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Frequently Asked Questions

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Frequently Asked Questions

Last Updated: March 27, 2020 at 7:30 am

If you have additional questions or concerns that are not addressed in this FAQ, please contact (405) 325-HELP (4357).

General Classroom

If you do not have access to Internat at home, you can explore Public Wi-Fi to connect to web-based campus resources. Public Wi-Fi options might include working from the homes of local family, friends, or neighbors; working from coffee shops or libraries with Wi-Fi (those that remain open). 

  • Comcast and Verizon have partnered to offer Xfinity WiFi for free in public areas. View a list of Xfinity hotspots here: https://hotspots.wifi.xfinity.com/
  • You can park in the west parking lot at Lloyd Noble (between LNC and the tennis center) and connect to WIFI@OU from your car
  • You can also locate free public Wi-Fi in your area

Also, a number of local Internet providers are offering low or no cost plans in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Check out these sites for more information:

Instructors have access to two main tools for online instruction: Canvas, the learning management system and Zoom, a video conference software. While the transition may force certain activities and assignments to be modified, class meetings may still be held at their regularly scheduled time but may take place on Zoom rather than a physical classroom.

Read More: How to Join a Zoom Meeting

Instructors are encouraged to hold their office hours using Zoom. Instructors can generate a link that can be shared with students to join when the meeting starts. These meetings have waiting rooms which can be used to only admit one student at a time into a meeting for private one-on-one discussions. 

Read More: Zoom Office Hours

If students wish to meet virtually, they can do so via Zoom. All students have access to the basic version of Zoom, which allows you to host an event with up to 300 participants for a maximum of 40 minutes. Meetings with two people have no time limit. Students can utilize Zoom's native features such as the whiteboard, screensharing, document sharing, and polling.

Students also have access to Skype through Microsoft 365.

Instructors are encouraged to be realistic about course goals and scheduling. Your instructors should be in communication with you about any changes in the schedule.

Standard laboratories will not meet in the event that campus has moved to remote instruction. Instructors should be communicating with you about alternative assignments and/or scheduling.

All library facilities will be closed to physical access and will suppport virtual-only services starting Monday, March 23 through the duration of the semester.

For the most up-to-date information on resources available from University Libraries during this period, please visit libraries.ou.edu.

Undergraduate students relying on reserve textbooks may request that select textbook chapters be provided via Sooner Xpress.

OU Libraries is maintaining a guide to full text resources being freely offered by publishers/vendors during nationwide library closures.

Additionally, our bookstore (Soonerbooks.com) is offering Vital Source Helps, a program offering free access to ebooks for students through May 25. VitalSource Helps provides access to an expansive catalog of ebooks, but some content may not be available

Consult with your individual instructor about expectations for course engagement during the time of prolonged remote instruction.

The College of Arts and Sciences Online and Academic Technology Services has developed an orientation for their online courses that student will find very helpful if they are new to remote learning and advanced Canvas features.

There are also some online resources for Canvas and Zoom. Please review these guides.

Canvas has the ability to accept file uploads in formats such a Word document and a PDF. If you are working on a hard copy of a multi-page PDF, students can use mobile apps such as Genius Scan to scan the materials before submitting them on Canvas.

Read More: How do I submit an online assignment?

The majority of on campus computer labs are closed. Computer labs in Couch Tower and the Oklahoma Memorial Union are open but access will be limited. Students are cautioned to not congregate in areas where there are large groups of people.

The Student Learning Center will move tutoring services online starting March 23rd and continue offer the online option as long as we are operating in this online format. Students will be able to access action tutoring sessions on the Student Learn Center's website. During this time, the Student Learning Center will not be offering study skills consultations or individual appointments.

If you have questions, please contact the Student Learning Center at studentlearning@ou.edu or (405) 325-7621.

Be sure to check the IT Software Catalog to see if the software you need is available for download or web access. For instance, SPSS is available for download and the Microsoft Office apps can be installed directly from portal.office.com. OU IT IS working hard to provide access other off campus to tools like Adobe Creative Cloud and will add information about extended access to the software catalog when it is available. Students can also reach out to their instructor to see if their College has additional options for accessing required software. If the required software is not available to you, please communicate that to your instructor so that they can address the issue within the class.

Consult with your individual instructor, department, and/or college for discipline-specific approaches to remote instruction and assessment.

Consult with your individual instructor about the course format during this time.

Instructors may continue to meet during their scheduled class time using a real-time video conference tool such as Zoom or they can record lectures to be watched outside of the scheduled time. Instructors are discouraged to hold their regularly scheduled classes outside of the assigned time.

Students should continue to review ou.edu/coronavirus for the self-isolation policy.

Instructors are encouraged to be flexible and make accommodations for students that have to self isolate.

Accessibility

Yes. The Accessibility and Disability Resource Center has given instructors specific instructions on how to extend the time on Canvas exams. If you require adaptive technology (voice synthetization, voice recognition, Wynn Wizard, etc.), your instructors have been provided resources to create the exam so that you can use these options. You are encouraged to email your instructor to remind them of your accommodation just to provide them an additional notice.

If you use an Apple product, there is an accessibility tool, VoiceOver, that you can activate and will read your exam to you. Alternatively, there is an online program can be used on a Windows computer, NVDA that is free and can be downloaded to your device and will also read the exam to you. If you need any assistance, please reach out to the Accessibility and Disability Resource Center at (405) 325-3852 or adrc@ou.edu.

The Accessibility and Disability Resource Center has reached out to students that have taken exams at our center this semester and have used either a reader or a scribe to ask if they would be able to meet their accommodation need during online classes. However, if you were not contacted, please reach out to the Accessibility and Disability Resource Center at (405) 325-3852 or adrc@ou.edu and the center will contact your instructor to discuss options for you to take your exam with the accommodation.

Please contact the Accessibility and Disability Resource Center at (405) 325-3852 or adrc@ou.eduand your instructor to let us know of your difficulty. The Accessibility and Disability Resource Center will work with your instructor to make the content accessible and will identify a deadline for the assignment so that you are not penalized for any delay while the content is being made accessible.

The Accessibility and Disability Resource Center hasd contacted the instructors for students who use an interpreter, CART, or an FM system asking that they record their lectures, which will allow us to add captions. Because it will be approximately 24 hours to caption lectures, faculty will allow flexibility in completing assignments if the lecture content is required to ensure students are not penalized. If there are any concerns or questions, please contact the Accessibility and Disability Resource Center at (405) 325-3852 or adrc@ou.edu.

Counselors are available at the University Counseling Center if you need to talk. The counseling center will remain open during the semester and can provide counseling by phone or Zoom. OU counselors can be reached at (405) 325-2911 to make an appointment. We would like to provide you with support during these challenging times.

As always, if there are any concerns or questions, please contact the Accessibility and Disability Resource Center at (405) 325-3852 or adrc@ou.edu.

Grade Policy

Please visit the Grade Policy page to review the current grade policy and associated FAQs.