Through this series of workshops, you will be introduced to the pedagogical approaches to online course development and delivery to help prepare you with the skills and knowledge to engage our learners in synchronous and asynchronous online learning environments. The workshops are scheduled in sequence to help inform your planning and preparation for online classes this fall. This schedule is based on the Simplified Online Teaching framework recommended for fall classes.

Calendar View of Series

View this calendar for a visual display of the drop-in workshops occuring in May and June (no registration required).
 

Session Descriptions

May 1: Collaborate Ultra

9:30am – 10:30am | View Session Recording Here: Part 1 and Part 2

An introduction to synchronous course delivery with Collaborate Ultra including ideas for creating a lesson plan for your first synchronous class.
 

May 5: Preparing for Online Teaching and Learning

10:00am – 11:00am | View Session Recording Here | View Session Resources Here

Unsure of how to best prepare for the new direction to online teaching and learning? Not sure about where to start or who to ask?

The following session will introduce you to the simplified online teaching plan, a digestible, step by step process that will guide you towards achieving online course quality and support you as you reflect on the following questions related to online teaching and learning:

• What do I value about teaching and learning? How do I envision this course transitioning online?
• What experiences do I want to create for my students?
• What knowledge and skills do I have to help me with this transition?
• What do I need moving forward?

May 7: Getting Started with Online Course Planning

1:00pm – 2:00pm | View Session Recording Here | View Session Resources Here

Online development and teaching will challenge you to transform content, activities, and approaches to interacting with students.

Where to start?: With a Plan.

Attend the Getting Started With Online Course Planning Workshop to:

• Utilize and access online course planning templates designed to guide you in careful planning and intentional decision making for an online course.
• Begin to plan for online experiences to actively and flexibly engage students.
• Identify quick copyright tips when planning for online development and delivery.
• Connect directly with team Learning Designers and School Librarians

May 12: Instructor Presence

10:00am – 11:00am | View Session Recording Here

Instructor presence is an identified key competency for quality online teaching and promotes and encourages a safe, inviting and mutually respectful learning environment.

Explore how to establish a sense of instructor presence using familiar tools to create a positive, interactive learning environment that is welcoming and engaging for students.
 

May 14: Planning for Assessment and Universal Design for Learning

10:00am – 11:00am | No Session Recording Available

An online workshop designed to explore alternative exam formats and delivery options for final exams. This workshop will focus on universal design techniques and allow participants to share ideas for meeting exam accommodations in the current online testing environment.
 

May 19: Engaging Students

10:00am – 11:00am | View Session Recording Here | View Session Resources Here

Curious about collaborative learning activities and assignments in an online format? Searching for ideas to help engage online learners and support course participation?

Join this session on Engaging Students to explore strategies to transform the online education experience from being merely words and images on a screen to being engaging, collaborative, and community-oriented learning environments!

A session that will have you participating, contributing, and engaging together!
 

May 20: Online Course Planning

1:00pm – 2:00pm | View Session Recording Here

Online development and teaching will challenge you to transform your mindset, content, activities, assessment, and approaches to interacting with students.

Where to start?: With a Plan.

Attend the Getting Started With Online Course Planning Workshop to:

• Utilize and access online course planning templates designed to guide you in careful planning and intentional decision making for an online course.
• Begin to plan for online experiences to actively and flexibly engage students.

May 21: Active Teaching

10:00am – 11:00am | View Session Recording Here

Curious about active teaching in an online environment?

Join this session to gather active online teaching ideas and examples and identify when active and interactive teaching would most benefit students.

A session that will have you participating, contributing, and experiencing active teaching!
 

May 26: Blackboard Template

10:00am – 11:00am | View Session Recording Here

In this session, we will introduce the Online Course Template for Blackboard. This template is designed to meet the RDC’s Guidelines for Quality Online Courses.

Why Use the Blackboard Online Course Template?

• Built-in best practices for navigation
• Developed templates to follow for schedules and welcome messages
• Placeholders for Course Outlines
• Developed to align and support best practices in the RDC Guidelines for Quality Online Courses

May 28: Gradebook and Assessment

10:00am – 11:00am | View Session Recording Here

There will be an emphasis on how to create and use weighted totals.
 

June 2: Getting More out of Blackboard Learn

10:00am – 11:00am | Online (Click here to join the Collaborate Ultra room)

As you become more comfortable in Blackboard there are a variety of tools to dive deeper into student collaboration, organization tools and analytical tools. This workshop will highlight a few newer tools in Blackboard along with some older ones that you may not have used before.
 

June 4: Creating Videos

10:00am – 11:00am | Online (Click here to join the Collaborate Ultra room)

Video creation has become a popular option for online instructors who are wanting to create instructor presence and engage online learners throughout a course. There is a lot of research into the design and effectiveness of video creation for learning.

Join the session to learn more about the basic principles for the effective creation of videos and learn about a few video software options to get you started!