In general, much of our daily operations run on applications that are accessible from the internet by visiting MyQueen'sU.

VPN Service for Students Connecting from China

A dedicated VPN solution has been developed to assist students living abroad to connect to teaching and learning resources at Queen’s. Currently, this specialized VPN should increase the performance and reliability of network connections specifically from within China. To learn more, check out the Queen's International Teaching and Learning VPN page.

Queen's enterprise Learning Management System (onQ)

onQ is Queen's enterprise Learning Management System, powered by Brightspace/Desire2Learn. It is used to deliver academic courses online or to supplement face-to-face instruction. It can also be used for collaborative research and project-based group work. Refer to the onQ support site for instructors to learn more about:

• Creating courses and providing course material online with the integrated Course Creation Tool (CCT+)
• Communicating with your students through onQ via:
  • Announcements
  • Chat
  • Discussions
  • Email (via Classlist)
  • Microsoft Teams
• Assessing your students by introducing online assignments and quizzes:
  • Assignments
  • Quizzes
  • Grade Book and Grade PeopleSoft Upload
    • Check the onQ Support site for frequently asked questions and answers about quizzes.

If you are considering onQ for delivering a course, this checklist will help to get you started.

Creating Course Content Using Other Tools

• Articulate 360 (coming soon)
• Camtasia 
• Feedback Fruits 

Communicating with Students

• onQ - Use onQ to communicate with your students 
• Microsoft Teams – Use your Microsoft team to give lectures, host virtual office hours and provide a space for collaboration.
• Microsoft Bookings – Use Microsoft Bookings to organize virtual office hours as well as group meetings.
• Zoom (enterprise license coming soon)

Video Capturing and Editing

Faculty members can create static videos and presentations for viewing on demand using the following tools:

• Camtasia - Camtasia makes it simple to record and create professional-looking videos on Windows and Mac.
• Microsoft Teams – record presentations and enable live captioning.
• Microsoft PowerPoint – record audio to provide narration for your slideshow.
• Video capturing from IT Services - IT Services can assist in capturing lectures delivered in a video-equipped classroom based on availability.
  • Request an appointment for this service by using this form and indicating "classroom video capturing services" within the form body

Streaming Pre-Recorded or Live Video to Students

Queen's Streaming Service

The Queen's Streaming Service allows account owners to upload video and audio files into a "library" using their web browser. Once uploaded, the owner can embed the video within onQ courses (for viewing by students). Live streaming is also available through the Queen's Streaming Service.

• General information on the Streaming Service
• Instructions for embedding videos into onQ

Microsoft Stream

Microsoft Stream is an enterprise video service that allows users to upload, view, and share videos across Queen's Office 365. With Stream, users can share recordings of classes, meetings, presentations, training sessions, or other videos. Videos can be uploaded and shared individually or to a chosen group or channel. The screen recording tool can be used for training videos and other communications. Use options to record any window or screen, add mic or system audio, and include webcam footage for a personal touch.

Visit the Microsoft Stream page for more information.

Live Streaming from Classrooms 

Many classrooms are being equipped for live streaming. Stay tuned for more information.

Conducting a Synchronous Class Online

Using Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is an online tool that enables conversations, documents, audio/video conferencing, and document sharing capabilities for faculty and students.

Using Teams, students can join live video conferences with the ability to ask real-time questions using a microphone or via chat. Video conferences could be facilitated/presented by an instructor or teaching assistants, and students can create their own sessions to collaborate with other students on groupwork. While working in groups, students can make use of additional features within the Office 365 suite to collaborate and edit documents simultaneously with other students, take class notes, create group presentations, track group member tasks, schedule group meetings, etc.

Using Teams, faculty members can deliver lectures while displaying presentations, allowing students to ask questions. Faculty members also have the ability to make use of additional features within the Office 365 suite while presenting live to students, such as making use of the Whiteboard tool, surveying students, recording presentations and enabling automatic captioning, giving presentation control to others (for example, a TA or student), etc.

Teams meetings are limited to 250 participants in a single session. Microsoft is anticipating an increase in Teams usage due to recent events and is currently considering an increase to this 250 person limit.

Using Microsoft Live Events

For large classes, Live Events in Microsoft 365 is an option. Live Events is an extension of Teams meetings that would enable a faculty member to schedule, produce, and deliver live events that stream to large online audiences (up to 10,000 attendees). Live events are designed for one-to-many communications where the host of the event is leading the interactions and audience participation is primarily to view the content shared by host. Attendees can watch the live or recorded event in Microsoft Teams or Microsoft Stream, and can participate in discussions using moderated Q & A. Live Events is currently limited to 15 concurrent sessions, and a maximum of 4 hours per session. Microsoft is anticipating an increase in Live Events usage due to recent events and is currently considering an increase to this limit. If you would like to schedule a Microsoft Live Event, please contact IT Services using this form. IT Services and the Centre for Teaching and Learning will coordinate requests to ensure we do not exceed our capacity.

Please see our quick start guide for teaching and learning with Teams.

Using Zoom

Existing Zoom users will be migrated to the enterprise license over the next month. Enterprise licensing is rolling out to the rest of campus in summer 2020. For information about using Zoom, check out Smith School of Business' Getting Started with Zoom info.

Transcription Service

An enterprise contract vehicle will be put in place once the Ontario Education Collaborative Marketplace (OECM) RFP is complete - the expected time is July 2020. We will provide more information in the coming weeks, but for now please continue to work with your faculty if one of the following services does not meet your needs.

• Queen's Streaming (Ensemble) – With the Interactive Transcript you can view the scrolling transcript while watching the video, with current captions highlighted as the video plays. You can also scroll through the transcript and click any word to play the video from that point.
• Microsoft Stream – If a video's Language field is set to a supported language, Stream can automatically generate captions and a transcript using Automatic Speech Recognition technology.
• Microsoft Teams – With live captions, Teams can detect what’s said in a Teams meeting and present real-time captions for anyone who wants them. Live event attendees can view live captions and subtitles in up to six languages in addition to the language being spoken. Event organizers can select the languages from a list of over 50.

Assessment

Online Grading and Evaluation

Please consult the CTL for all of the pedagogical approaches to assessment as the following list only outlines the available technologies.

• onQ Quizzes - The Quizzes tool enables you to create and manage points-measured assessments. 
• onQ Grade Book – Instructors can set up a Grade Book that reflects their approach to evaluation. You control the grading formula used to calculate grades and which projects, assignments, tests, etc. are graded; how grade items are associated with other tools, and when grades are released to users and what information they see. 
• onQ Grade Export – Primary Instructors can now send their Grades directly from onQ to PeopleSoft. 
• Crowdmark – Crowdmark is a collaborative online grading and analytics platform. Previously available only to select departments, Queen’s has procured an enterprise licence for it, opening up use to all instructors.
• Microsoft Forms – Stand-alone or through Teams, Microsoft Forms can be used for simple quizzes or questionnaires.

Remote Proctoring

The following services for remote proctoring are being fully integrated with our Learning Management System. More information will be available soon. 

• Examity (coming soon)
• ProctorTrack (coming soon)

Accessibility

• Microsoft Learning Tools – The Microsoft Learning Tools set is natively built into the Office 365 and Microsoft Edge applications. The immersive reader capability in Learning Tools gives users the ability to have content read aloud to them, and lets them adjust settings to break the words into syllables, adjust text size or background colors.
• Visit the Accessibility Hub for more information about accessibility.

Physical & Virtual Server and Cloud Hosting Services

Physical hosting provides climate-controlled, power conditioned server rack space for your servers and storage systems. Request physical hosting using this form.

Virtual hosting provides a flexible server environment capable of running Windows and Linux servers in an enterprise class and storage infrastructure. The service includes nightly backups and automatic failover in the event of hardware failure. Request virtual hosting using this form.

Cloud hosting (Microsoft Azure): IT Services is actively developing remote lab services hosted in the Microsoft Azure public cloud. These services are intended to aid in the deployment and management of internet accessible computing labs. Use cases being evaluated include, but are not limited to, software development, data sciences and access to specialized programs such as 3D modelling or statistical analysis software.

Further details on the specifics of the services and instructions on how to attain them are expected late June or early July. Request cloud hosting services using this form and indicating "cloud hosting services" in the body of the form.

Can't find what you're looking for?

Check out our Connecting, Collaborating, and Working Remotely page.

New to Queen's?

Check out our Getting Started for Students page.

Recommended Technology Requirements

Please visit the Recommended Technology Requirements page. Also be sure to check with your faculty as they may have more specific guidelines.

Queen's Enterprise Learning Management System

onQ is Queen's enterprise Learning Management System, powered by Brightspace/Desire2Learn. With onQ, you can:

• Access course content, such as videos, group work, shared files, etc.
• Communicate directly with your professor and classmates
• Collaborate and present assignment material
• Submit assignments, quizzes, and other material for evaluation
• View grades and assignment feedback

Visit the onQ support site for students to learn more about what you can do with onQ.

Communicating with Peers and Faculty

As many courses move to online delivery, it's important to stay connected to peers and faculty. There are a few ways to keep in touch:

Microsoft O365

Some of your classes may be delivered using Microsoft Teams. Microsoft Teams is a collaboration tool that allows users to interact via video and audio calls and chat, share, upload, and collaborate on documents, and more. Use Microsoft Teams to:

• Attend lectures, visit virtual office hours and access a space for collaboration.
• Have impromptu or scheduled meetings with classmates with video and audio chat, screen sharing and file collaboration

Collaboration – Groupwork and Peer Review

Class Groupwork

• onQ Discussions – The Discussions tool provides an area for collaboration and communication, allowing youto post, read and reply to messages on different topics.
• onQ Assignments – Use the Assignments tool to submit assignments, view rubrics and competencies, download assignments to your computer, and view grades and feedback.
• onQ Groups – Groups are used for a specific project or activity, and are a means of organizing learners within a course into a smaller unit for collaborative activities. Groups can be used to interact with the Discussions and Assignments tools.
• Microsoft Teams – You can use Microsoft Teams to share and collaborate on documents, chat over instant messaging, and have ad-hoc meetings/gatherings over audio or audio and video.

Peer Review

• Aropä – Aropä is a web-based tool that supports peer review of assignments. Aropä can be used for students to provide formative or summative feedback and/or grades to each other. There is also an additional option that allows the student feedback to be graded by students, TA's, or by an instructor.

Course Evaluations & Examinations

Remote Proctoring

Students will be informed through their program if they will under e-proctored assessments. If you have been informed that you will be using an e-proctored assessment, you will be using one of the following services. Tutorials are available for each page.

• Examity (coming soon)
• ProctorTrack (coming soon)

Accessibility

• Microsoft Learning Tools – The Microsoft Learning Tools set is natively built into the Office 365 and Microsoft Edge applications. The immersive reader capability in Learning Tools gives users the ability to have content read aloud to them, and lets them adjust settings to break the words into syllables, adjust text size or background colors.
• Visit the Accessibility Hub for more information about accessibility.

• Find out how you can lock down your mobile devices to protect your data from unauthorized access.

Use a strong password

• Learn the requirements for your NetID password.
• Always use a different password for different services.

Make sure to back it up

• Keep a copy of important files on remote services. Queen's offers numerous back up options. Learn which option works best for you.

Choose a secure wireless connection

• Queen’s secure wireless network is called QueensuSecure_WPA2. Log in with your NetID and password.
• Wi-Fi is considered secure when you need to have a unique username and password to access it.

Use anti-virus and anti-malware software

• If you’re running Windows 10, you’re probably already set. Windows 10 comes with Windows Defender built-in.
• If you have an older version of Windows, you can download Microsoft’s System Centre Endpoint Protection for free from the Software Centre.
• If you’re using a Mac, you can download ESET Endpoint Security for free from the Software Centre.

Install updates - security patches

• Always install updates for your operating system, browsers, and other applications as soon as they become available.

Be selective about what you share

• Only share your data (documents, files, photos) with others when you understand the risks of doing so.