ACUE Online Teaching Toolkit - https://acue.org/online-teaching-toolkit/
Best Practices for Teaching Online course – https://www.mountainviewcollege.edu/emp/development/mvc/pages/best-practices.aspx
Best Practices for Teaching Online prepares faculty to implement quality course design practices, supporting an informal course development process (non-evaluative). This program is the result of collaboration between multiple higher education institutions who have worked together in support of online faculty. The course is openly accessible (public) and there is no cost associated with participation, consideration, or adoption. An estimated 4-6 hour faculty commitment is required to complete all course materials and can be applied towards annual professional development requirements.
NISOD Teaching Online Toolkit – https://www.nisod.org/teaching-online-toolkit/
The Toolkit includes particularly timely online teaching best practices compiled from our Innovation Abstracts and webinars. Our objective is the provide research and resources faculty members need so they can help their students be successful as they too transition to a mainly online environment.
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Blackboard ALLY
Want to engage your students where they already are? How about empowering students to learn their own way with your content? Blackboard Ally allows students to download alternative formats of your course content. Students can listen to audio versions, read on their smartphone or tablet, or read electronic braille. Ally can help you as well. It provides feedback on how to make your content more accessible for all students, including students with disabilities. This training will help you to learn to use Ally and familiarize yourself with the student side of Ally. You’ll come away with a more accessible syllabus, and the foundations of making all course content more accessible.
Blackboard for New Users
Through this course, Blackboard for New Users, you will learn to use Blackboard effectively including; navigating Blackboard, adding content, and communicating with and assessing your students. You’ll learn to make Blackboard work for you in your courses, regardless of delivery mode.
Grade Center Essentials
Blackboard Grade Center Essentials is a fully online, self-paced online course designed for faculty. This course addresses the COD instructor’s basic needs for use of the Grade Center in Blackboard and provides detailed instructions and hands-on activities for faculty to gain technical skills necessary in order to efficiently utilize Assignment, Test and Rubric features in the COD Blackboard Learn system. This course is designed to offer flexibility in learning time and content. While the four modules (Basics, Assignment, Test, Rubric) together form a coherent course covering essential elements of the Grade Center, each is a stand-alone unit so that you, the learner, can choose any topic or any part of a topic according to your needs.
Best Practices for Teaching Online
Best Practices for Teaching Online prepares faculty to implement quality course design practices, supporting an informal course development process (non-evaluative). This program is the result of collaboration between multiple higher education institutions who have worked together in support of online faculty. The course is openly accessible (public) and there is no cost associated with participation, consideration, or adoption.
Technology has changed the nature of education—and the jobs of educators. Online instruction requires different methods to help students learn. This course is designed to help corporate trainers and teachers update their skill sets to teach effectively online. Staff author Oliver Schinkten draws the connections between high-quality instruction and online education. He provides a framework for creating a digital classroom and guidance to get students interacting with the course material, the instructor, and each other. Collaboration is the key to making the learning experience more dynamic. Plus, Oliver shows how to make sure your lessons are accessible to students of all ability levels.
Get the Blackboard training you need to quickly enroll students and start creating assignments. Patrick Crispen shows teachers how to customize their course sites, manage users, and add and organize course content, including multimedia and online assessments. He also shows how to enter scores, create grading periods, and more in the Grade Center. Plus, learn how to communicate with students and encourage participation and collaboration on forums and between groups.
Welcoming Students to your Online Environment (Recorded Thursday, April 2, 2020)
Learn practices to effectively welcome students to your online course in ways that support them and let them know that you are committed to their continued success, including the usage of specific methods like video, Q&A and social forums, as well as effective online communication techniques.
Managing your Online Presence (Recorded Monday, April 6, 2020)
One of the most important aspects—if not the most important aspect—of any student’s learning is you, the instructor. Learn how to more effectively be involved in discussions, respond to questions, provide feedback and encouragement, so students feel more supported and engaged in your course.
Organizing your Online Courses (Recorded Thursday, April 9, 2020)
Students can become confused, frustrated, or disengaged if they find it challenging to simply navigate a course learning environment. Learn how to organize your course from the students’ point of view—using tools like creating a module roadmap, creating a predictable rhythm, and more.
Planning and Facilitating Quality Discussions (Recorded Tuesday, April 14, 2020)
Learn techniques to help students get the most out of online discussions. Learn and discuss with online teaching and learning experts how to provide rubrics, create reflection activities, provide strategic feedback and more.
Recording Effective Microlectures (Recorded Friday, April 17, 2020)
Microlectures are short (6 minutes or less), instructor-produced videos that are designed using a structured format to provide effective explanations of a single key concept or specific skill set. Learn how to use this format to help maintain student attention and allow students to reengage with the content when and if needed.
Engaging Students in Readings and Microlectures (Recorded Monday, April 20, 2020)
There are a variety of ways to keep students engaged in the content and help them focus their attention on what is most important. Learn how to use a variety of practices to assess how well they are learning and making key connections, such as using guiding questions, preparing online discussion forums, developing skeletal outlines, and more.
Strategies for Rapidly Moving Online (Slides and recording from Wednesday, March 25, 2020)
When teaching during times of disruption, educators need to be creative and flexible in how they support students in achieving essential course learning objectives. During this free one-hour webinar, Achieving the Dream will share strategies to help you and your students rapidly move your teaching and learning online. We’ll address common challenges such as how to stay connected to your students, foster collaboration, find low tech solutions when online is not an option, and find digital activities and assignments on the fly.
Communication & Engagement Strategies at a Distance (Slides and recording from Wednesday, April 1, 2020)
With the widespread shutdown of college campuses due to COVID-19 and transition to online classes, maintaining a connection with your remote students has never been more important. Finding effective ways to communicate with your students, especially those with limited access to technology, will not only help keep them engaged in their learning but can also convey emotional support and compassion. In the second webinar in Achieving the Dream ‘s Online Teaching & Learning through Disruption series we will address how to effectively communicate with your students, even when access may be challenging. This session will also cover how to create engaging learning experiences that allow your students to both collaborate with peers and work independently at a distance.
Innovative Approaches to Content Delivery and Assessment of Student Learning (Slides and recording from Wednesday, April 8, 2020)
As college campuses make a sudden, unexpected transition to online learning, how do faculty continue to effectively bring course content to their now-remote students? How can instructors translate and make accessible activities designed for face-to-face instruction (e.g., labs and other experiential learning opportunities) to an unfamiliar online environment? How can faculty approach formative and summative assessments to mark student progress, offer timely feedback, and easily access open content through online channels?
Responding to Racial Bias and Microaggressions in Online Environments (Recorded April 28, 2020)
The transition to online instruction and student services in response to COVID-19 presents a substantial challenge for most post-secondary institutions. Among the most pervasive challenges are issues with racial bias and racial microaggressions that serve to impede the student experience. In an environment typified by time constraints, stress, and the unknown – racial strife is at an all-time high. This webinar focuses on strategies that educators can use to address issues of bias and microaggressions in order to meet the needs of historically underrepresented and under-served students in the online environment.
Equity-Minded Student Services in the Online Environment (Recorded April 9, 2020)
This webinar will focus on providing equity-minded student services to community college students in the online environment.
Employing Equity-Minded & Culturally-Affirming Teaching Practices in Virtual Learning Communities (Recorded March 26, 2020)
The unanticipated transition from face-to-face to online courses in response to COVID-19 presents a substantial challenge for many community college faculty, particularly those who have worked to create a teaching and learning environment that prioritizes equity and equity-mindedness. In this webinar, Drs. Frank Harris III and J. Luke Wood are presenting some salient trends and issues that complicate the experiences of diverse community college learners in online courses and propose equity-minded teaching and learning strategies for faculty teaching online courses.