Distance education

On 18 March 2020, the Vice Chancellor decided that Mid Sweden University would, from the same date, transfer to teaching and examining remotley. Exceptions from digital examination during the autumn semester 2020 are decided by the Head of department.

Each department must prioritize which written examinations are to be given priority. The possibility for conducting written exams depends on access to exam halls and examination supervisors. 

It is important to carefully document the changes in the course syllabus, when changing the course format, examination format etc.

Only the syllabus content needs to be updated. 

UKÄ requires us to documents all the changes we make, but it can be done afterwards, for instance by means of a decision by the Head of department.

Read more about different ways of examination here.

No. A student who cannot, or chooses not to, take an exam, we will offer a retake and later on an extra examination sitting. 

The decision to change the examination format does not mean individuals or smaller groups will have extra examination sittings.  

In this case, we may refer to the regulations the Swedish Council for Higher Education, UHR, has proposed for the SweSAT this spring. It means that the Vice-Chancellor can decide on a code of conduct that come into effect in cases like these, where we deal with an active, communicable disease.

The students taking the examination must be informed that if they are ill or have visited a risk area, they ahould not come to take the examination. In cases where they come anyway, the Board of Discipline may suspend them afterwards for doing so.  

If we have acted carelessly, thus causing the situation, we may have to pay a reimbursement, but normally not. The carelessness is the difference in this case. If we have caused the student economic loss by taking unnecessary measurements and not informing the student of this, thus giving him or her the opportunity to adapt to the decision. Looking at the measures taken in the rest of the country and globally, we consider these losses to be minimal, and we cannot be considered to be overreacting to the threat of the coronavirus. 

If you have registration for the exam in Ladok, the students who have the right to special support can report their need for support. When the registration is closed, teachers only need to contact the Examination Coordination to check for any notifications regarding support (which in this situation only applies to extended time, 40% of regular writing time). If you do not use Ladok, you need to inform the students that they must show their certificates of support to you.

Here you will find contact information for the Examination Coordination.

The process below does not apply when examinations including correction are performed completely digitally in for example Inspera or Moodle.

During the current pandemic, the exam function can carry out the dispatch and storage of corrected paper exams according to the following process:

1. The students need to be registered in Ladok in order for the scan to be completed (this can be done afterwards if the exam is already written - the department administrator / administrator places a locked registration opportunity and reports to the students who have written. NOTE: This must be done before the result reported in Ladok! It is still recommended that exam registration is always done in Ladok, not least because students who have the right to special support can report it in the way they are instructed to do.

2. In order for a corrected exam to be scanned by STUA, the institutions need, to the Examination function, to supply an unwritten original paper exam, which shows the examination questions, date and course code. Along with the original exam, the students' written exams are enclosed where it is stated which student has graduated (for example printed from mail or other system).

3. In cases (for example when answers have already been sent to the student) where only examination questions must be scanned for archiving, they are sent to the exam coordination. In cases where there is no registration opportunity in Ladok, a closed registration opportunity is arranged by the administrator / administrator when the exam is sent.

4. No copy, neither digital nor on paper, is stored with teachers after they have been scanned, they must be deleted or sorted out.

Advice for teachers: teaching on campus 

The goal of the university is to facilitate studies, considering the effects of the corona pandemic.    

General advice 

Facilitate studies whenever possible for students who need to stay at home because of illness or belonging to an at-risk group. You can do so by: 

• Sharing the documents you showed during the teaching session. 
• Encourage study groups, or divide students in study groups. In these groups, students can share notes and help each other if a student is absent.  
• Be clear about what students need to do if they miss a course unit and how they should do it.  
• Consider offering digital course units for students who cannot come to campus.   

Before the teaching session 

• Prepare the students by offering them information about the course and encourage them to read and follow the recommendations at miun.se/en/corona 
• Stick with the same groups if possible to minimize the number of student contacts.

During the teaching session 

Please remind the students orally of the individual responsibility and the fact that we are each other´s work environment. There is no way of knowing if the person next to you is at-risk or has family members in an at-risk group, for instance, and therefore, everyone must keep a minimum distance, wash their hands regularly and stay at home at the first sign of flu-like symptoms or illness, even if the symptoms are mild.   

After the teaching session 

Make it easy for the students to maintain distance by telling them to leave the room one smaller group at a time.  

Possible examination formats
Online exams present unique challenges compared to standard, campus based, exams. Our goal is to ensure that students are given the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding in the best possible way.

 Here, you will find more information about the possible examination formats.

We are introducing a new phone number for ad hoc teaching support for teachers, regardless of whether you are teaching at campus or in another location.

The number is: +46(0)10-142 84 65

Support for issues that are not ad hoc: helpdesk@miun.se

We are currently offering additional support for teachers who need to film their lectures etc. Please contact helpdesk@miun.se for support.

Currently, we are working to create good conditions for the transition from campus courses to digital options. As a first step, the university may prioritize support to distance education with planned, on-campus, course units.  

To do so, we need to have a readiness in terms of the extent, to which our systems can handle such a change. A designated team focusing on digital solutions will repeatedly follow up this work. 

Support for teachers

Here you can read more about copyright and find out what you need to think about when sharing material with students.

You order here , the Service Portal. Help with your order, contact IT Helpdesk.

Our ambition is to facilitate the students’ studies as far as possible, in spite of the effects the current pandemic has on our activities.

There are good examples of how this can be done among the advice for teachers, see Advice for teachers: Teaching on campus

Feel free to discuss solutions with your colleagues; however, to decide on and to prioritize activities, please contact your Head of department/ Director of studies to decide on a reasonable level of ambition and time that should be spent on this work.

In the support section of the forum corona adapted campus education in Teams, you have the opportunity to discuss solutions with other teachers.

Yes, teachers have normal access to the teaching premises, and you can use them for distance education. 

Yes, if they need to to be able to study, but it is of utmost importance that all students stay at home if they show flu-like symptoms, even if the symptoms are mild. Follow the recommendations issued by the Public Health Agency of Sweden. Students need their Miun card and code to access the buildings and group rooms can be booked. 

We hope to be able to accept incoming exchange students during the spring. The conditions for how this can be done have been communicated to the department and faculty heads. It is up to the department heads to decide if the courses for this student group should be given or postponed until next spring. If you have questions, please contact our International Relations Office or your department head.

The actual form of distribution for a course or an element is related to the course occasion and not to the syllabus. As UKÄ has taken a position on how they will assess decisions regarding changed form of examination, we will open the same solution with regard to changed form of distribution. This means that the form of distribution for a course or course is possible to change so that a course is carried out, for example, via a link instead of on site on campus.
 
In the work, we need to be prepared for how our systems can handle such a change. It is being followed up successively by the operational group dealing with the operational issue of digital solutions.

If it is a course element where compulsory attendance prevails, attendance can be done via link or on site on campus. It is not the physical location that is relevant to a compulsory element, but the key is the active participation in the element itself.  

To consider: There may be elements that happen in lab rooms or the like and that require physical presence. In cases where these cannot be carried out, it is up to the business concerned to decide for themselves whether the examination can be moved to the next opportunity or if a decision is needed to move the examination to an extra set date and when it would be possible to do so.

Teachers can change the information in the schedule itself, as a note. They do not have to contact the scheduling staff. However, the scheduling staff members are available for support or to answer any questions the teachers may have.