Higher education units partner on free online course to support faculty during pandemic

A free online course to help faculty members and instructional staff who must teach remotely during the coronavirus pandemic has been launched by three units in higher education that specialize in digital learning.

The course, “Pivoting to Online Teaching: Research and Practitioner Perspectives,” is a partnership of the National Research Center for Distance Education and Technological Advancements (DETA) at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, University of Texas at Arlington’s LINK Research Lab, and University of South Australia’s Centre for Change and Complexity in Learning (C3L). The course is based in current learning science, learning analytics and online learning research. It covers key concepts and provides guidance on how to start teaching online.

The course will be of wide interest as thousands of colleges and universities globally prepare for alternative delivery of classes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The course starts on Monday, March 16, with a series of online webinars addressing planning and design, overview of teaching technologies, fostering interaction, student voices and planning assessment. Subsequent weeks will provide a deeper dive into the online teaching experience and provide course participants with opportunities to learn from peers, develop effective mindsets for success online, build a culture of care in their digital teaching and plan for successful student outcomes by creating engaging and collaborative courses.

Registration is free for this course at Edx: www.edx.org/course/pivoting-to-online-teaching-research-and-practitioner-perspectives