Teaching remotely

Student working on an assignment using an iPad

Guidance and information to support our teachers during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. 

A number of teams across the College have created resources and pooled their expertise to help our teaching community deliver the best learning experience with the right technology and techniques. This page is intended to provide a kick-off point for accessing these resources.

The key contacts for developing remote teaching are the Faculty EdTech teams:

Each EdTech team has created Faculty specific remote teaching guidance webpages. You can find links to these in our "Remote Teaching Guidance" section below.

Contacts and resources

Guidance Sessions

Due the positive response to the guidance sessions organised by the EdTech Guild, we have now extended these to run through the Autumn term.

If you are currently working on preparing or delivering multi-modal educational modules, or designing Timed Remote Assessments (TRAs), you may wish to attend one of these sessionsThey are designed as opportunities for individuals and teams to discuss pedagogical or practical questions about teaching in a multi-modal way and planning remote assessments.

There will be three 1-hr sessions per week, starting from Tuesday 20th October – Tuesdays at 12.00, Wednesdays at 15.00 and Thursdays at 09.00

 These sessions will be led by representatives from the Educational Development Unit, supported by the College Quality Assurance team.

 If you are interested in attending one of the sessions, please contact ltstrategy@imperial.ac.uk and provide the following information: 

  • your name and those of any team members who will attend with you 
  • The name of any programmes / modules you would like to discuss 
  • An indication of questions or areas that would you like to talk about
  • which dates you would be available to attend a session.

Please note that the number of individuals or teams per session will be capped to ensure that there is enough time given to all queries, but we will endeavour to accommodate your chosen time.

Resources for Staff

Principles for Online and Blended Learning

This document outlines six underpinning principles for online and blended learning, along with a generic illustration of how each principle can be applied in practice, an Imperial case study and web links to further case studies and information.

Threshold Level Specification for Online Modules

This specification provides a checklist of criteria that online and blended modules are recommended to meet.

Delivering Remote Labs

A selection of examples of how Imperial staff members are delivering remote labs.

Video standards for online teaching and learning

This guidance applies to all new teaching materials prepared for the academic year 2020-21 and beyond.

Copyright and licensing tips for online teaching

Copyright and licensing tips to help you teach remotely. They include suggestions and advice about where to find new teaching content online.

Creating acccessible content

In this web guide you will find everything that you need to create accessible and effective content including guidance on headings, links, images, documents, videos and more.

Using Teams for Teaching and Learning

Teams is a communication and collaboration tool from Microsoft that can be used within a teaching and learning environment to facilitate blended learning delivery.

Netiquette Guidance

This page provides guidance to students on communicating online in a way that ensures successful, meaningful and respectful interactions among the College community. 

Timed Remote Assessments (TRAs) guide PDF

A guide to designing good TRAs (a type of open book exam that allows students to access relevant resources to answer examination questions).

Remote Teaching Guidance

The Faculty EdTech team websites linked below provide specific support and advice on remote teaching using technology. The Digital Learning Hub and the Educational Development Unit provide practical tips for online teaching and useful pedagogic information. Used in combination, these resources can help you to develop your teaching online.

Please note that these guides occasionally refer to software packages that are unsupported by Faculty EdTech teams and ICT. Therefore, it is imperative that BEFORE you plan to use any software for teaching purposes you discuss your requirements with your Faculty EdTech team. They will be able to advise you of the support status of the software and, where necessary, will be able to suggest alternative supported software.