other Considerations when Using a Third-party Classroom Response Service
If students are having trouble with the Wi-Fi, then instructors can encourage students to reduce bandwidth consumption. Some potential considerations and suggestions include,
- Confirm wireless capacity for the room where the class will take place;
- Test the WiFi in an initial class to determine whether there will be sufficient support for classroom activities.
- Ask students to shut down or disable the devices they are not using for the class
- Students may resort to using their own data plans in order to respond, potentially incurring cellular data charges. We recommend that you refer them to the IITS helpdesk for help in using the Wi-Fi
- Display videos and images to the entire class and do not push them to student devices as those who are using their cellular data plans could incur additional charges;
- Students who are having difficulty accessing the Wi-Fi can
- Consult the I&ITS UTM Network Connectivity knowledge base article
- Bring their laptop or device to the I&ITS Service Desk located at CCT0160 next to the underground parking entrance, in order to ensure their wireless connection is working properly during the following hours: Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 8:00 pm; Saturday - Sunday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm. Please let the I&ITS staff know that the course code, classroom number, and classroom response system that is being used.
Contact us for other strategies that can be used with the third-party classroom response service tools depending on the tool.
Wi-Fi Awareness Video
Wi-Fi Citizens Unite: https://youtu.be/hou4uw_SNCQ