Winter 22/23 Power Outages
The National Grid has said there may be a controlled and temporary schedule of power outages during the winter months.
Power outages are unlikely, but just in case, the University is planning for the possibility of scheduled three-hour cuts across central Oxford from December 2022 to February 2023.
We've taken steps to reduce the likelihood that courses will be affected. For example, where possible, we've scheduled courses to avoid times when the demand on the national grid is highest (4 pm-7 pm).
We will be offering our regular programme of online and in-person courses.
Planned Outages
If we receive notification that your in-person course or room hire is likely to be affected, we will notify you. Likewise, we expect you to notify us if you know that the area from where you will be delivering the course will be affected. We will contact the course participants to cancel the course.
Unplanned Outages
If a power outage occurs while your course is in progress, you should notify us at courses@it.ox.ac.uk.
Teaching online - Delivery
There are no specific directives on how to run an online course. You are free to setup your working station and conduct your course as you prefer (e.g. use one or more devices/screens; ask the students to share their screens).
The students will receive instructions on how to setup their own computers at the time of booking.
Platform used
The IT Learning Centre delivers its online courses using MS Teams. We require you to be familiar with the platform before delivering your courses. If this is the first time you are teaching and/or you need any support, please let us know at courses@it.ox.ac.uk.
Before the course
Each course runs on a standalone Teams meeting and has a unique link. The Learning Services Operations Team in the IT Learning Centre organises the Teams meetings.
Before the term starts, you will receive an invitation to the meetings hosting your courses. Note that they will be sent to your university account via Outlook. Please accept them as soon as possible, to facilitate our operations.
Delegates will receive the link to the meeting from CoSy (our course booking system), soon after booking on the course. Together with instructions on how to install the taught software.
On the day of the course
Please join the Teams meeting well in advance of the starting time, to ensure all is ready for a prompt start on the scheduled time.
A member of our team will be present at the beginning of the session do registration and ensure that all is running smoothly.
We do not record our courses by default. However, we may do so to accommodate delegates' special requirements. If a recording is agreed, you will receive a notification from CoSy. We will manage the recording after the course after the end of the session.
If problems arise during the course please contact us promptly at courses@it.ox.ac.uk.
Delegate computers
The delegates will receive instructions on how to setup their own computers at the time of booking.
Software
We understand that, by relying on teachers' and students' computers for the online courses, there is a high likelihood that people will join the course using different versions of software and operating systems.
We recommend you to clarify with us whether a particular version of the software is required for your course, so we can relay the information to the delegates. More generally we suggest you to teach topics that can be applied to a wider list of software versions.
Registers
You will not be provided with a register by us, as one member of our team will be present at the beginning of the session do do registration. You will be able to see who is coming to the course via CoSy.
Emergencies
Please notify us at courses@it.ox.ac.uk.
