Belgium Campus COVID-19 Communication (9)
Dear: Students and Parents,
During last night’s address to the nation by President Cyril Ramaphosa he
announced a 2-week extension of the national lockdown until 30 April at
midnight.
In reference to our previous communications this email serves as confirmation to
all our students, that we commence online classes on 15 April 2020 for full-time
classes and 18 April 2020 for part-time classes.
Class schedules & online platforms
Online class schedules have already been published for students on Canvas.
Full-time students should please check their schedules on Canvas regularly, as
these are being updated, to avoid missing any online sessions.
Microsoft Teams will be used in conjunction with Zoom Video Communications to
conduct our online classes. Students will receive an invitation to the online
classes in Microsoft Teams through their Belgium Campus student e-mail accounts
only. You will only be able to login to Microsoft Teams classes using your
Microsoft Office account credentials that were provided during your enrolment at
our institution. If you are experiencing any Microsoft account-related problems
or any other technical issues during this period of online classes, you should
please contact support@belgiumcampus.ac.za
Since our institution have received communication from the Department of Higher
Education and Training (DHET) regarding COVID-19 and the investigation of online
classes; the faculty has been preparing short videos, presentations and
exercises that will be uploaded on the Microsoft Teams classes. Microsoft Teams
will allow students to view which students they have class with if they want to
assist or collaborate with their peers/class mates. The live classes, utilising
Zoom, will be recorded and uploaded on Microsoft Streams, which can be accessed
using your online office 365 account.
Class schedules & online platforms
Microsoft Teams also has built-in analytical tools that our faculty members can
use to determine which students attended the online classes and viewed content
after online classes. For students that cannot access the online courses due to
lack of access to data, double classes will be scheduled when contact classes
may resume offering the opportunity to catch up (see
Faculty Calendar). Once we receive more communication and instruction from the
DHET regarding the return of students to campus we will open classes for
resident students to access online classes at the campus while ensuring that we
practise strict social distancing and hygienic measures as advised by Department
of Health and the World Health Organisation, however this will only be applied
if and when the DHET instructs us to do so.
Class schedules & online platforms
As per previous Belgium Campus COVID-19 communication (8), an instructional
document detailing the specifics of both Microsoft Teams and Zoom Video
Communications platforms, that all students familiarise themselves with these
platforms prior to the start of classes, has been uploaded to Canvas and can be
accessed at the following link: https://portal.belgiumcampus.ac.za/courses/3/discussion_topics/820
Structured training will also be provided during your first online class.
Class schedules & online platforms
We also require students to monitor the online calendar on the Belgium Campus
website as some changes will be made on the faculty calendar regarding study
leave, examination blocks and recess periods; to ensure that your academic
programme for this year is not affected.
If you experience any difficulties or require assistance, please send an email
to: kritzinger.t@belgiumcampus.ac.za
Should we receive any further communication from the Government that will require us to change our approach, you will be informed timeously via your student emails and our Belgium Campus iTversity website.