1. MODERNIZING FACULTY
DEVELOPMENT FOR ONLINE
LEARNING PROGRAMS
Carrie Levin, Michele
Gribbins, Emily Boles
Center for Online Learning,
Research and Service
University of Illinois Springfield
2. LET’S START WITH A POLL!
How do you make sure that
online faculty are adhering to
good online course design
principles?
Text 222057 and
your message to 22333
4. BACKGROUND: THE UIS MODEL
Offering online courses since 1998
Online programs requested and developed by the academic
department and approved through the same college and
governance structures used by f2f programs
Same full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty
Faculty supported by COLRS
Advanced data driven decision making processes have been
developed to promote best practices
Online program coordinators essential to support fully-online
students
Class sizes small. Most online courses capped at 20 (but this
varies)
Online courses developed as part of degree granting programs
rather than stand alone courses
5. Online and Blended Class Enrollments at UIS
For the entire academic year – fall 2012 and spring/summer 2013:
Online classes were taken by students in 48 states (not ND or VT) and 88
Illinois counties
Total annual credit hours in online classes 45,260
43.3% of all credit hours were in online classes at UIS
75.8% of all UIS students took at least one online class
39.5% of all UIS students took only online classes
That generated $1,131,500 in course fees ($25/credit hour)
7. THE CENTER FOR ONLINE LEARNING,
RESEARCH AND SERVICE
Supports faculty members in conceptualizing, developing, deploying and
assessing online classes
Sound pedagogy is the foundation upon which we select/support technology
Faculty Research Fellows
Major Grants
MOOC Development
COLRS Blog: https://blogs.uis.edu/colrs
Faculty Development Workshops
Our website: http://www.uis.edu/colrs/
8. SO… HOW’S IT WORKING?
Generally, quite well. But there are concerns. Namely:
Some faculty do not attend training workshops
Faculty not always aware of support services available
Faculty overwhelmed with teaching responsibilities
Some faculty see our unit as “Blackboard Support Helpdesk”
rather than online pedagogy experts
With faculty creating their own courses, not all follow good
course design guidelines
10. CERTIFICATE PROGRAM FOR UIS
FACULTY: PREPARING TO TEACH
ONLINE
UIS faculty will be recognized for innovation in online teaching
and implementing best-practices
Faculty enrolled in self-paced training modules
Upon completion of modules, faculty awarded virtual badge
which can be displayed in their courses, syllabi, faculty and
departmental pages and other digital locations
COLRS will maintain a listing on our website and submit the
information for the faculty member’s permanent file
Participation in the course allows COLRS staff members to
engage the faculty member in a discussion on additional ways
to improve or update the course
11. PREPARING TO TEACH ONLINE:
COURSE DESCRIPTION
“Preparing to Teach Online” will provide a common
foundation for all online instructors at the University
of Illinois Springfield. Per the provost, this course will
contain a two-hour module required for all
instructors teaching online courses.
Required Module for all faculty (2 hours)
This required module will contain a brief introduction
to effective practices for online teaching, strategies
for increasing student evaluation response rates,
tips for documenting online teaching performance
and improvement, and tactics for managing
workload
12. FACULTY SELF-ASSESSMENT
Faculty Self-Assessment
After the required introduction, faculty will have the opportunity
to take an online teaching readiness self-assessment (hoping
this will help prevent our experienced instructors from being
offended). This assessment will place them into either PTO I
(introductory) or PTO II (advanced).
Link to Survey
13. COURSE I: 8-10 HOURS
The course will focus on basic strategies for
addressing four areas central to instructor success
in online teaching: communication & presence,
assessment & evaluation, pedagogy, and
technology.
14. COURSE II: 8 – 10 HOURS
The course will focus on advanced strategies for
addressing four areas central to instructor success
in online teaching: communication &
presence, assessment & evaluation, pedagogy, and
technology
15. E-PORTFOLIO AND RECOGNITION
ePortfolio
The ePortfolio will be developed through Course I and Course II. It will
be an extensive resource to support the faculty member’s online
teaching and also document for use in the promotion and tenure
process.
Recognition
When faculty successfully complete (80% or better) Course I, Course
II, and the ePortfolio, a letter will be sent to the provost’s office and
digital badges will be earned for display on professional websites.
Custom course banners featuring the badge of completion for this
training series will also be provided to faculty.
24. COPE-L: COMMUNITY OF
PRACTICE IN E-LEARNING
Spring 2014 COPE-L Meetings:
What do online students want? Student panel shares
questions, concerns, suggestions with faculty and staff.
APP Share - Come to hear about favorite productivity apps and
web based tools. Choose to share about your own favorite or
come to find a mentor who will help you learn a new tool. Apps
for classroom use as well as personal productivity will be
included.
Online Course Design for the Future - What should/could future
online courses be like? How can UIS continue to lead in online
learning and meet student needs for the future?
COPE-L Website: https://sites.google.com/copel2012/
