Updated 8.4.20
During Extended Campus Learning, students and staff may leverage online video chats as a way to maintain communication with staff members and students. Westside is using Webex as our video conferencing system.
District Procedure:
- Students K-12 have the ability to JOIN Webex Meetings created by teachers. All students have the ability to create sessions.
- All staff and student have access to Webex Teams and Webex Meetings.
- ‘Office Hours’ with students should be optional.
Students:
1) Location: Set up in a common area of your house, with school-appropriate background imaging. If these criteria are not met, the teacher will end the transmission and ask the student to call back once fixed.
2) Attire: Please wear clothes you would normally wear in public to school. If a student is in his/her pajamas or other inappropriate clothing, the teacher will end the transmission and ask the student to call back after he/she has changed clothing.
Faculty:
- All board policies apply and contents of staff handbook apply.
- Only video chat with students if they are in a common area.
- Location: Set up in a common area of your house like an office or living room.
- While you don’t need to be in ‘work clothes’, you do need to appear professional and adhere to professional dress guidelines.
- Our goal is to have mostly asynchronous learning and NOT require students to have a mandated time to log on as a whole class.
- If you have an open Webex link for the class, this is considered a ‘public’ area and is treated like ‘office hours’ or the IMCs at the high school. Parents/guardians do not need to be notified of these meetings.
1:1 Meetings
Some situations might require one on one meetings with students to deliver services and lessons.
- Follow all of the above expectations
- Students will need to have an adult present and/or the parent/guardian should have access to the meeting link (this is for staff/student protection)
- For secondary students, if the teacher sets up a 1:1 Webex Meeting with a student, please copy the parent/guardian on the invite link. The parent/guardian does not need to be present, just needs to know it is happening
Technical Tips for Better Chats Using Webex:
- Don’t walk around while the camera is on
- Have your device plugged in or charged
- Be aware of what’s in the background behind you. You don’t want to accidentally overshare with your students or parents!
- If you’re using your computer, avoid starting any large downloads and turn off any streaming music/video before starting the call.
- Use headphones with a microphone if at all possible.
- Try to get as much light as possible on you. It will make you look better!
- In a group meeting situation, mute your microphone when not actively speaking. This is especially important as the number of participants in a group chat increases. You might want to come up with a signal inside of the Webex chat to indicate if someone needs to speak.