Online Faculty Certification
Faculty who have completed the Blackboard Vista Orientation can begin the new Online Faculty Certification Program. All faculty are encouraged to complete the certification program and experience the benefits of a thorough understanding of the online teaching and learning processes. The format for the certification courses are similar to the orientation course, the course descriptions are below.
Course 1: Designing Your Course
In this workshop, you are introduced to the design skills necessary to create effective, engaging online courses. Through interactive tutorials, structured activities, examples, and discussions, you gain experience with key design tools and features as well as complete some preliminary planning for your actual course. A variety of tools are used to build and organize your practice course. This workshop focuses on the designer role; teaching and management tasks are not covered.
- Module 1: Basic Course Design - Explore the interface, and learn to add tools and create content items.
- Module 2: Your Course Home Page - Add files, content items, and folders to the Home Page.
- Module 3: Creating and Presenting Content - Discover how to set course goals, present content through learning modules and media library collections, and use File Manager to manage your course files.
- Module 4: Going Further - Modify the look of your course, and customize content delivery with Selective Release.
Course 2: Assessments and Assignments
Through hands-on activities, applied exercises, and group projects, workshop participants will learn to create and manage a variety of assessments and assignments that are appropriate for their course.
- Module 1: Creating Groups and Grading Forms - Explore options for creating groups and group activities, and learn how to create grading forms, or rubrics.
- Module 2: Creating Assignments - Discover how to create a variety of individual and group assignments to meet your instructional goals.
- Module 3: Managing Assignments - Learn how to grade and publish assignments from the Assignment Dropbox.
- Module 4: Creating Assessments - Learn how to create surveys, self tests, and quizzes that include a variety of question types.
- Module 5: Managing Assessments - Explore how to view, grade, and run reports on assessments using Assessment Manager.
Course 3: The Art of eLearning
The Art of eLearning is a multidimensional program designed to help enhance your online teaching skills. In many ways, what you learn and how you benefit from this program is up to you; you will be able to tailor your learning experience by selecting the discussions and assignments that are most relevant to you personally. We encourage you to maximize this learning opportunity by identifying the areas where you would most like to grow as an online instructor. This workshop does not focus on technological skills, but instead focuses on the instructional and pedagogical knowledge essential for online teaching success.
- Module 1: Foundations for Success - Examine the art of teaching online and key building blocks for success.
- Module 2: Preparing for a Great Start - Discover how to welcome and orient students to the online environment.
- Module 3: Interacting with Students - Explore strategies for strengthening communication in your course and enriching students' online interactions.
- Module 4: Engaging Students in Learning - Find new ways to engage students with content to maximize learning and student success.
Faculty who complete the Online Certification Program will receive a Video IPod for demonstrating their commitment to high quality online teaching and to provide them with a new tool for online instruction.
If you have questions, please contact Jeff Lewis Ph.D., Director of Online Learning at lewisjef@mscd.edu or 303-556-4036.
