Resources for Online Teaching

[Click here to jump to our crowd-sourced list of digital resources]

Many of us are suddenly facing the challenges of online teaching. We recognize that this shift can be disorienting, and we want to do what we can to offer support. So, we have compiled these resources in the hope that they help clarify the issues and provide useful information and guidance.

Below, you’ll find resources that encourage a positive attitude about online teaching, suggestions for how to communicate with students about the shift to online teaching, tips to help you adjust to the new teaching circumstances, and links that are particularly useful for teaching art history.

Here is a presentation that will help with the practicalities of online teaching.

We compiled the resources on this page with the needs of the ICMA community in mind. But here is a general guide to Going Online in a Hurry from the Chronicle of Higher Education.
This site will be updated, so check back for further materials. And if you have suggestions for how to improve this library of resources, please email nrowe@fordham.edu.

Getting into a Positive Mindset for Online Teaching. You can Try New Things!
Anne Swartz on the Advantages of Online Learning.
Martha Hollander on Web-Based Tools.

Communicating with Students as you get Set Up for Online Teaching
Many of you are worried about your students. Online learning environments can be a way to keep up relationships you’ve forged and help students recognize your continued interest in their well-being.

Here is a sketch of an email you can send to all members of your class (compiled by a Fordham colleague, active on Twitter @christyzen). Students seem to appreciate being included in the process of deciding how to make the shift from face-to-face to online teaching and it relieves some pressure when you reveal that you are just getting your bearings too.

• Which time zone will you be in for the next few weeks?

• As I assess the best platform and format for our online classes, is there anything in particular you would like me to bear in mind?

• Which elements from our in-person classroom experience would you like me to try to retain?

• Do you expect to have regular access to the Internet and a computer with audio and video capability?

• I’m sure there are issues that will arise and need attention. Which questions and concerns do you have about the shift online – about the syllabus, assignments, or other elements of coursework?

• Are there other issues you would like to share about this moment and what you’re going through?

Here is a profoundly humane adjusted syllabus that Brandon Bayne (Religion, UNC) posted to a Facebook group on Teaching in the Time of Corona.

Basic Start-Up Guide for Moving to Online Teaching (modified from advice given by Fordham University’s Dean of Arts and Sciences Faculty and the Deans of Bowdoin College)

 1.     Communicate with Your Students

a.     Contact your students to assess how they are doing and to prepare them for the road ahead.
b.     It is a good idea to communicate with the class right away. Even if you do not have a plan in place yet, informing them that changes are coming and what your expectations are for checking email or Blackboard or Teams (or whichever pedagogical platform your institution uses), will be reassuring for them and for you. It is fine to tell them that plans are in flux and details will come as soon as you can manage it.
c.      You can use the suggested questions we provide under “Communicating with Students.”
d.     Establish a preliminary communication plan – will you contact them only through email? Will you make your cell phone number available?
e.     Determine how you will hold “office hours.”

2.     One Step at A Time

a.     Think about your plans stepwise.
b.     What will be enough to get you through the week?
c.      What are your goals for the longer term?
d.     Remember, you do not have to become an expert at online teaching overnight!

3.     Determine Learning Goals and Priorities

a.     Don’t assume that you have to replicate the experience you had planned for the class in this new online format.
b.     Consider if you could deliver on your overall goals through alternative means.
c.      What do you think you can realistically accomplish during the remainder of the semester under current conditions?
d.     Do you think you can maintain your original syllabus and schedule?
e.     Do you hope students will keep up with the reading with some assignments to add structure and accountability?
f.       You will probably have to reconsider some of your expectations for students, including participation, communication, and deadlines. As you think through those changes, keep in mind the impact this situation may have on students' ability to meet those expectations, including illness, lacking power or Internet connections, or needing to care for family members.

4.     Share Ideas

a.     Talk to colleagues at your institution,
b.     If you think it would be useful to establish a means to connect to other professors of medieval art history and if you’re not inclined to do so through social media, the ICMA can set up a conversation – through email or some other platform, depending on interest.

5.     Assess as You Go

a.     You may find that your first forays in online teaching yield useful lessons or insights. Keep track of them.
b.     Ask students to provide feedback. Use this as an opportunity to work collaboratively with the class.

Thank you to everyone who sent us favorite resources (we've noted in parentheses when a colleague flagged a particular site for the list). Please send additional suggestions along anytime.

Recent Posts Referencing Online Image Databases
“The Ultimate Guide to Virtual Museum Resources, E-Learning, and Online Collections” (put out by MCN, formerly known as Museum Computer Network)
Sarah Bond, “The Met Museum Just Made 375,000 Images Open Access--But Here Are A Few More Museums That Are #OA,” Forbes (February 8, 2017)
Monica Castillo, "Smithsonian Institution Releases 2.8 Million Images for Public Use," Hyperallegeric (Feb 26, 2020)
Jessica Stewart, “14 Paris Museums Place 100,000 Works of Art Online for Free Download,” My Modern Met (January 15, 2020): see also the Related Articles at the bottom of the page

Morehshin Allahyari’s Material Speculation: ISIS, 2015–16  (Tracy Chapman Hamilton)
Ancient Athens 3-D: click the subpage on “Medieval Athens” (Tracy Chapman Hamilton)
Archnet: a built environment of Muslim societies throughout time and across the world
Art History Teaching Resources
Ashmolean's Imaging the Divine Exhibit (Tracy Chapman Hamilton)
The Boxwood Project (Ryan Frisinger)
Brown’s Resources in Art and Architecture on the Web
Closer to Van Eyck: images of the Ghent Altarpiece restoration in extremely high resolution (Lucile Bertrand)
College Art Association’s Resource Page
Columbia University’s Digitization of Treasures of Heaven Exhibit (Tracy Chapman Hamilton)
“Creation of Gothic”: 400+ panoramas, 24,000 photos of capital sculpture, detailed analysis of the Chartres portals, and more. A thesaurus of the sources for Early Gothic architecture; filters to explore the churches, their features, and graph the results. Explore carvers/modes in images and maps of their travels. Details (with construction history) of 840 churches in the Paris Basin before 1250 (John James)
Digital Mappa (Tracy Chapman Hamilton)
Digital Pilgrims Project
Digital Scriptorium
Dumbarton Oaks Byzantine Collection 
Dumbarton Oaks Online Collection
e-Codices Virtual Manuscript Library of Switzerland (Michele Bacci): see also Harvard University Library’s Manuscript Resources collection
Les Enluninures Online Initiatives - “Stuck at Home? So are we ….” (Nina Rowe)
Les Enluminures (Book of Hours Tutorial)
Facsimile Finder: Giovanni Scorcioni Looking Through Facsimiles
Foto Marburg Image Datbase
Harvard's Compendium for Medieval Art & Architecture
The Lewis Chessmen (YouTube video, from “The Masterpieces of the British Museum Collection)
Open Arts Objects Archive
Open Arts Objects Archive, YouTube
Getty Art
Getty’s Balthazar Exhibit: also valuable are the resources at the bottom of the page (Tracy Chapman Hamilton)
Getty’s Legacy of Ancient Palmyra (Tracy Chapman): see also some SketchFab models of destroyed monuments in Palmyra, as well as a cautionary note by Sarah Bond
Global Middle Ages
The Index of Medieval Art
Kelsey Museum’s Ancient Color Exhibit (Tracy Chapman Hamilton)
Kingdom of Sicily Image Database (Caroline Bruzelius)
Lancelot Project: images of manuscripts of the Lancelot-Grail romance in French prose (Alison Stones)
Liturgical Books: A basic guide to the Latin liturgy and its books (Susan Boynton)
The Lordship and Commune Project
Mapping Gothic France
Notre-Dame of Paris, Panorama Tour
Notre-Dame of Amiens: Life of a Cathedral
Mapping Paintings
Medieval Academy’s Digital Resources (MDR)
Medieval Mosaics: exactly what it says on the tin – a site about medieval wall mosiac, under continual development. Please send comments to Liz at E.James@sussex.ac.uk (Liz James)
Metropolitan Museum of Art Online Collections and Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History (Katherine Werwie)
Middle East Garden Traditions 
Monastic Manuscript Project (Charles Buchanan)
Musiconis (Medieval Musical Iconography)
Morgan Library & Museum, Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts
NOVA’s “Building the Great Cathedrals” (Tracy Chapman Hamilton)
Oxford Medieval Studies
The Peutinger Map: digitized by Euratlas and Richard Talbert (Tracy Chapman Hamilton)
Peregrinations 6.2, Fall 2017: an issue “composed of a series of essays exploring the ways in which new technology is significantly changing the field of medieval art history” (Tracy Chapman Hamilton)
University of Pittsburgh’s Images of monuments in England and France (Alison Stones)
Rome Reborn: see also its Catalog of Sculptures and Smarthistory’s video lecture using it
Rose Window: “the very best for stained-glass images” (Meredith Lillich)
“Saving Notre-Dame,” on the National Geographic Channel (featuring Lindsay Cook!) [preview]
Sentiments of Notre Dame (Tracy Chapman Hamilton)
Smarthistory
Warburg Institute Iconographic Database
York Minster Stained Glass Navigator: a collection of high-res images of York Minster’s Great East Window and St Cuthbert Window panels (Karl Kinsella, with thanks to Dr. Sarah Brown of the York Glazier’s Trust)

You may be wondering about the limits of what an employer can ask of faculty during this difficult period. We offer this general statement:
Your employer has an obligation to provide a safe and hazard-free work environment. With the rapid spread of the unprecedented COVID-19, your employer may encourage or require you to work remotely as part of its infection control and prevention strategy. There is a lack of express legal guidance around what an employer can require an employee who does not ordinarily perform their jobs remotely to do from home. Generally speaking though, an employer may direct its employees to perform the requirements of the job by virtue of the employer/employee relationship.

American Association of University Professors (AAUP) Principles and Standards for the COVID-19 Crisis:
https://www.aaup.org/aaup-principles-and-standards-covid-19-crisis

COVID-19: Additional Resources and News for Scholars

• Guidance from The University of California provides key insights on equity & inclusion during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Tufts University published a handbook with practical teaching advice for faculty facing challenges with inclusion in the learning environment.

• The UK-based Joint Information Systems Committee shares best practices for ensuring online teaching materials are accessible

• The Chronicle of Higher Education reflects on how faculty can include principles of humanity in syllabi adjusted for digital learning.

• Scholars have a new focus for teaching and research: confronting coronavirus-related racism.

• Online Zoom classes were disrupted by individuals spewing racist, misogynistic or vulgar content. To address this, experts say professors should familiarize themselves with Zoom's settings.

• For many graduate students, the COVID-19 crisis is highlighting inequities.