INTRODUCTION TO ONLINE TEACHING

Transcription

1 INTRODUCTION TO ONLINE TEACHING Catherine Hillman See instructor communication policy on page 2 catherine_hillman@cuesta.edu (best method) Skype: catherine.hillman and Learning COURSE GUIDE Catherine has been teaching online since 2001 and earned her MS Ed in 05. She was the Web Coordinator (and continues to serve as adjunct faculty) at Cuesta College San Luis Obispo for 15 years, and is now the Instructional and Web Services Coordinator at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Catherine has also consulted with Prentice Hall publications for their online educational resources in the Microsoft GO! series. Hello and welcome to the Introduction to Online Teaching and Learning. Making the transition from teaching in the traditional classroom setting to the online environment often fills instructors with a range of emotions -- excitement, fear, and usually a realization that "this is going to be way more work than I expected!" Often instructors transition their traditional classes to the online environment without understanding the uniqueness of online learning. This can result in a passive learning experience for students, increasing the sense of isolation that accompanies distance learners and resulting in poor academic achievement or a withdrawal from the course. You, on the other hand, are on the track for success! In this class, you will learn how to design and teach an effective online course that is anchored in student-centered learning and organized around clearly articulated policies, procedures, expectations and learning objectives. The effective practices that have been integrated into the design of this course are offered to put you on track for success with your online teaching. However, as you mature and grow, you will undoubtedly develop your own style and approach to teaching online, much like teaching in the classroom. What you will not take away from this class is an understanding of how to use a Course Management System. We'll be focusing on course design and teaching practices and your course management training will occur separately. If you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to contact me along the way. I prefer to be contacted via and will reply within 24- hours. I am excited and honored to be your instructor and I truly hope you love online teaching as much as I do! Enjoy the journey! Course Description Are you preparing to teach online? Or have you been teaching online for awhile and are seeking to improve or strengthen your skills? This course will introduce you to effective practices in online instruction. Building on a solid understanding of California Community College distance education policies and procedures, you will actively create an effectively designed online learning unit, maximize student success, develop online policies, identify the functions of a course management system, explore dynamic online content options, evaluate online assessments, and successfully apply copyright and fair use practices to digital content. 1

2 Learning Outcomes By the end of the course, you will be able to: Develop online activities and apply tools and strategies to fulfill Chickering and Gamson s "Seven Principles of Effective Teaching," and other sound online learning theories of best practices. Demonstrate and incorporate California Community College distance education policies and procedures and Title 5 requirements. Develop class policies including, but not limited to, those for grading, providing timely feedback, and student conduct issues. Build an online course design map based on learning outcomes. Design learning activities that support a variety of learning styles and promote interaction. Create an instructional module for an online course or program that is the basis for the development of a complete online course. Apply principles of copyright and "fair use" to online content. Locate Creative Commons licensed content for use in your online course. Instructor Communication Policy I will respond to your inquiries within 24 hours, Monday-Saturday. Evenings are best. Sunday responses are not guaranteed. Q&A Forum: Please post general questions in the Q&A forum that is located at the top of our course homepage. I will reply to Q&A posts within 24 hours, Mon-Sat, and my replies will be visible to the entire class. catherine_hillman@cuesta.edu I will reply within 24 hours, Mon-Sat. If you do not hear from me within this timeframe, please me again (sometimes s get filtered out as spam). Skype: If you are a Skype user, you may contact me at catherine.hillman if my account is online/active. You may also request a Skype session by ing me. Time Commitment & Recommended Skills This class will take approx. 10 hours during each of the 4 weeks. Your time commitment will vary based upon your own level of experience with web technologies. This class is designed for novices. Basic computer skills (word processing, , file management) Basic Internet skills (use of browser, searches, uploading/downloading files) Familiarity with discussion boards An open mind and willingness to try new things Students Requiring Accommodations: If you require any special accommodations for this class, please contact me as soon as possible. How to Log into the Online Classroom 1. Go to 2. Locate the Log In box and enter: username: your first initial and last name (ex: for Jane Doe enter jdoe) password: type in Changeme.2 (the password is case sensitive) 3. You now see a screen that lists all the course(s) in which you are enrolled. Click the link for this course, Intro to Online Teaching and Learning. Once you are logged into the class: Getting Started! 1. Update your Profile in the Administration box in the right column (be sure your address is correct and tell us a little about yourself) 2. Review the resources shared in the top block of our course homepage (see screen shot on page 3 of Course Guide). 3. Dig into the Week One learning unit! 2

3 Administration Box The Administration box in the right column contains a Grades link where you may review your scores for completed assignments, a Profile link where you can share information about yourself with your classmates, and a link titled Unenroll Me link. If you click on this last link, you will be dropped from the class. Resources to get you started. First week's unit starts here! Links to week one assignments. Weekly Outline The course is divided into four weekly units. Each unit will appear in the center of the course page. To get started each week, closely review the Weekly Summary, which lists the required assignments for the unit. Announcements This class will be featuring online video announcements, as an effort to encourage you to reflect on how the use of video increases an instructor's social presence. There will be one video announcement at the start of each of the four weekly units. When I need to communicate with the class between these weekly announcements, I will post a text announcement to the News Announcements forum at the top of our course page. You are automatically subscribed to the News Announcements forum which means anything I post will also be ed to you. If you d prefer the announcements be ed to an address other than the one linked to your Moodle account, simply edit the address listed in your profile (Click on Profile in the Administration box). If you'd like to unsubscribe from the News Announcements you may do so within the forum. Discussions & Collaborations Each of the four learning units will provide you with opportunities to interact with your peers, in addition to create content for your own online class. Each discussion forum includes clear criteria for your required post and replies, including due dates and a grading rubric. Content Development in Blogs This course has been designed as an active learning environment to ensure you leave the course feeling confident about your new skills and abilities. Throughout the course, you will be introduced, week-by-week, to the process of designing an online course. In the fourth week, you will complete the content you've developed for one online learning unit into your own blog, which will remain available to you after the course has completed. 3

4 Textbook Info There is no required textbook to purchase for this class. All readings will be available online in Moodle with the option for printing. Ground rules & Tips for Success Assessment - how grading works This course includes formative assessments in each weekly unit that are in the form of discussions, quizzes and blog posts. You will also produce and share content in your blog. Optional university credit may be earned for the course when enrollment documents are filed with the designated institution. To earn university credit or to earn a completion certificate for the online course, you must earn a minimum of 200 points of the possible 285 points. Each of our four weeks officially begins each Monday. You will regularly have assignments to turn in throughout the week. However, I will make your new weekly content available 48 hours early (Saturday morning) to give you some extra time. Pay close attention to your due dates at the start of each content week and mark them somewhere on your own calendar so you don t lose track of them. Block out time in your schedule to do the work. Consider yourself a member of a community. Treat contributions made by other members of the class with respect. Contribute regularly to group dialogue, including blog posts. The contributions of each individual play a role in the collective strength and diversity of our community. Check in on class discussions regularly, if not daily. If this is your first online learning experience, expect to invest extra time to orient yourself to the course design and tools. Have patience and a sense of humor with technology. Keep an open mind. Ask for help when you need it, and assist others when possible. Read this guide, and any other course material, carefully and ask for clarification when needed. Technical Requirements Fairly recent Mac or PC (not more than three years old) with a current operating system. Current browser (Firefox 3.0, or Internet Explorer 7 or later) Internet connection, preferably broadband (DSL speeds) -- for viewing online videos Strongly Recommended You will be exposed to many, many websites in this class. Take time to develop a process for bookmarking these sites for future reference. If you don't have a clear bookmarking process or tool in mind, set up a free account at a social bookmarking site, like Diigo.com. Diigo is an easy way to tag and bookmark websites, providing you with the ability to access them from any computer with an internet connection and share them with others. For a short video introduction to Diigo, please visit 4

5 WEEK-BY-WEEK SCHEDULE eek 1 Welcome to the World of Online Teaching and Learning Complete the IOTL survey -- Tuesday of Wk1 Participate in the "Check-In Here" discussion forum. 20 Wed/Thurs of Wk 1 Read the "Distance Ed Toolkit" Moodle book and the Student Success Moodle book Write your "Dear Online Students" letter and share it on your blog 40 Thurs of Wk 1 Read the "Effective Practices in Online Teaching" Moodle book Read: "Building From Content to Community: [Re]Thinking the Transition to Online Teaching and Learning Week 2 Designing Your Online Course Read the "Course Essentials" Moodle book Write three course policies and share them in a new blog post 35 Wed of Wk 2 Read the "Introduction to Course Design" Moodle book Create and share your "Course Roadmap and Learning Objectives" in a new blog post 50 Thurs of Wk 2 Participate in the "Course Design Check-In" forum 20 Fri/Sat of Wk 2 5

6 Week 3 Designing and Evaluating Student-Centered Learning Activities Read the Moodle book, "Creating Content and Designing Learning Activities." Complete the "Course Design Quiz" 15 Tues of Wk 3 Complete the instructions listed in "Building Your Online Learning Unit" Share and discuss your online learning unit in the "Learning Unit Lounge" discussion forum 65 Thurs/Fri of Wk 3 Week 4 Reflecting on Summative Assessments, 21st Century Copyright, and Going from Good to Great! Read the Moodle book, "Summative Assessments" Read the Moodle book, "Going From Good to Great!" Complete "Copyright 101," a learning module from BYU Complete the "Copyright 101 Quiz" 20 Fri of Wk 4 Build your online learning unit blog post 75 Fri of Wk 4 Participate in the "Final IOTL Reflections" discussion forum 20 Thu/Fri Wk 4 Complete the course evaluation -- Sat of Wk 4 6