[U]Tech's Teaching and Learning Technologies (TLT) team invites faculty members to submit a proposal to join the second cohort of the Online Undergraduate Learning Community (OLC). The purpose of the OLC is for faculty members to receive the support needed to develop elective online courses as part of a three-year pilot beginning in the 2024–25 academic year. This three-year pilot was recommended by the Faculty Senate Committee on Undergraduate Education (FSCUE) and endorsed by the Faculty Senate.
Full-time ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ teaching faculty in this cohort will focus on developing fully online undergraduate elective courses with the support of TLT's instructional design team. Topics will include:
- Identifying course learning objectives and goals that can be realized in online learning;
- Strategies for using Canvas, Zoom and other instructional technologies;
- Tactics to balance synchronous and asynchronous time; and
- Ways to develop multiple avenues for meaningful learning and interactions between students and faculty throughout a course.
Martha Schaffer, director of first-year writing in the English department, reflected on her experience in the OLC: "The OLC has been invaluable in helping me develop my teaching skills for an online environment. It has not only taught me about using technology and online strategies for engaging students, but it has helped me to rethink my own content and teaching style to be more inclusive and student-centered. The OLC leaders model excellent online teaching themselves, and support and encourage our cohort to grow and learn in new ways."
Esther Bernhofer, associate professor at Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing and an assistant professor in the Department of Bioethics, said: "I highly recommend it to every faculty member who wants to excel at teaching here at ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½â€”whether teaching online or in-person. Although the program focus is online teaching, almost every principle and skill taught is transferable to improving in-person teaching too! The program was a lot of work—as learning often is—but it was fun and incredibly valuable. I would even recommend that it be something that is required of every new faculty member—taught online, of course."
Visit the Online Undergraduate Learning Community website to find out more about this opportunity.