Spring 2020 Preparing to Teach Online Series

This spring, in partnership with University Programs, FCLD again will be offering an 8-part seminar series designed to prepare instructors for online teaching and learning. The sessions are all on Fridays, in the Woods Classroom in Harrison Libraries, based on the following schedule:

Basic Tools for Online Instruction
Friday, February 21
1:30–3 p.m.

Just like any instruction, we need to be able to communicate with students, collect assignments, and facilitate group work such as case studies and projects.  This seminar covers basic Blackboard tools that are essential for online instruction including Email, Announcements and Alerts, the Assignment Tool, and Blackboard Groups. 

Fostering Interaction and Collaboration
Friday, February 28
1:30–3 p.m.

Distance education means there is “a distance between learner and teacher which is not merely geographic, but educational and psychological as well” (Moore, 1983). One hallmark of a well-designed online course is that it uses interaction to close up this distance, building in lots of different ways for students to work together and form their own online community.  During this seminar, participants will learn how to foster and encourage interactivity using tools such as the Discussion Board, Blogs, Wikis, Journals, and other non-Blackboard tools.

Tests, Grading, Feedback, and Support
Friday, March 6
1:30–3 p.m.

Your course is designed, your content prepared and loaded, your instruction and assignments align with your objectives, there’s a good mix of media presented, and opportunities for collaboration and interaction -- but how will you inform your students about their progress? Grade Center! Learn basic and necessary house-keeping of Grade Center and ways to set up Grade Center to reflect your grading scenario. We’ll also demonstrate and discuss ways you can offer feedback and build in support for students into your course.

Tips and Tricks from Experienced Online Instructors
Friday, March 13
1:30–3 p.m.

One of the best ways to learn about teaching online is hearing about the experiences of instructors who have taught online in the past.   University of Hartford instructors will share their online courses, tips, and tricks they’ve learned, as well as field questions from audience participants in this informal Q & A session.

Must Have Tools for Teaching Online
Friday, March 27
1:30–3 p.m.

Just because you are not face-to-face with your online students, it doesn't mean you can't 'talk' to them and with them.  It's not difficult to prepare audio and video clips so you can demonstrate worked problems, introduce a topic, summarize a complex issue, or even meet together once or twice.  This session will offer a 'survey course' on tools that can help.

Closed Captions & Alt Tags? Learn Universal Design!
Friday, April 3
1:30–3 p.m.

In this hands-on session, participants will learn how to use automatic video captioning in Ensemble (new!), how to edit captions, how to create alternative text (alt tags) for images in Blackboard, as well as some tips and tricks for making documents uploaded to Blackboard accessible.  FCLD will also demonstrate Ally, a new accessibility tool coming soon, which uses a wizard tool to assist faculty in automatically making documents accessible, as well as giving just-in-time tips to instructors.  Creating accessible courses is required by law and is best practice for all instruction.  This session is open to all faculty, but will be especially helpful for online, flipping or hybrid instructors.

Faculty interested in attending should register by emailing fcld@hartford.edu or calling 860.768.4661.