Are you planning to develop an online course?

The College of Arts and Sciences offers two professional development classes aimed at helping instructors to successfully develop and facilitate robust, engaging online courses. Enrolling in both courses will provide the most complete experience, but you can also choose to enroll in just one course as it best suits your needs and experiences.

 

These courses are facilitated by CAS instructional designer, Angel Muzik. After taking either course, it is recommended that you meet with Angel to discuss strategies for implementing what you learned into your own courses.

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Intro to Online Teaching

This course can be beneficial for anyone who will be teaching online, but you may find it especially useful if you fit into one of these groups:

 

• Someone who has never taught a university course online before.
• Someone whose only experience teaching online was in a rushed situation, such as during the pandemic.
• Someone who has taught online before but would like a refresher on pedagogical fundamentals.

You will be asked to examine your own beliefs about teaching. Then you'll work through a series of modules that apply the understanding of how students learn to help us create high-quality, authentic learning experiences in your online classes.

 

Though this course focuses on online teaching, many of the topics may also apply to any face-to-face or hybrid courses you teach. Once you finish this course, you are encouraged to enroll in the next course in the series, Fundamentals of Online Course Development.

 

Course Objectives

After completing this course, you should be able to:

 

• Describe the many roles of an online instructor.
• Explain the importance of getting to know your students and create rich opportunities for engagement and connection.
• Identify campus-wide resources for students, faculty and staff.

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Fundamentals of Online Course Development

This course is designed to inform instructors of the high-quality standards that CAS has for its online courses. It will provide tips and strategies to prepare a well-organized, engaging and robust online course. Whether you are designing a new course completely from scratch or are redesigning a course, this training should be beneficial to you.

 

If you are brand new to online teaching, if you have only taught online in less-than-ideal conditions (such as during an emergency transition to online teaching during the pandemic) or if you would like a refresher on pedagogical theories and concepts, it is recommended that you first take the pre-requisite course: Intro to Online Teaching.

 

Course Objectives

After completing this course, you should be able to:

 

• Set up a course in Canvas that is well-organized and easy to navigate.
• Apply the principles of accessibility and inclusivity to create a welcoming online community for students.
• Determine ways to increase student engagement and interaction with course materials.
• Identify various technology tools for creating course content and enhancing the students' learning experience.
• Identify various methods for evaluating students' mastery of the course content.