The Role of the TA
As Carleton moves towards a fully online Fall 2020 Term, TAs can play an integral role in supporting course instructors and students. A clear and practical plan will help you, the instructor, and your students have a successful term.
You are a conduit between course instructor and students. Relaying comments, suggestions, feedback to instructor. Many students are not accustomed to learning in an online environment. Others may feel isolated from their peers. You can play a vital role in reaching out to these students and finding out their needs.
Let the course instructor know you’re ready to assist and design creative ways of teaching. Ultimately, responsibility for the course resides with the professor but you can put your heads together and discuss a (new) plan for the online delivery of the course. The EDC has a plethora of resources to help you with:
- synchronous vs asynchronous learning
- lectures/discussion groups/tutorials
- technological tools
- virtual office hours
- students with limited access to technology
- feedback and assessment (exams and assignments)
Resources
- Join the new cuLearn “TA Resource Exchange” page – a community of practice for teaching assistants. To be enrolled, email with your student number to: samantha.shortt@carleton.ca
- Course Design Express provides guidance for instructors (and TAs) on developing their online courses. Course instructors can request support for their TAs through the page (scroll down to the Intake Form)
- Making the transition to online course delivery
- EDC’s TA Blog
- TA Support Website
- Library Resources
- Help for course instructors with TAs
Online Technology
- See our schedule of online training sessions for technology tools on our Events page
| Tool | Description | Support Site |
| cuLearn | A) “TA Resource Exchange” page exclusively for teaching assistants. A space for TAs to share teaching materials, tools, tips, and engage in discussion with others. Share your resources! Find resources helpful to you. Email samantha.shortt@carleton.ca to enrol. B) The online classroom. Post content and media, send mail and announcements, facilitate forums, create and administer quizzes, give feedback on assignments, and manage grades. Models and exemplars of various activities and assessments are available for viewing on the cuLearn Tools site. | cuLearn |
| BigBlueButton | Web conferencing tool for virtual meetings (<100 people). Works best on Chrome browser. | BigBlueButton |
| Kaltura Capture | Lecture/screen recording tool available to all Carleton University members. | Kaltura Capture |
| cuPortfolio | Digital space for students to create and display collections of academic works. Especially powerful for reflective and experiential learning. | cuPortfolio |
| Zoom | Web conferencing tool for virtual meetings (groups of up to 300). | Zoom |
Other Helpful Resources
Info all grad students/TAs should be aware of:
Canada Emergency Student Benefit
FAQs (from Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs)
Carleton’s Therapy Dogs Offering Virtual Cheer on Instagram