{"id":83901,"date":"2020-06-18T16:21:24","date_gmt":"2020-06-18T21:21:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/?p=83901"},"modified":"2020-06-23T10:34:19","modified_gmt":"2020-06-23T15:34:19","slug":"teaching-center-helping-instructors-raise-quality-of-online-courses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/teaching-center-helping-instructors-raise-quality-of-online-courses\/","title":{"rendered":"Teaching center helping instructors raise quality of online courses"},"content":{"rendered":"

The university\u2019s Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning is gearing up for the next phase of online teaching and learning \u2013 enhancing, expanding and improving what\u2019s already being done.<\/p>\n

While the university\u2019s faculty and staff did an amazing job of moving more than 6,000 courses online in a very short time in the spring semester, said Diane Reddy, director of CETL, \u201cWe have this tremendous opportunity now to actually get in there and raise the quality of the online and blended courses we offer at UWM for the fall and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the two-week period this spring when courses were suddenly moved online, instructors learned quickly, used all their creativity and ingenuity and asked lots of questions, Reddy said. \u201cThey did it all with compassion for their students. They did an incredible job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Work this summer is focused on increased professional development for online and blended teaching, she said. \u201cWe\u2019ve always been such a strong leader, with more high quality online courses than any institution, public or private, in the state of Wisconsin. Moving forward we\u2019re looking at how we can enhance the quality of all our courses, whether they\u2019re online, blended or face-to-face.\u201d<\/p>\n

Online or webinar<\/h3>\n

One key part of that effort is\u00a0 two new formats for the Online and Blended Teaching Program<\/a>. The program is now being offered to instructors in\u00a0 both an asynchronous online format and a webinar version, with participants able to complete it in either version or in a mix of versions. Each core module in the webinar version will last an hour, with time set aside for questions, according to Reddy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to give programs to people to meet their preferences,\u201d Reddy said. \u201cSome people like to learn at their own pace. Others like a webinar where they have a lot of their questions answered.\u201d<\/p>\n

The six initial modules will focus on key topics: teaching online courses, engaging students, delivering content, building community, supporting students and evaluating the course. Instructors can earn a digital badge\u00a0 for completing \u00a0the Online and Blended Teaching Program, and can earn the Certificate in Online and Blended Teaching sponsored by the provost if they also design a course and have it evaluated.<\/p>\n

Different classes, different approaches<\/h3>\n

The next step will be creating six optional modules. One module, for example, would focus on teaching large enrollment courses.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s quite different if you have 30 students as opposed to more than 50,\u201d said Reddy. Another module would look at teaching online in different disciplines, focusing on broad topic areas such as the humanities, social studies and the professions, she added.<\/p>\n

Other topics in the optional modules could include teaching blended and flipped courses, teaching synchronously; teaching labs online; teaching accelerated courses (such as summer and UWInterIM courses).<\/p>\n

By mid-July, the goal is to offer the optional modules both asynchronously online and in a one-hour webinar format.<\/p>\n

CETL will be reaching out to instructors to gather and share exceptional teaching \u201cartifacts\u201d \u00a0that they\u2019ve used successfully in their online and blended courses. The artifacts selected through the OBTP Commons Initiative will be shared through Canvas Commons. Incentives for selected contributions are being funded by the UW System\u2019s Office of Academic Programs and Educational Innovation:<\/p>\n