Frequently Asked Questions

Please review the Instructor Support page to see the range of trainings and support that the E-Learning Center provides.

After you have completed the professional development option that is applicable to your experience, you will need to fully develop a course map, and a revised syllabus, and at least 6-8 weeks of content using BMCC’s course quality check-sheet. When you have completed these components, the next step is to meet with one of BMCC’s instructional designers for feedback. If your course is ready to go, you should make an appointment with your chair to have them review and sign off on your course.

Currently, faculty are not compensated for participation in the course development cohort.

Fully Online: A course delivered 100% online. Scheduled class meetings are replaced with online activities and virtual meetings, including online exams. No face-to-face meetings.

Online: A course delivered via the Internet, which is 80%-100% online. Some online courses may require campus meetings for orientations or exams.

Hybrid: A course is where learning occurs online and through face-to-face instruction. Regular attendance in both formats is required. Between 33 and 80% of the content and student participation is online with the remainder of the content delivered through face-to-face format sessions.

Online students often appreciate live virtual office hours with faculty; however, faculty should consult the BMCC Policy on Teaching Online Schedule and Office Hours which include requirements for on-campus office hours.

Yes! Online and hybrid courses provide a good structure for experiential learning.  Contact Experiential Learning Manager, Jessica Levin at experience@bmcc.cuny.edu, for more information.

Make sure your semester dates are finalized and synced throughout your course. Make sure your syllabus is updated with new dates and information. Post a welcome message before the course begins. We strongly recommend e-mailing students a week before classes begin, introducing yourself, setting expectations for the course, and asking them to complete the student E-Learning Orientation. Be sure to actively engage with your students on a regular basis—based on research, this activity strongly correlates to student retention and success.

Your regularly scheduled meetings should be scheduled through your department scheduler or chair.

Please consult the BMCC Policy on Teaching Online Schedule and Office Hours.

E-learning courses are capped at 25 students. Typically if a course does not have at least 10 students it will not run.

See the contact and technical support information in the right sidebar.

Regular, rhythmically timed assignments, reading, and discussion board postings will help students pace their activities and keep students engaged from week to week.  The most important thing to do is to regularly engage with your students and respond to them within the timeframe you specified in your syllabus or sooner.  Professor engagement strongly correlates to student engagement.

To learn about open textbooks and course content available online go to BMCC’s resource site at http://bmcc.libguides.com/open/oer or contact Jean Amaral, Open Knowledge Librarian, at jamaral@bmcc.cuny.edu.

We encourage you to make students aware of the many services available to them through the Learning Resource Center and other support areas on campus.  They include online tutoring, the writing center, the office of accessibility, academic advisement, the library, as well as many labs designed to assist students in curriculum areas where they need help.  Student services resources are listed at the Student Hub.

CUNY intellectual property policy: “Electronically Published Course Materials: Courses designed to be delivered over the internet, by computer or through similar technologies may involve both Copyrightable Works and other Intellectual Property. Consistent with its intent to recognize the Creator as the owner of Scholarly or Pedagogical works, the University claims no ownership rights in either the intellectual content of such courses, or the tools and technologies used to present them, unless the work was the result of Sponsored Research or is Commissioned Work, in which case B.1 or B.2 of this Part shall apply.”

You can use BMCC’s online 24/7 chat reference service and Ask a Librarian at: /randolph-library/help/ask-a-librarian. Or, for assistance selecting databases for your students, please contact Lane Glisson at lglisson@bmcc.cuny.edu.

Contact the Office of Accessibility  at accessibility@bmcc.cuny.edu and the E-Learning Center Director, Christopher Medellin, immediately so that we can ensure that your course is compliant with Americans with Disabilities, section 508.  We will work with you to bring your course into compliance if it is not already.