Preparing to Teach Online
Self-Paced Online Modules

Online Kick-Off: Monday, June 3, 2-3pm
Online Wrap-up: Thursday, June 27, 2-3pm

Overview

Are you planning to teach an online course, or just curious about online teaching and learning? Then you can be among the first to explore the new Preparing to Teach Online self-paced learning modules by participating in this pilot offering! As you complete the modules, you will learn about the practices and principles of online teaching and plan for applying them to a course you may want to teach online. The modules cover these foundational online teaching topics:

• Best practices for online teaching
• Methods and models for online teaching
• Technology to communicate, collaborate, and assess
• Communication strategies
• Assessment techniques

Preparing to Teaching Online consists of 6 modules and may take 8-10 hours to complete. Because the modules are self-paced, you can complete the modules at any time before the wrap-up date and at your own speed. You have the flexibility to decide if you want to spread the material out over the entire 3.5 week period or complete them all in a week or even a single day! Each module includes a short narrated tutorial, suggested readings, and a quiz. Periodically, you will reflect on what you have learned thus far and how it will influence your course design. Throughout the modules, there are opportunities for you to work on the design for a course you plan to teach online. The modules are based on best practices in online teaching, were developed according to industry-standard quality rubrics, and have been reviewed fully by internal as well as external reviewers. 

Module Topics

While the Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center has offered extensive training on online teaching, this is the first time the training is available for self-paced learning online. The modules and this pilot offering for a faculty cohort group are made possible by the partial funding received through NIU Foundation’s Venture Grants. Participants will be requested to provide feedback on the module design, content, and overall experience so that the modules can be enhanced further. Please note that the modules cover issues related to preparing to teaching online and do not include hands-on training that may be necessary to teach online.

Technology Requirements

Participants must have a computer running a browser compatible with Blackboard (more information is available at http://kb.blackboard.com/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=72810639). In addition, participants should have Java and Flash installed. For the kick-off and wrap-up sessions, speakers or a pair of headphones is necessary.

Alternatively, participants may also complete the modules from their iPhone, iPad, or Android phone or tablet. Mobile participants will need to download the free Blackboard Mobile Learn and Blackboard Collaborate Mobile apps. 

Participants should have basic computer skills (internet browsing and file management) and prior experience with Blackboard.

Registration Information

This online course is open to all faculty, instructors, and teaching staff (SPS and Civil Service), but the registration will be limited to 25 participants for this piloe offering. Registered participants will receive access to the Preparing to Teach Online Blackboard course. Participants who complete all of the assessments by the wrap-up date will receive a certificate of participation. Advance registration is required.

Attendance at the online Kick-off and wrap-up sessions is strongly encouraged but not required for participation or completion. These sessions will be recorded and available for viewing after the event.

Registration Deadline: May 28, 2013. Due to the advance notice needed for ensuring access to the course and managing the cohort group, please register for this course online at http://facdevprograms.niu.edu/ERAP/Login.aspx?eID=254. Please register only if you plan to complete all of the self-paced modules by June 27, 2013. 

After you register, if you are unable to attend, please cancel your registration by May 30, 2013 at http://j.mp/facdevprograms so that those on the waiting list may be given the opportunity to participate in this effort.

Questions?

If you have any questions or need clarifications about this self-paced learning course, please contact the Center at 815-753-0595 or facdev@niu.edu. 

Sponsor:

Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center and NIU Foundation Venture Grants

Blackboard Learn, the course management system utiilized by Northern Illinois University faculty, staff, teaching assistants, and students, continues to be an important platform for facilitating teaching at learning at NIU, with over 97% of students and 82% of teaching faculty using the system during Fall 2012.  Over the past several years, there have been significant upgrades implemented to the system which have added many new features as well as an improved overall user experience.

The next upgrade to Blackboard Learn at NIU scheduled for June 8, 2013 will provide an even more user friendly and modern experience for students and faculty alike. Educators and students were in fact the driving force behind the development of the latest release, with nearly nearly 640 institutions, including NIU, as well as over 600 educators and nearly 600 students contributing to the development process.  This has made Blackboard Learn simply better for educators and students.

Many existing features have been improved and some exciting new features added to make the user experience more efficient. The following is a quick overview of the tools that you can expect to be using soon.

Take a Peek at What’s New

New features include:

• New Content Editor: Vastly improves the user experience for formatting text, pasting content from Word, and more.
• Assessment Item Analysis: Provides statistics on overall test performance on individual test questions.
• Assessment Fill-in-the-Blank Question Enhancement: Fill-in-the-Blank and Fill-in-Multiple-Blanks questions now offers regular expression options for grading answers.
• My Blackboard: Create your own profile and discover and interact with others in your academic network.
• Inline Assignment Grading: View, annotate, and grade student-submitted files “inline” without the need to download any files.
• Retention Center: Identify at-risk students by using pre-configured rules or by creating your own.
• New Calendar: Sporting a new UI, the new calendar now integrates fully into your courses. Never miss an assignment again.
• Blackboard Drive: View, edit, and manage your Content System files right from your desktop.

Learn More

For a complete listing of new features coming in Blackboard 9.1 SP10/11, visit http://www.niu.edu/blackboard/upgrade/features.shtml or sign-up to attend an upcoming workshop, details at http://www.niu.edu/blackboard/upgrade/workshops.shtml

NIU Faculty Development & Instructional Design Center typically offers 1-2 hands-on workshops a year on using the Turning Technologies ResponseCard devices (aka “clickers”) in the classroom. The hands-on workshop, designed for NIU faculty who wish to use clickers in their own classes, covers details about the hardware and software that enables faculty to conduct highly interactive polling sessions in the classroom. While the introductory clickers workshop sees great numbers in attendance every year, regular requests for more training dates and private consultations continue to increase. In response to these numerous requests for training, NIU Faculty Development & Instructional Design Center has worked with the Turning Technologies training department to make available additional training support. Thanks to the Turning Technologies training department, we are pleased to announce that any interested faculty can now take advantage of live online and self-paced training on clickers and the TurningPoint software at no cost.

The live online trainings are available in the form of scheduled group workshop classes, or in private one-on-one training sessions by request on a date and time that works for your schedule. All live online trainings (group or private) will take place on a web conferencing platform and will require participants to have a headset with a microphone. For those who would rather take a comprehensive self-paced course complete with practice activities and assessments, these courses will be hosted on a learning management system and can be completed at any time without a deadline. These self-paced training courses would be perfect for teaching assistants or any faculty needing to work through training at their own pace. All training options deliver the same content – participants simply choose the training format that is best for them and their schedule. Participants may sign up for the live group online classes based on the current calendar of offerings; for live one-on-one training or to enroll in a self-paced training course, please contact Kevin Herrholtz, Training Manager, directly via email at training@turningtechnologies.com or via phone at 330-599-4936. For more information, refer to the following links:

Information on Live Online Classes: http://www.turningtechnologies.com/online-classes

Information on Self-Paced classes: http://www.turningtechnologies.com/self-paced-training

All of these training options are offered at no cost, so please take advantage of these trainings! When signing up for training, participants should note the version of the TurningPoint software they will be using. Faculty teaching in a Provost-sponsored smart classroom are using the latest version of TurningPoint; all other campus buildings may still be on the legacy version. For faculty teaching with clickers for the first time, they should request training on using the hardware and on the PowerPoint Polling feature of the clicker software. Various levels of training for these different features are available.

Moving forward, any faculty, staff, and teaching assistants interested in using clickers for the first time are strongly encouraged to consider registering for training workshops through Turning Technologies. Those needing a free clicker kit (containing a clicker and receiver) should contact the Turning Technologies account manager, Melinda Caban, at mcaban@turningtechnologies.com or 330-599-4925. If anyone has any general questions related to clickers, please contact the Faculty Development & Instructional Design center at facdev@niu.edu, or 815-753-0595.

Blackboard is traveling all across North America looking to meet you—the educators, technologists and leaders that have a passion for making the educational experience the best it can be. The teams that design and build the Blackboard tools you use everyday are jumping at the chance to meet and collaborate on what matters to you, where you are.

The Never Stop Learning Tour is also a unique opportunity to plug into your community and engage with fellow Blackboard users in your region. Transfer knowledge and come away with all the answers to your most pressing questions.

Blackboard’s next stop is at the University of Illinois at Chicago in Chicago, IL! Blackboard invites you to this FREE, one-day event to:

• Connect with other Blackboard users in your area
• Learn about the latest in new features in Blackboard
• Ask questions or share feedback with Blackboard product experts

Faculty Track

The Higher Education Faculty track includes a series of presentations designed to help you improve your online teaching experience. You’ll get new ideas and learn best practices to increase efficiency, improve student engagement and further enhance your skills on creating engaging content to meet course objectives. Presentation topics might include:

• Meet the Grade Center
• Methods for Encouraging Academic Honesty
• Wikis, Blogs, Forums, Journals – Which One Do I Use & Why?
• Methods for Engaging Your Students with Media

More Details

When: Thursday, May 23, 2013
Where: University of Illinois at Chicago, Student Center West
Registration: REGISTER NOW >>

Thinking about thinking. It’s not a new concept and can be linked to higher order thinking in which a person takes “active control over the cognitive processes engaged in [their] learning” (Livingston, 1997, para. 1). The process of thinking about one’s own thinking is often called metacognition, although by definition, metacognition is “cognition about cognition.”

Background

The historical roots of metacognition first took hold in the 1970s—the concept was introduced by developmental psychologist John Flavell, whose “work focused on children’s metamemory” (Baker, 2013, para. 3). Flavell’s definition of metacognition comprised both knowledge and control of ones cognition, in which knowledge is what a person knows about how they know and perceive information: Knowing how one learns best, what the person is supposed to do, and the best ways the person can accomplish a task (Baker, 2013). The control component considers how the person understands the process of knowing: The actual plans and strategies used to make progress in learning something. The process can include a using a specific method to learn a task, evaluating the progress made, and making changes to accomplish a task if necessary (Baker, 2013).

At the Spring 2013 Teaching Effectiveness Institute, Get Students to Focus on Learning Instead of Grades: Teach Them How to Learn, Dr. Saundra McGuire (Louisiana State University), offered ways to incorporate metacognitive strategies in the classroom. Dr. McGuire suggested that students who take an active part in thinking about their thinking, and analyze what they are doing, are better able to comprehend information which can lead to better grades. McGuire contends that metacognition is “the ability to think about one’s own thinking, be consciously aware of oneself as a problem solver, monitor, plan, and control one’s mental processing (e.g., “Am I understanding this material or just memorizing it?”), and accurately judge one’s level of learning” (McGuire, 2013 citing Flavell).

McGuire stresses the importance of helping students who may be struggling “to make the grade” through individual learning consultations. During these meetings, McGuire suggests a series of steps in which you can motivate students to improve their academic performance. First, build a relationship with students by making them feel comfortable – helping them realize that they can be successful. Creating hope – show how previous students’ low scores have been improved when they use learning strategies. In building confidence, have the student work on an activity that demonstrates how failing one part of the exercise can be turned into A or B level performance just by having them use one learning strategy. Guiding analytic reflection is where you ask the student to distinguish the difference between studying and learning, where they often reveal that they have been in study mode instead of learn mode. Introducing new ideas such as metacognition and Bloom’s Taxonomy helps students connect what they know to strategies they can actually use and succeed. At the end of the consultation, you can build motivation to change by reviewing the usefulness of the strategies and encouraging students to actually use them to succeed.

Strategies

Below are strategies you can implement in your teaching that can make an immediate impact on students’ learning to help them think about their thinking:

• Establish a nurturing and engaging classroom environment where students are more likely to feel emotionally secure and confident that they can succeed
• Create a community of scholars where students are accountable to each other (everyone must participate or there will be a quiz next class session; implement group quizzes)
• Assign classwork and homework that require higher order thinking skills (refer to Bloom’s Taxonomy)
• Provide students opportunities to teach course content (these “mini lectures” will allow students to prepare and check their understanding of the content)
• Assess students’ learning frequently (formatively, throughout the semester through quizzes, questions, observations, discussions)
• Provide frequent feedback to students (use rubrics; include substantive written comments on papers, projects, exams; make affirming in-class comments about student input, achievement, etc.)
• Create learning goals for your students (to help them become better learners and keep them on task)
• Show students how to use concept maps and graphic note taking strategies for textbook readings and class notes
• Provide multiple opportunities for students to reflect on what is being taught (think-pair-share, journals, classroom discussions, questioning)
• Teach students concrete learning strategies (demonstrate strategies in class and provide resources such as SQ5R, Study Cycle, Intense Study Sessions for access outside of class)
• Use Skip Downing strategies, which are innovative ways to help students achieve greater academic success and retention

You can share the following strategies with your students to help them think about their own thinking (helping them learn and positively impact their grades).

• Establish a set of personal learning goals (How do you learn?, How do you take tests?, etc.)
• Create a self report card (self report cards allow students to think about their own progress in class)
• Focus on the whys instead of the whats
• Look at relationships between concepts and ideas
• Think of analogies in your lives that relate to the new information being presented and how you are using it
• Analyze and write down what specific learning strategies you will use between learning new information and taking a test of that information (SQ5R, Study Cycle)
• Analyze what questions you missed on the first test and determine why you missed those questions
• Solve problems without first looking at examples or solutions (this will help you think critically and creatively)
• Use concept maps, notetakers, and other visual note taking devices to outline textbook readings and lecture notes (these devices can assist you in learning how to learn, helps with review, helps improve higher order thinking skills – refer to Bloom’s Taxonomy)
• Ask students the following question: “If you were asked to teach this class, what kinds of strategies would you use to help you learn new information?”

To introduce students to the importance of thinking about their thinking, McGuire suggests a Metacognitive Get Acquainted Activity by Simpson and Rush (2012) that can be quickly implemented in class. If conducted early in the semester, the results can also serve as formative feedback. This feedback can serve a number of purposes: first, that you value students’ opinions; second, to help students focus on what they know and what they can do; and third, that you can adjust course content to meet students’ needs before the semester ends. Here are the three open-ended questions:

1. What do you believe is important to understand and learn in [insert your discipline here]?
2. What do you believe to be critical characteristics of successful students in [insert your discipline here]?
3. How will you study and prepare for exams in [insert your discipline here]?
   Simpson & Rush (2012, p. 268)

Developing a mindset that can help you motivate and encourage your students to think about their own thinking takes time and effort. Saundra McGuire (2013) recommends, therefore, the following points as you search new ways that can help make you a better educator:

• Embrace challenges rather than avoiding them.
• Persist when presented with obstacles rather than giving up easily.
• Take the path to mastering tasks that require effort rather than considering them fruitless.
• Learn from criticism rather than ignoring it.
• Find lessons and inspiration in the success of others rather than feeling threatened by them.

Summary

“We can significantly increase student’s ability to learn by teaching them the learning process and provide specific strategies; avoid judging student performance on initial performance; encourage students to persist in the face of initial failure; and encourage students to use metacognitive tools to help them succeed” (McGuire, 2013). Implementing metacognitive strategies in the classroom will help students transition from being passive to actively engaged learners who can impact their own learning both in and out of classroom.

Saundra McGuire recommended a number of books that you can use to help your students understand their own learning, all of which are available online.

How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School by Bransford & Brown (2000)

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Dweck (2006)

Teaching Strategies in Developmental Education: Readings on Theories, Research, and Best Practice by Hodges, Simpson, & Stahl (2012)

The Genius in All of Us: Why Everything You’ve Been Told About Genetics, Talent, and IQ is Wrong by Shenk (2010)

References

Baker, L. (2013). Metacognition. Retrieved from http://www.education.com/reference/article/metacognition/

Flavell, J. H. (1976). Metacognitive aspects of problem solving. In L. B. Resnick (Ed.), The nature of intelligence (pp. 231-236). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Livingston, J. A. (1997). Metacognition: An overview. Retrieved from http://gse.buffalo.edu/fas/shuell/cep564/metacog.htm

Simpson, M., & Rush, L. (2012). College students’ beliefs, strategy employment, transfer, and academic performance: An examination across three academic disciplines. In R. Hodges, M. L. Simpson, & N. A. Stahl (Eds.), Teaching study strategies in developmental education (pp. 265-275). New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s Professional Resources.