Instructional Contingency Recommendations in Event of LMS Outage

In the event of an extended Canvas outage, the instructor should have an alternative plan available for continuing their teaching activities until the LMS has been restored. Information about outages can be found on Instructure's Status Page , and the Enterprise Systems LMS Team will provide university updates via Canvas announcements, the LMS Support home page, or via email.

As part of the university’s continuity plan, these recommended practices can assist in mitigating a LMS outage.

Consider what class activities that may be affected by course downtime and how this information can be provided to students while access to the LMS is being restored. Such as access to course content, online exams, web conferencing/synchronous meetings, assignment submissions, etc.

  • Download your student’s email addresses and keep the list locally on your computer.
    • Go to “New Analytics” in your course
    • Click the “Reports” tab
    • In the “Class Roster” row, select “Run Report”
    • Click the “Run Report” button
    • You will be prompted to download a CSV file which includes a column for students’ emails.
  • Have your syllabus, timeline, and course content available to share with students.
    • Maintain syllabi, reading materials, and other content critical to grading locally on your computer.
    • Determine what tool will be used to provide students course information such as Teams, Onedrive, and/or emailed to students.
    • Inform your students of any additional office hours you may be available during an extended technology downtime. Set up Teams or Zoom at the beginning of the semester for each course. Both are already integrated in Canvas.
  • Provide contact information for students to use outside of Canvas as well as your contingency plan.
  • Use your alternative method of communication to let students know about next steps.
    • Provide the plan to transition to alternative means of sharing content and interacting. (Teams, SharePoint, Zoom, etc.)
    • Communicate expectations of students during the outage -- extended deadlines, utilize email for submissions, etc.
    • Place the materials you previously downloaded in your alternative platform.
  • Regularly export your grade book and save locally.