Nine ways to get started with teaching online over spring break

Creating an online course can seem like a daunting task, but a series of faculty professional development classes offered during spring break aim to streamline the process, helping instructors lay the groundwork for their course in just one day.

The workshops, taught by instructional designers from ITaP’s Teaching and Learning Technologies team, are part of a week of sessions designed to help faculty do everything from learning how to engage students online to ensuring that course documents are accessible to all.

Cezanne Elias, a visiting assistant professor in the College of Health and Human Sciences, encourages other faculty to take advantage of the workshops, as she found the experience of working with ITaP's instructional designers immensely beneficial to the development of her course.

"ITaP helped me to define best current practices in online education, utilize creative technologies, and develop online tools and content specific to my course," says Elias. "For example, with the help of a video production specialist I created a welcome video to help students get acquainted with course technology, layout and policies. And each learning module begins with an introduction video that includes helpful visuals and measurable learning objectives to highlight important course concepts. The instructional designers also provided strategies to engage students and facilitate meaningful student-student and student-instructor interactions.

Faculty professional development courses are free and open to all Purdue faculty and instructors, and some are even taught online. Registration is required and can be found for all courses on ITaP’s training calendar. Those unable to attend can request a one-on-one consultation by contacting tlt@purdue.edu.

Course offerings include:

Learn to use Compliance Sheriff software to determine whether a website is accessible to people with disabilities. Hands-on training will teach attendees how to access the software, how to scan a website and how to create reports. This training is required to use Compliance Sheriff.

Learn how to make Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat Pro documents accessible, including how to create image tags and tables, how to use the PDF accessibility checker, how to save documents in a way that is compatible with most screen readers, and more. Sample files will be provided, but attendees are encouraged to bring their own documents to work on.

Learn the basics of how to use WebEx, Purdue’s web conferencing tool, to manage online meetings for distance learning, professional development and collaboration.

Get help getting started on developing an online course. Topics discussed include assessment, engagement, how to create an instructor presence, and how to identify what you want your students to be able to do in your course.

Learn to use new Blackboard Learn templates to quickly build a course in Blackboard. Attendees are encouraged to bring a laptop with their own course material, and will be able to organize their own content and begin building their specific course.

A continuation of the two earlier courses, this open work session will allow faculty to work with instructional designers on developing courses in Blackboard Learn.

Learn how to create content in Blackboard Learn, and review the course management software’s key features. Educational technology consultants will be available to provide assistance and answer questions during this self-paced course.

Learn the basics of creating grade columns in Blackboard Learn and how to manage settings within Grade Center, including how to download and upload grade data, create feedback for students and enter manual overrides for grades.

Learn about the variety of collaboration tools available in Blackboard Learn, including how to create student groups, set up discussion forums, and how to create blogs, journals, wikis and group assignments.

To learn more about teaching with technology, ITaP’s course design services, or future faculty professional development opportunities, contact tlt@purdue.edu.

Writer: Dave Stephens, technology writer, Information Technology at Purdue, 765-496-7998, steph103@purdue.edu 

Last updated: March 1, 2018