by Beth Petitjean, Ph.D., Digital Learning Specialist, Reinert Center
Welcome to the Reinert Center’s monthly feature, Resources Revisited. This series highlights existing resources available to the SLU community that may be especially timely or useful at certain points in the academic year.
It’s September and the Fall 2026 semester is underway. It might seem counterintuitive to think about a possible disruption to a routine that has just started, but the world today is always shifting. Emergencies and academic disruptions of all sorts can happen at any time, and the magnitude, scope, and length of a disruption can be very fluid, requiring a lot of flexibility for all involved. Although impossible to fully plan for, there are some actions we can take before and during a disruption. The Reinert Center website includes information about Instructional Continuity within the Distance Teaching resources to help you do just that.
A good place to start is the Preparing for an Academic Disruption resource guide and supporting instructional video. These resources give a broad overview of the different types of disruptions that could impact the academic calendar and offer suggestions of routine practices to incorporate at all times.
The Instructional Continuity Checklist breaks tasks into discrete sections with multiple options available to maintain continuity. Depending on the nature of the disruption, different technologies may or may not be available, and this checklist includes alternatives should one not be available.
So much of higher education today relies on complex infrastructure systems, such as the internet, Canvas, and the electric grid, that a disruption in any of these key areas could cause significant challenges to maintaining instructional continuity. Maintaining continuity in these situations might mean pivoting the other way–from digital to something more analog. The Preparing Analog Alternatives for a Digital Disruption in Distance Learning resource offers suggestions on steps to take in the event of an analog pivot.
Some in-person courses are quite complex, such as courses with a lab component, and require a bit more creativity in pivoting to a digital classroom. The resource guide Instructional Continuity in the Laboratory Classroom reminds instructors to be proactive and flexible in such situations, and offers tips on how to keep lab activities on track despite a disruption.
As always, we invite you to explore the full range of resources offered on the Reinert Center website. And if you’d like more personalized support, we’re happy to meet with you for a one-on-one consultation in-person or via Zoom. Feel free to request a teaching consultation to discuss your instructional continuity—or any other teaching topic.
The Notebook 