Instructional Continuity Guide
Resources for Teaching During a Canvas Disruption
Use these temporary workflows when Canvas or Canvas-connected tools are unavailable or unreliable. The goal is to preserve instruction, communication, attendance evidence, assessment, feedback, and records until Canvas service is restored.
Assumption: Canvas may be unavailable or unreliable; Turnitin and Respondus may be unavailable. Use Mercer Outlook for required course communication. Zoom, OneDrive, MyMercer, and external Echo360 access are available unless otherwise announced. Instructors can access Echo360 at echo360.org using Mercer credentials and MFA.
First Steps
1.Get rosters
Use SQL Alerts class lists, MyMercer rosters, or Anthology roster reports.
2.Email students
Explain what is down, how class continues, where materials live, how work is submitted, and when you will update them.
3.Create a Course Hub
Use Mercer OneDrive with weekly folders and a Start Here document. Share with enrolled students.
4.Continue instruction
F2F: meet as scheduled. Synchronous: meet in Zoom. Asynchronous: use instructor-directed Echo360 or Zoom recordings, guides, activities, or checks.
5.Collect work
Use OneDrive upload folders or Mercer email. Give one submission method and a consistent file naming convention.
6.Preserve records
Export the Canvas gradebook if available; otherwise maintain a temporary Excel gradebook in Mercer OneDrive.
Use Outage Decision Tiers
Tier 1 / same day: Email students, meet normally, and use alternate submission only for items due now.
Tier 2 / 24–72 hours: Create a OneDrive Course Hub, send Start Here documents, begin a local gradebook, and accept submissions by email or OneDrive.
Tier 3 / 72+ hours: Modify or reschedule high-stakes assessments and maintain weekly attendance/engagement records.
Communicate With Students
Use Mercer Outlook as the primary channel for required course communication during the disruption. Tell students what changed, what remains available, how to find course materials, how to submit work, and when they should expect the next update.
- Face-to-face: Tell students whether class meets as scheduled and bring printed or emailed materials if needed.
- Synchronous online: Send the Zoom link, meeting expectations, and submission instructions by email.
- Asynchronous: Send a weekly Start Here document with links, tasks, due dates, attendance activity, and submission instructions.
Share Course Materials
Create a Mercer OneDrive Course Hub with weekly folders and a Start Here document. Include readings, PowerPoint slides, Word/PDF guides, Echo360 links, Zoom recording links when appropriate, prompts, and assignment instructions.
- Use Mercer OneDrive rather than personal Dropbox, Google Drive, or other personal cloud storage.
- Share with “Specific people” when feasible and avoid posting grades or private student feedback in shared folders.
- Confirm that students can access links before relying on them for assignments or exams.
Collect Student Work
Use one submission method per assignment: Mercer email attachments or a OneDrive upload folder. Provide a clear file naming convention such as lastname_courseassignment_date.
- Confirm receipt when feasible, especially for high-stakes work.
- Do not require unapproved tools or unexpected student accounts.
- When Canvas returns, reconcile email/OneDrive submissions with Canvas assignments.
Attendance and Participation
Attendance must be based on academic engagement, not merely system access. During an outage, instructors should use clear, weekly evidence that students participated in an academically related activity.
| Course format | May count as attendance | Should not count |
|---|---|---|
| Face-to-face | Physical attendance, in-class quiz/activity, lab, presentation, or assigned academic work. | General communication about scheduling or advising unless it addresses the academic subject of the course. |
| Synchronous online | Zoom attendance plus academic participation: chat, poll, breakout, presentation, quiz, or assignment. | Opening Zoom and leaving without academic participation if participation is required. |
| Asynchronous | At least one weekly academically related activity: assignment, Microsoft Forms quiz/check tied to content, Teams discussion, tutorial, or faculty-student correspondence about course content. | Logging in, opening a file, downloading a document, or sending a non-academic “I read this file” message. |
Testing and Assessment
The default recommendation is to preserve the learning outcome, not necessarily the original assessment format. Choose the least disruptive alternative that is fair, accessible, and academically defensible.
- Low-stakes checks: Microsoft Forms, emailed writing/reflection prompt, OneDrive worksheet, Echo360 or Zoom poll.
- Application exams: Open-resource scenarios, cases, data sets, individualized prompts, or written/video explanations of reasoning.
- High-stakes exams: Prefer postponement, in-person administration when feasible, approved proctoring, or splitting into lower-stakes parts.
- Individual verification: Short Zoom oral check, live problem-solving interview, recorded explanation, or presentation.
- Writing without Turnitin: Require process artifacts: proposal, annotated bibliography, draft, revision memo, source notes, and/or oral defense via live or recorded video.
Grades and Records
If Canvas is available, export the Canvas gradebook after each new set of grades is entered. Open the CSV in Excel, save a working copy as XLSX, and store the file in Mercer OneDrive. If Canvas is unavailable, maintain a temporary Excel gradebook in OneDrive and reconcile it when Canvas returns.
- Do not email full gradebooks or store them in personal cloud storage.
- Do not post grades in shared folders.
- Document changes to due dates, assessment format, grading weights, and attendance expectations.
Approved Tools During a Canvas Disruption
Use Mercer-approved tools and accounts. Do not require students to use unapproved tools or create unexpected external accounts.
- Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Forms, Teams
- Zoom: Synchronous class meetings, office hours, oral checks, presentations
- Echo360: Recording, sharing video links, embed code, and polls through external login
- Mercer OneDrive: Course Hub, file distribution, submissions, and gradebook storage
Academic Integrity
Mercer University students operate under an honor system and are expected to demonstrate honesty, trustworthiness, and fairness in all academic matters. During a disruption, assignment or assessment formats may change, but the expectation of academic integrity does not. Unless the instructor states otherwise in writing, students may not receive unauthorized assistance, submit work that is not their own, misrepresent their participation, or use unauthorized materials or tools. Suspected violations may be reported through the appropriate honor system process for the student’s campus or program.
Credit Hour Policy Reminder
Mercer’s Credit Hour Policy applies across modalities, including temporary outage workflows. Instructors should document required, structured, faculty-directed direct instruction separately from indirect or out-of-class reading, studying, homework, practice, and project work. Do not simply add more homework and call it direct instruction; direct instructional substitutes must be required, structured, faculty-directed, and connected to the academic subject matter.
Get Help and Stay Informed
The Center for Teaching & Learning houses Academic Technology services and provides integrated support for course design, LMS troubleshooting, educational tools, and teaching support. Continue to submit academic technology Helpdesk tickets to helpdesk@mercer.edu.