Course Syllabus

• Seminar Description
• Seminar Goals
• Design Materials
• Seminar Structure
• A Community of Learners
• Overview of Modules
• Seminar Calendar

Click to download complete Syllabus

Spring, 2013

Seminar Facilitators:      Elizabeth West           eawest@uw.edu
                                         Cathy Kim                  ckim00@uw.edu

Meeting Times:  Wednesdays:  12:00-2:00

Dates: April 10, 17, & 24; May 1, 15, & 29; June 5 and potentially the 12^th

Location:  112A

Textbook:  Ko, S. & Rossen, S. (2010).  Teaching Online: A Practical Guide.  Routledge.

                                               Additional readings and resources will posted on Resources Page.

Seminar Description

The purpose of this seminar is to assist and support you in the process of developing or redesigning a course for an online or hybrid format.  Each of you will have your own unique “deliverables” which align with your project.

The seminar is designed to offer multiple opportunities to discuss and discover your own answers to critical redesign questions within a learning community of peers and collaborators. It is an “inquiry-based,” collaborative, and “project-based” learning environment in which each module revolves around key redesign challenges and questions, group discussions and activities, and the creation of redesign course materials (e.g., your syllabus, schedule, learning activities, and modules). These materials will in turn be the groundwork for implementation of the project.

Seminar Goals

Within a collaborative and inquiry-based learning environment, participants will be able to discuss online and hybrid course design decisions, identify the elements of pedagogically effective online and hybrid courses, and make sound design decisions in constructing their own course materials. In addition, with practice and feedback, participants will also gain or enhance their skills in facilitating and managing online discussions, in designing learning activities, and in providing feedback and communicating with students.

Design Materials

Participants who successfully complete this Seminar will come away with materials that will include the following (note – this can be adjusted given participants’ prior knowledge or goals):

• a draft of a learning module or unit
• a plan for preparing and supporting students to participate in the online or hybrid course
• a redesign course “blueprint,” including an outline of major content areas, goals and objectives, and a plan for assessing learning outcomes
• strategies for integrating online learning activities with face-to-face components of the course
• a set of guidelines for successful student participation and an assessment rubric for managing and evaluating online discussions
• a draft of a syllabus and week-by-week schedule of topics and activities

Seminar Structure

This 8-week seminar includes face-to-face sessions.  

There are nine modules in the seminar (see the schedule for a list of topics and meetings), and many of the modules follow the general process illustrated below.

• Pedagogy – identify strategies that facilitate learning for your students in a f2f environment
• Explore and Learn about Tools –develop a knowledge base about what tools are available to support your pedagogy
• Merge- adopt a supporting technology
• Craft –build the access
• Peer Review and Revise– focus on creating and revising your course materials
• Reflect

 

Building a Community of Learners:  Expectations and Responsibilities

It is our hope that the spring seminar will result in an actively engaged community of learners, and that the activities making up the seminar will enable each of you to learn from us and from each other what you need to know to successfully create a course. Toward that end, it is very important that you attend all of the face-to-face meetings and that you participate fully in all online activities. We hope that you will find the meetings and the online activities stimulating and thought-provoking, and that they will help you get your project off to a good start. Please look for opportunities throughout the seminar to share what you already know about teaching and learning with technology¾and to share, as well, what you do not know but need to learn. In this fashion, all of us will come to a better understanding of what constitutes an effective online and/or hybrid course, and a better understanding of how to create one.

Overview of Modules

Module 1: Understanding the Design Process

• Pedagogy drives the technology
• Affordances, difficulties and unique opportunities for our courses (discussed session 2)
• Introduction to Canvas
• Identify your “deliverable”

Module 2: Planning – The Big Picture

• Course Goals and content
• Develop modules – content (broad to specifics)
• Quality Matters

Module 3: Constructing the Course Blueprint

• Course objectives and assessment strategies
• A learning cycle
• Module development

Module 4: Develop Course Documents

• Creating an effective online syllabus
• The schedule
• Course procedures
• Rubrics

Module 5: Activate Learning

• What kinds of activities are possible?
• Discussion groups – facilitating online discussions
  • Balance of student centered – instructor centered
• Blogs

Module 6: Building an Online Community

• Fostering a sense of community
• Team design – groups and dividing students
• E-mail, chat, conferencing and more
• Supervision/assessment

 

Module 7: Accessibility and Universal Design for Learning

 

Module 8: Course Flow and Build

• Areas and content – the platform/LMS
• Student orientation considerations – preparing them
• Communication tools – web 2.0 tools and others
• Instructor presence/student identity

Module 9: Showcase, Celebrate and Plan

 

Seminar Calendar

Date/Module	Activities	Assignment Due	Readings
April 10 – Module 1 Understanding the Design Process	Identify your deliverable(s) Getting Started with Canvas – playing in the sandbox Special features – Canvas with Tyler Fox, Instructional Technologist Learning Technologies, UW-IT	Deliverable identified
April 17 – Module 2 Planning – The Big Picture	Affordances, difficulties and unique opportunities for our courses Course Goals and content Develop modules – content (broad to specifics) Quality Matters	Affordances and Difficulties Peer Review – complete draft of summary worksheet for course goals/content List of Modules	Review QM Rubric QM Lit. Review Review the NETS Standards (URL) Text – Ch. 3
April 24 -  Module 3 Constructing Course Blueprint	Develop course blueprint Learning cycles Module development	Peer Review – Course Blueprint	Wagner, Vanevenhoven & Bronson, 2010
May 1 –   Module 4 Developing Course Documents	Creating a syllabus and schedule   Course procedures   Rubrics	Peer Review – Module Development	Text – Ch. 5 Mintu-Wimsatt, Kenek & Lozado, 2010
May 15 - Module 5 Activate Learning	What kinds of activities are possible?   Discussion groups	Peer Review-complete draft of discussion board “how-to” and rubric	Text – Ch. 7 Backchannel Communication
May 29 – Module 6 Building an Online Community	Fostering a sense of community   Team design – groups and dividing students   E-mail, chat, conferencing and more   Supervision/assessment	Peer Review-	Text – Ch. 11
June 5 –   Module 7 Accessibility and Universal Design for Learning	Presenter:  Sheryl Burgstahler, Ph.D.  Director, UW Accessible Technology & DO-IT, UW-IT Affiliate Professor, Education	Peer Review-articulate accessibility and UDL considerations for course
June 12 - Module 8 Course Framework/Shell Module 9 Showcase, Celebrate and Plan Next Steps	Areas and content – the platform/LMS   Student orientation considerations – preparing them   Timing and pacing considerations   Communication tools – web 2.0 tools and others   Instructor presence	Peer Review-begin to build out Canvas site – share blueprint. Present draft syllabus and template for one module development. Share products.	Text – Ch. 6 & 10