designing competency-based self-paced online workshops for introducing faculty to online teaching...
DESCRIPTION
During this presentation by Jason Rhode at the 20th annual Online Learning Consortium International Conference on 10/28/2014, learn about Northern Illinois University's innovative faculty development initiative to offer introductory online technology training via self-paced online workshops as a component of comprehensive online faculty certification. An overview of the process identifying technology competencies for online teaching will be shared as well as the design, development, and implementation phases of the project, highlighting lessons learned and tips for other institutions interested in pursuing a similar self-paced model for scaling their faculty development efforts. Links to resources during presentation are available at http://jasonrhode.com/aln14TRANSCRIPT
Designing Competency-Based Self-Paced Online Workshops for Introducing Faculty to Online
Teaching Technologies
Jason Rhode, PhD @jrhode
October 29, 2014 | OLC Annual Conference, Orlando, FL #ALN14
Polling Question
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Description
During this session, learn about Northern Illinois University's innovative faculty development initiative to offer introductory online technology training via self-paced online workshops as a component of comprehensive online faculty certification. An overview of the process identifying technology competencies for online teaching will be shared as well as the design, development, and implementation phases of the project, highlighting lessons learned and tips for other institutions interested in pursuing a similar self-paced model for scaling their faculty development efforts.
Challenge
• Instructors recruited who aren’t in physical proximity to campus or have full-time job and can’t attend training
• Newly hired instructors needing access to training before contract begins
• Instructors hired on short notice• Increasingly instructors have previous
experience and simply need to demonstrate proficiency
About NIU
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Northern Illinois University
About NIU
» Main campus in DeKalb, IL located 65 miles West of Chicago
» Total enrollment: 20,611 (Fall ‘14)
» 1,135 instructional faculty
» Student to faculty ratio: 18:1
» 39 academic departments; 57 undergraduate majors; 80 graduate programs
» 95% of undergrads and 79% of grad students are from Illinois
» 719 international students from 122 countries
Current Status of Online Teaching at NIU
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Online Courses Offered
• NIU currently offers less than 100-150 course sections online per semester
• In fall 2014, 122 online courses offered from 6 colleges
Blackboard Usage at NIU
• 96% of students• 92% of instructional
Faculty/Staff/TAs• 63% of course sections• 4.24 course
sections/student on Blackboard
As of Fall 2014:
Previous Support Offered by Faculty Development and
Instructional Design Center
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Online Teaching 101
• 6-week online learning experience for NIU faculty offered during summer past 3 years
• 2 f2f sessions, remainder all online, 1 module completed each week
face-to-face wrap-up session
Teaching EngagingOnline Courses
• Interactive 1-day workshop presented by Center staff providing systematic overview of pedagogical and pragmatic considerations in creating a quality online teaching and learning experience
Challenges
• Faculty find it difficult to attend training programs of extended duration during the semester
• Many units, such as Nursing and Technology, have considerable student demand for online courses but rely on adjuncts who often can’t attend on campus or online programs with fixed schedules
Online Workshops & Archives
Over 110 archived online workshops offered by the Center to date available on topics related to online teaching and technology integration
“Preparing to Teach Online”
• Self-paced training modules on online teaching
• First of 3-step approach to potential online teaching certification process for NIU faculty
Self-Paced Online Learning
Experience
One-on-One Consultations
Face-to-Face Workshops
Online Program Development and Support
New Organizational StructureExecutive Vice President
and ProvostVice President of Outreach,
Engagement, & Regional Dev.
Assistant Vice President for Outreach Adult and Non-credit
Programming Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs
Director, Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center Director, eLearning Services
Support for Online Teaching
Customized online teaching support services offered to prepare program faculty to teach online:
Introduction to Online Teaching
Consultations on Online Teaching
Technology Skill
Development Workshops &
Resources
Readiness Self-Assessment
Individualized online teaching professional development plan
Access to Technology
Technology Proficiency
Previous Online
Teaching Experience
Online Teaching Concierge
• Individualized plan of suggested live and recorded online workshops, tutorials, and related resources
• “Online Teaching Concierge” who you can contact for guidance and assistance getting started teaching online
Competency-Based Self-Paced
Blackboard Workshop
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Why Self-Paced?
• Accommodates full spectrum of previous experiences
• Training prospective instructors before hired• Scalable, flexible, mobile• Growing preferences for just-in-time resources
and training• Leverage existing on-demand support
resources
Teaching with Blackboard
niu.edu/blackboard
Just-In-Time Support
Stats shown for 2013-2014 academic year
Illinois
USA
World
Repeated Use
11% of traffic visited site > 50 times
18% of traffic visited site > 25 times
Linking Institutions
5014.9% of pageviews
from other .edu
Tutorial Views
5,400views on YouTube
Device Traffic
Desktop, 85.51%
Phone, 10.19%
Tablet, 3.30%
Vision for Self-Paced Model
• Publicly available for any user, not requiring login
• Just-in-time access to information, no enrollment needed
• Shared via Creative Commons• Mobile-optimized• Option for users to demonstrate competencies
to receive “credit” for attending, awarded badge
Benefits to Self-Paced Model
• Those who can’t attend in-person or commit to specific timeframe can gain introductory information
• Faculty who want to get started quickly can accelerate their learning
• Accommodates those with differing teaching and technology expertise so that they can begin with the self-paced training and then receive follow-up assistance for course-specific needs
Competencies
facdev.niu.edu/bbcompetencies
Workshop Outline
facdev.niu.edu/bb1outline
Production Task Tracker
Demo (Prototype in Development)
39 39
Self-Paced Workshops
Redesigning our website at niu.edu/facdev to include self-paced workshops – set to launch any day!
Introduction to Blackboard
Sample Tutorial Page
Closer Look
Mobile Responsive Design
YouTube Playlist on Web
facdev.niu.edu/bb1vids
YouTube Playlist on Mobile
facdev.niu.edu/bb1vids
Videos Captioned & Mobile
Videos Easily Repurposed
niu.edu/blackboard/tutorials
Quick Guides Incorporated
niu.edu/blackboard/guides
Launching Soon!
niu.edu/facdev
Questions?
Jason Rhode, Ph.D.Director, Faculty Developmentand Instructional Design CenterNorthern Illinois [email protected] @jrhode
Slides available at:
jasonrhode.com/aln14