Often the development of online or hybrid/blended courses falls on the shoulders of the faculty. Many faculty do not feel equipped to undertake the development and planning for a high-quality online course. How ready are you to design and develop an online course? And, do you know how to get started?
These are some of the questions that you should ask yourself before you start designing an online or hybrid course:
What are your students like?
What do you want your students to accomplish by the end of the program?
How will you know what your students have learned?
How will you know whether your course design was effective?
What resources would you use to help you implement your course? Are there barriers to using these resources?
Transitioning to teach in an online environment can be a daunting yet rewarding task. Our role is to support you where you need the help. We can assist you with
- needs analysis,
- course design and development,
- delivery and implementation, and
- evaluation.
To help you get started, we’ve created an analysis information sheet giving you an opportunity to begin thinking specifically about your course. Completing it will help anyone you work with understand your needs and how you would like your course to be structured.
We will help you develop the skills you need to be a successful online instructor. Our services include instructional design consultations, workshops, or full-faculty development programs–we meet you where you are technologically speaking and go from there.
Our mission is to support faculty as they develop high caliber online teaching strategies that will engage students and ultimately achieve the learning goals of the course and program.
Our partner IT Academic Technology Services (ATS) has been working with faculty who support the Doctor of Nursing Practice, and most recently with faculty supporting a new online Bioinformatics Graduate Certificate Program. In the very near future, ATS will begin working with faculty for the new online Master’s Program in Special Education: Exceptional Children & Youth.
Many faculty report that teaching online requires a great deal of time and effort to prepare and to teach, which is true. You will need to evaluate your own time constraints and work with your department so that you can devote enough resources to developing a high quality online or hybrid student experience. If you have never taught online before, consider faculty development opportunities that the Faculty Commons offers. Consider registering for our Winter Faculty Institute in January which emphasizes course design.
Faculty responding to our surveys after participating in our classes share that the experience has not only prepared them to begin teaching online but it has positively changed their current face-to-face teaching practices as well.
“I’m thinking much more creatively about asynchronous assignments for my students, and I am much less afraid of assigning digital strategies in my classroom.”
“I have adapted my syllabus for my F2F class in the fall to focus on some of the thinking, writing, responding, and interacting tasks that occasioned reflection for me during DLEO.”
“I’m trying to plan future semesters using the understanding by design concept and actively looking for ways to translate and revise F2F materials and exercises for online use.”
“I am much more aware of planning course activities based on intended goals and outcomes. I feel that I had gotten away from this idea over the past few years. I am also more aware of using online resources to help students master the course material.”
If you would like to learn more about transitioning into a hybrid or online teaching environment, call Faculty Commons (302-831-0640) to schedule a consultation.
