Going the Distance

2021 Summer Teaching Symposium: Back to the Future

The fall 2021 semester promises a return to normal — but what will "normal" really look like? During the summer teaching symposium, College of Engineering and Applied Science faculty came together to discuss how we continue to build a system of respect, trust, community, engagement and resilience in a place that looks familiar but is radically different in many ways.

Passcode: #z#s!*0r

Spring 2021 College Teaching Conversations

During the Winter Teaching Symposium, the faculty called for a cross-college teaching discussion. In this spirit, we hosted a series of discussions, loosely themed, but essentially open to any topic.

Feb. 5: Resilience []
- Please visit the
Feb. 19: Platform Constraints: Does Remote Actually Help with Anything? []
March 19: Inclusivity []
- Please visit the Center for Teaching and Learning Inclusivity page
April 2: Lessons for the Fall
April 16: Wellness at the End of the Semester []
April 30: The Long Look Back

Online Pedagogy Winter Symposium

Held Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021

The College of Engineering and Applied Science's Remote and Online Lecture Best Practices Training Working Group hosted a winter teaching symposium devoted to thinking through the lessons of fall 2020. The symposium consisted of presentations by Interim Dean Keith Molenaar, Associate Dean Rhonda Hoenigman, and numerous faculty members, followed by breakout groups.

Discussion Series on Innovative Online & Remote Teaching

In summer 2020, the college hosted a weekly discussion series exploring best practices for distance and online teaching. Each seminar, hosted by Professor William Kuskin, featured a CU Engineering guest giving a short presentation on a concept, followed by an open discussion.

In addition to the faculty-led seminars, summer resources included virtual office hours from Continuing Education's Learning Design Group and "Tech Fridays," an hour-long instructional design support session. All sessions have been recorded and archived so you can revisit them at your convenience.

Instructor Seminars

June 15: (Modular lectures: How to make them and use them)
June 22:
June 29:
July 6:
July 13:
July 20:
July 27:
Aug. 3:
Aug. 10: (+ Download PowerPoint slides about how to deliver online material)

Tech Fridays

One hour of instructional design support with William Kuskin and Donna Hall.

(Mediasite, Zoom, Slack, and Camtasia)
- Additional links from this session:

What's Your Plan? A Symposium on Education for Fall 2020

Held Monday, July 27, 2020

The symposium featured a series of roundtable discussions, offering a space for conversation around core themes to help faculty members get to their plans, one that they craft based on their needs.

Read the key takeaways

Canvas Community Course & Cartridges

The college is now offering a Community Course on Canvas to guide instructors through the program and provide basic, intermediate, and advanced cartridges, or pre-formatted templates, to give instructors an advantage in building their own Canvas courses. The Community Course will be refined over time in response to faculty feedback. Questions may be directed to william.kuskin@colorado.edu.

To access the course:

Use the to request your Canvas course(s). Note: it is recommended you use Chrome to submit your request.
Everyone should have a sandbox course. Check your unpublished course list to see if you have one. If you do not have one and would like a sandbox course where you can practice and experiment, submit the .
to get access to the templates, tutorials, and other resources. Note: it is recommended you use Chrome to enroll.

What's Next?

Send questions and suggestions for future topics to william.kuskin@colorado.edu.