How to Start Teaching Online/Hybrid/Video Conferencing Courses Process Recommendations
With the increase in demand and technology capabilities, more and more NC State faculty have expressed interest in some sort of teaching online, hybrid or video conferencing courses. While the DL Department is currently in consultation with the Faculty Caucus, Council of Deans to put in place some standardized procedures and processes for how faculty can go about teaching these classes, below is what the Distance Learning Department recommends, based on the best practices scholarship for any interested NCSC faculty.
Definitions:
Fully Online =
Almost all class activities are online via Blackboard with no regular live meetings(outside of a possible intial orientation)
Hybrid =
Some class activities are online via Blackboard, but there are also regular required live class meeting times, either on-campus or onlinevia Elluminate virtual classroom
Video Conferencing =
Regular live class sessions, but through live, High Definition audio and video links, you can attend at any of the three NC State Outreach Centers in Ashland, Bucyrus or Willard.
Teaching Online or Hybrid Courses at NC State
Creating a New Online or Hybrid Course
Course Assignment:
Online or Hybrid course assignments are made by the respective division dean and department chair. Fully Online or Hybrid Course sections are Sections 92, 93 or 94.
Recommended Preparation:
You should have at least 1-2 years experience of extensive "web enhancing" your traditional face to face courses with Blackboard and/or Elluminate.
Further, you should have taught the desired specific course in a traditional face to face setting several times before teaching it online/hybrid.
Recommended Process:
The DL Department has extensive experience consulting with NCSC faculty through this process and is available to consult and help you through any or all of the steps below - Simply contact us at : 419.755.4706 or mwelker@ncstatecollege.edu
Make sure to have at LEAST one quarter in advance to design and develop your new online/hybrid course.
Use the Integrated Course Design Self Guided Worksheets Process (PDF) to come up with an appropriate "blueprint" for your new online/hybrid/video conferencing course.
Once you have developed your blueprint, identify the tools/technical needs and appropriate available technologies needed.
Develop your prototype site building out all of the 11 or 8 weeks course site in Blackboard.
Have fellow department faculty as well as trusted other faculty form other disciplines go through the prototype and give you feedback on areas/elements to refine/tweak. A useful resource for your informal peer reviewers and yourself may be the nationally and globally recognized Quality MattersTM.Rubric.
If time and resources allow, recruiting a student to do an informal "usability test" of your course site can offer many valuable insights.
Develop an "R&D Journal" with list of questions/concerns you have about the course before you teach it.
As you teach the course for the first time, either using the Blackboard anonymous survey tool or something like surveymonkey.com, gather specific feedback from your students on your questions/concerns. Take notes in your "R&D Journal" throughout the quarter.
After the quarter is over, look over your student feedback and notes and make a list of immediate changes to make for the next time the course will be offered, as well as new questions/concerns. Repeat the "R&D" process to continuously improve the quality of your online/hybrid teaching.
Resources:
Deigning Better Learning Experiences website
Teaching an Existing Online or Hybrid Course
Course Assignment:
Online or Hybrid course assignments are made by the respective division dean and department chair. Fully Online or Hybrid Course sections are Sections 92, 93 or 94.
Recommended Preparation:
You should have at least 1-2 years experience of extensive "web enhancing" your traditional face to face courses with Blackboard and/or Elluminate.
Further, you should have taught the desired specific course in a traditional face to face setting several times before teaching it online/hybrid
Recommended Process:
The DL Department has extensive experience consulting with NCSC faculty through this process and is available to consult and help you through any or all of the steps below - Simply contact us at : 419.755.4706 or mwelker@ncstatecollege.edu
Make sure to have at LEAST three-four weeks in advance to get comfortable with your online/hybrid course.
Setup time to sit down with the NCSC faculty member who has designed the online/hybrid course. Have them walk you through each element of the course design and the reasoning behind it. Then have them tell you their experiences and any changes/alterations they have made to the course based on their teaching of it.
Make sure to have a clear understanding from your chair and or the faculty member who designed the course for what the boundaries are for what you can/cannot alter or change.
Develop an "R&D Journal" with list of questions/concerns you have about the course before you teach it.
As you teach the course for the first time, either using the Blackboard anonymous survey tool or something like surveymonkey.com, gather specific feedback from your students on your questions/concerns. Take notes in your "R&D Journal" throughout the quarter.
After the quarter is over, look over your student feedback and notes and depending on the boundaries of what you can/cannot change on the course, make a list of recommended immediate changes to make for the next time the course will be offered, as well as new questions/concerns.
Repeat the "R&D" process to continuously improve the quality of your online/hybrid teaching.
After you have Taught Your New/Existing Online/Hybrid Course for a Few Quarters...
All NCSC Faculty, Chairs and Deans are highly encouraged to set a goal or schedule for getting all of your departments' existing fully online & hybrid NC State Distance Learning courses Quality MattersTM Certified. through the external Quality Matters Review Process. The DL Department has experience consulting with NCSC faculty through this process and is available to consult and help you through the external review process - Simply contact us at : 419.755.4706 or mwelker@ncstatecollege.edu
Once a fully online/hybrid course has been Quality MattersTM Certified, it will need to be re-certified every 2-3 years to continue being offered. Upon the completion of the External Quality MattersTM Review, your course will either be Quality MattersTM Certified or you will be given a list of issues to be addressed by your QM Review Team. You will need to address the Review Team's issues within one quarter. If your course is certified, it will need to be Re certified in 2-3 years time.
Resources:
Teaching Video Conferencing-Outreach Centers Courses at NC State
Once your Chair has notified the Distance Learning (DL) Department of this course assignment,
Course Assignment:
Video Conferencing/Outreach Center course assignments are made by the respective division dean and department chair. Video Conferencing/Outreach Center Course sections are keyed to the location as follows:
Section 95 = Mansfield, room 127 Fallerius (Main site)
Section 951 = Ashland W. Holmes Career Ctr. Outreach Ctr.
Section 952 = Bucyrus High School. Outreach Ctr.
Section 953 = Willard High School Outreach Ctr.
TBA = Urban Outreach Ctr. (Downtown Mansfield)
Recommended Preparation:
You should have at least 1-2 years experience teaching the desired specific course in a traditional face to face setting several times before teaching it via video conferencing.
While not required, experience web enhancing" your traditional face to face courses with Blackboard and/or Elluminate will be very beneficial to your Video Conferencing teaching experience.
Visiting one of the Outreach Centers to observe a current video conferencing course from the "business end" has proven to be one of the single most useful and effective ways to prepare new video conferencing instructors. Contact the DL Department (419.755.4706 or mwelker@ncstatecollege.edu) to arrange this.
Recommended Process:
The DL Department has extensive experience consulting with NCSC faculty through this process and is available to consult and help you through any or all of the steps below - Simply contact us at : 419.755.4706 or mwelker@ncstatecollege.edu
Make sure to have at LEAST one quarter in advance to design and develop your new video conference course.
Contact the DL Department (419.755.4706 - mwelker@ncstatecollege.edu) to setup a time to orient yourself to operating the video conference equipment and experience a live connection.
Review the Video Conferencing Best Practices document.
Use the Integrated Course Design Self Guided Worksheets Process (PDF) to come up with an appropriate "blueprint" for your new video conferencing course.
(Note: Planning for teaching at least one class from each of the Outreach Centers is consider a Best Practice. The DL Department can help you plan for the logistics and details of this.)
Have fellow department faculty as well as trusted other faculty form other disciplines go through your design and give you feedback on areas/elements to refine/tweak.
Develop your content and optionally, the Blackboard course site you may choose to support the course.
Contact the DL Department (419.755.4706 - mwelker@ncstatecollege.edu) to setup a time to test broadcasting your content from Mansfield via a live connection to the Outreach Centers.
Attend the mandatory Video Conferencing Orientation session (you will be contacted by DL with day and time of this) before the quarter starts to work through and determine final logistics with the Outreach facilitators.
Develop an "R&D Journal" with list of questions/concerns you have about the course before you teach it.
As you teach the course for the first time, either using either paper surveys or the Blackboard anonymous survey tool or something like surveymonkey.com, gather specific feedback from your students on your questions/concerns. Take notes in your "R&D Journal" throughout the quarter.
After the quarter is over, look over your student feedback and notes and make a list of immediate changes to make for the next time the course will be offered, as well as new questions/concerns. Repeat the "R&D" process to continuously improve the quality of your video conferencing teaching.
