Getting Started with your Teaching Strategies GOLD TM Basic Course Teaching Strategies Gold Basic includes four modules: Module 1: Introducing Teaching Strategies GOLD Module 2: Looking Closer: Teaching Strategies GOLD Module 3: The Assessment Cycle: Linking Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Module 4: How Do I?: Exploring the Features of Teaching Strategies GOLD online (Not included for Toolkit users) Each module is interactive, taking you through a guided, self-paced learning experience. You will type in individual reflections, view video clips, and complete short activities and quizzes. We recommend that you complete the modules in order from Module 1 to Module 4, but you can choose to view any module in any order. However, you must complete all 4 modules to receive a certificate of completion. The activities and quizzes are designed to help you reflect on your experience and reinforce what you are learning. Please note: The modules do not save your answers, and there is no scoring for correct answers. If you close the module and return at a later time, you will not see your answers from a previous session. Each interactive module includes audio. You will need speakers or headphones to hear the audio. A transcript of the audio can be viewed under the Transcript tab. Minimum requirements to view the Flash Player content: Adobe Flash Player 10.1 or greater (Adobe Flash Player <http://www.adobe.com/go/getflash> ) Browsers: Chrome 6 and above Internet Explorer 7 or 8 (IE 9 beta versions are not supported at this time) Firefox 3.0 and above Safari 4.0 and above Broadband Internet (DSL, Cable, T1) access with a download rate of 768kbit/s or faster Navigating the Course Module screens 1. From your Professional Development tab in the Dashboard, choose Courses from the left navigation. Click on Teaching Strategies GOLD TM Basic from the course list. This will take you to the Course Overview screen. 2. Course Overview: This screen lists all the modules that are part of this course. Click on the Module titles to access each module. We recommend that you complete the modules in numerical order, but you can view any module at any time. 1
3. Module s: This screen lists all the sections in a module. Click on a section name to start the interactive Flash player. We recommend that you complete the sections in numerical order, but you can view any section or slide at any time. 4. Flash Player: The interactive Flash player will start in a separate browser window, open to the section you chose from the list. As you view the slides in the Flash player, the GOLD system will automatically keep track of your completion status in each section. If you are not able to view the entire Flash player in the window, click and drag on the lower right hand corner of the window to resize. Directions for Navigating the Flash Player begin on Page 3. 5. When you close the Flash player window, click on the See Module Status button to see your updated status for each section. 6. You must view all the slides in each section in order to receive a complete for a section. You can return to viewing the Flash player by choosing another section from the list. The Key shows the status for each section. 7. To return to the Course Overview, click on Return to Course Overview at the bottom of the section list. 2
8. The Course Overview will show your status for each module. You must complete all sections to receive a complete for the entire module. When you have completed all modules, you will see an option to print a Certificate of Completion. This option will remain in your Course Overview, so you may return at any time to print the certificate. Navigating the Flash Player PlayerControls Adjust the audio level. Play or pause the slide. Advance to the next slide, or return to the previous slide. The progress bar tells you: the slide number, progress of the slide, and whether it is playing or paused. If the slide has finished playing, you will see the message to Click Next to Advance. Click the play arrow, or the next arrow to move on. 3
Outline Tab The outline lists all the slides in the module. Click on the arrow next to a heading to see the content under that heading. You can click on any title in the outline to view it. Use the scroll bar on the right to view the entire outline. Transcript Tab Click on the transcript tab in the upper left hand corner to see a complete transcript of the audio on each slide. Use the scroll bar on the right to view the entire transcript. When you have viewed a slide, the title will turn blue. If you close the player and start again at a later time, the outline list will not show previously viewed slides in blue. We recommend you view all the slides in a section before you close the Flash player window. The system keeps track of section completion, but does not show a list of every slide you viewed. A section is comprised of all the slides in the outline under a far left arrow. If your section status is still showing In Progress, click on to the section name to view the slides in that section again. The Flash player will start again at the beginning of the section. Submit and Next On some of the activities and quizzes, you will need to click the Submit or Next button in the lower right hand corner to move on. Click on a Box For some activities, you are asked to select from a list to view additional content. Once you have viewed all the items on the list, click the I m ready to move on! box to move to the next title in the outline. 4
Videos Depending on your internet connection, the videos may take some time to load. Some videos will play automatically on a slide, and will have no controls. Other videos will appear with a play bar below. You can use the play bar to start, pause or scroll through a video. Exit To exit the flash player, simply close your browser window. The close button is in the upper right or left hand corner of your window. 5