Online Workshops Detailed Information

Dates

Monday, June 24–Monday, July 1, 2013 (8 days)

Facilitator

TBD

Description

In this workshop, UMUC staff will work with participants to examine the five UMUC academic policies that are most likely to affect faculty members while teaching for UMUC. These policies are: Arbitrary & Capricious Grading, Academic Dishonesty & Plagiarism, Code of Student Conduct, the Grade of "I" and Withdrawal, and Academic Levels of Progress. Through the use of case studies, participants will become familiar with classroom and student situations to which the policies may apply. Participants will also become familiar with the origins of the policies and with the procedures followed when the policies are invoked. Finally, participants will be introduced to the UMUC staff members, and resources such as the UMUC Faculty Handbook, to turn to for assistance when confronted with a policy matter.

Dates

Monday, May 20-Friday, May 31, 2013 (12 days)

Facilitator

Diane Finley, Adjunct Faculty

Description

This 12-day online faculty development workshop explores the "art" of providing feedback to students. The lack of adequate and focused feedback is not only a source of student dissatisfaction--it may also pose a significant barrier to student progress. This workshop will assist faculty in gaining a better understanding of the different types of feedback we can offer our students and in recognizing opportunities for providing feedback. It will also introduce some techniques, tips, and strategies for producing more effective and substantive feedback.We will be using case studies drawn from composites of real-life student work in order to learn some techniques for effectively communicating assessment of student work. Faculty will also be encouraged to share the types of assignments and assessments that cause them the most difficulty in regard to providing meaningful feedback.

Description

Would you like to teach online more effectively? Would you like to better understand how your students respond to specific instructional approaches and techniques? Do you ever wonder how to better tailor your assignments and assessments to reflect the learning objectives of your course? Are you ever concerned that student evaluation responses don't seem to reflect the efforts you put forth in teaching?

This workshop is designed to familiarize faculty with the recent research findings from UMUC's own Institute for Research and Assessment in Higher Education's (IRAHE) Best Online Instructional Practices Study and how these findings can best be applied to faculty's own teaching situations. The workshop explores the findings of the Best Online Instructional Practices Study and introduces the most effective practices of exemplary UMUC faculty. Participants then examine their own practices, using IRAHE's Instructional Practices Inventory, with an eye to implementing one or more new or revised approaches. This workshop is appropriate for faculty at any stage in their career who seek to better understand the relationship between instructional practices, student learning outcomes, and student satisfaction.

Dates

Monday, June 17–Friday, June 28, 2013 (12 days)

Facilitator

Neal Pomea, Adjunct Faculty

Description

Enlivened by scenarios and multi-media learning objects, this workshop focuses on easily finding and effectively and legally using information resources. The content, which goes beyond what is taught in CTLA201, is applicable to both online and face-to-face instruction. You will be taught tips and tricks for advanced database searching in your discipline and easier ways to select resources to create more successful assignments; discuss methods to better combat student plagiarism while learning how to avoid violating copyright law inadvertently yourself; and grapple with the challenge of getting your students to evaluate resources and cite them properly.

Date

Thursday, May 9, 8–9 a.m. eastern time
(Adobe Connect [a link will be shared with you in a confirmation email once you register] )

Facilitator

Kathy Schrock, Educational Technologist

Description

One way to engage students in an online course is to include collaboration activities. With the explosion of Web 2.0 tools, many at no cost, it is easy to include use of these tools as an alternative to traditional formative and summative assessments.

How do you make sure the use of the tool is pedagogically sound? How do you grade these online assessments? How do you keep track of student participation outside of the learning management system? This Webinar will provide an overview of Bloom's Revised Taxonomy, a framework of cognitive skill processes, and target tools that can be used at each level of the taxonomy. In addition, tips and tricks for online collaboration practices, use of rubrics, and grading practices will be included. Come learn how to blend 21st-century tools into your course!

Dates

Thursday, May 2-Thursday, May 30, 2013 (4 weeks)
Monday, June 3-Monday, July 1, 2013 (4 weeks)

Facilitator

Richard Schumaker

Description

This online workshop prepares UMUC faculty members from The Undergraduate School to effectively teach hybrid classes. By providing participants with tips and techniques to help them build and lead hybrid courses, this course prepares faculty to blend best practices for face-to-face teaching with the best features of online learning to create hybrid courses that promote active, independent learning.

The workshop contains six self-paced modules that blend brief lecturettes on key topics, with practical application activities, and Conference discussions. The material and activities used in this program will be immediately applicable to faculty preparing to teach hybrid courses at UMUC.

Note: All components of this program must be satisfactorily completed to receive credit for the workshop.

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Apply The Undergraduate School (TUS) Teaching Guidelines to a hybrid class;
• Plan appropriate activities for both the online and f2f class components of a hybrid course;
• Modify an existing course schedule for a face-to-face or online course to incorporate best practices in hybrid teaching; and
• Communicate expectations to students concerning participation in a hybrid course.

Dates

Monday, June 03-Monday, June 05, 2013 (3 days)

Facilitator

Ryan Shepard, Instruction Librarian and Edward O'Donnell, Instruction Librarian

Description

In this workshop you will learn how to explain the pros and cons of using Google for academic research to your students; see how Google Scholar compares with library subscription databases; learn techniques for using Google's advanced search features and delve into the controversies and opportunities of the Google Books scanning project.

Description

This workshop focuses on helping faculty from all disciplines determine and address the types of difficulties exhibited in student writing. To provide an understanding of the general writing issues faced by students, we will introduce the ways in which writing skill develops in terms of fluency, clarity, and correctness (the ability to produce writing, to present information and knowledge through writing, and to use the conventions of written language).

Through conference discussions and examination of student writing, the workshop will help faculty clarify the various writing issues that students encounter in specific disciplines and within the overall academic context. It will also familiarize faculty with the Effective Writing Center and other available student support services, and will recommend ways for faculty to facilitate their students' effective use of these services.

Using examples of actual student work, we will practice identifying writing issues of fluency, clarity, and correctness, as well as ESL issues. Faculty can bring in samples of writing problems from their students, ranging from the typical to the most difficult issues to handle, and we will model evaluation criteria and feedback strategies for faculty to use in their classrooms.

Description

This online workshop will offer faculty an opportunity to learn Microsoft PowerPoint. The workshop provides a hands-on introduction to the basics of PowerPoint, touching on topics such as effective design, available features, add-ons, and tips and tricks. Participants will be guided on a step-by-step basis through both simple and more sophisticated uses of the application, from using clipart to importing video. This will be an interactive workshop dedicated to bringing UMUC faculty members together to exchange ideas about the effective use of PowerPoint in an instructional environment. Active participation in conferences and submission of a deliverable are required for successful completion of this workshop.

Dates

Monday, June 17-Monday, June 24, 2013 (8 days)

Facilitator

TBD

Description

This workshop will focus on the use of practical instructional design principles that can aid faculty in improving the design of their presentations, conferences, and assignments. Faculty will learn how to adapt some of the techniques used by professional instructional designers and apply them to their own courses. Topics will include understanding the issues involved with producing effective faculty writing, improving step-by-step instructions for assignments, and how to design more effective conferences. Some principles from the Maryland Course Redesign Initiative will also be shared with faculty.

Dates

Monday, June 10-Friday, June 21, 2013 (12 days)

Facilitator

Deborah Hullet, Adjunct Faculty

Description

Do you ever find grading a time consuming or unpleasant task? Do students complain that they don't know how to approach an assignment or dispute their grades? Do you sometimes find that it is difficult to give feedback on certain complex assignments? Rubrics can be an effective answer to these problems.

This workshop, suitable for UMUC faculty members from all divisions and disciplines, will introduce you to the concept of grading rubrics, and how the use of rubrics can benefit both faculty and students. Grading rubrics can make the grading process more effective and more efficient while providing guidelines by which students can approach their work on an assignment and by providing criteria for grading that students will perceive as fair and clearcut. Drawing from research and from the experience of other faculty members, this workshop will demonstrate how rubrics can be created and applied to a wide variety of different assignments. You will have a chance to create an authentic rubric for one of your actual assignments and learn how to use rubrics in conjunction with your WebTycho gradebook. The learning and the practice of this workshop will enable you to easily apply these techniques to other assignments, and transform assessment and grading into a pleasant task for you and a richer learning experience for your students.

Description

This workshop provides an introduction to the principles and practices of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL) with a focus on research in online education. We will explore what it means to be a scholarly teacher and how to conduct SOTL projects of your own while considering real-life case studies in SOTL. Topics include definition of SOTL; how to find SOTL resources on online and hybrid teaching and learning; and the diverse types of evidence of student learning that exist. May be taken as part of SOTL minicertificate or as single workshop.

Dates

Thursday, July 11, 2013 (5:30–10 p.m., dinner at 5 p.m., Academic Center at Largo)

Facilitator

Richard Schumaker

Format

This workshop models best practices in hybrid teaching/learning. As such, it will be delivered as a hybrid course, to include:

1. Online pre-work
2. One three-and-a-half (3 1/2) hour face-to-face (f2f) class with mandatory attendance
3. On-line work to follow the f2f session

Description

This workshop prepares UMUC faculty members from The Undergraduate School to teach hybrid classes effectively by emphasizing the following key aspects of hybrid teaching and learning:

• Apply The Undergraduate School hybrid teaching expectations to a hybrid class
• Communicate guidelines to students concerning hybrid format: participation, interaction, navigation, time management and assessment
• Plan appropriate activities for both the on-line and f2f class components that maximize the effectiveness of each format and best achieve the learning outcomes.
• Modify course syllabus, schedule and class components to incorporate best practices in hybrid teaching

This course contains three components: a small amount of pre-work, a three-and-a-half hour face-to-face workshop, and subsequent online course work, modeling the teaching/learning that will take place in participants' own hybrid classes. All work in this workshop will be directly useful to participants' UMUC teaching assignments, and faculty can begin building their own class within the assignments. All components must be satisfactorily completed to receive credit for the workshop.

This workshop will be held at the Largo auditorium.

Dates

Monday, May 13-Monday, May 20, 2013 (8 days)

Facilitator

Diane Jones-Palm, Collegiate Faculty

Description

New and experienced online instructors alike often remark that online teaching is more time consuming than face-to-face teaching. Many different explanations are given for this. Some faculty members note that the added flexibility in planning, writing, and facilitating online classes can pose problems that require extra work. Others point out that the high volume of student interactivity in an online course leads to additional time needed in the online classroom. This CTL workshop will offer a series of suggestions about how to best manage one's time in the online teaching environment. These suggestions will lead to better time utilization, less stress, and higher quality teaching and learning.

Dates

Monday, May 6, 2013–Monday, May 13, 2013 (8 days)

Facilitator

Penny Ittner, Adjunct Faculty

Description

This workshop is especially relevant to teaching for UMUC because four out of five undergraduate students enrolled at UMUC work full time: their median age is 32 years old-- compared to 21 years for all other University System of Maryland institutions. Adult learners have specific characteristics, motivations, and learning styles. This one-week workshop will focus on the needs and characteristics of the adult learners. Through an interactive format this workshop will explore the characteristic, learning concepts, and assessment strategies for adult learners.

Description

This workshop focuses on how to create media enhancements to complement your WebTycho classroom, with an emphasis on meeting course learning outcomes. Several simple, low-threshold technologies are introduced, all available free of charge to faculty, including Impatica for PowerPoint, audio, screen capture, and video. The facilitators will demonstrate samples of diverse modes of multimedia and explain how to create each. Each week, participants will have the opportunity to create real-life applications and receive expert feedback on their work.

Dates

Monday, May 20-Monday, May 27, 2013 (8 days)

Facilitator

Leasa Perkins, Adjunct Faculty

Description

This online workshop will offer faculty an opportunity to learn Microsoft PowerPoint. The workshop provides a hands-on introduction to the basics of PowerPoint, touching on topics such as effective design, available features, add-ons, and tips and tricks. Participants will be guided on a step-by-step basis through both simple and more sophisticated uses of the application, from using clipart to importing video. This will be an interactive workshop dedicated to bringing UMUC faculty members together to exchange ideas about the effective use of PowerPoint in an instructional environment. Active participation in conferences and submission of a deliverable are required for successful completion of this workshop.

Description

The goal of this workshop is to introduce faculty to two resources for self-review of their courses and teaching—the Quality Matters rubric for evaluating and guiding course design, and the UMUC Expectations documents—that can be utilized for the improvement of their own courses.

With the assistance of the workshop facilitators trained in Quality Matters, faculty will evaluate their own classes based on the QM design principles. Using these in conjunction with the UMUC Expectations documents, they will arrive at a plan for improving the design and interaction in their classes. As part of their practice, faculty will give feedback to their colleagues and evaluate a sample class. Faculty will work in small groups, based on their discipline and teaching delivery method.

Description

This Refresher Workshop will focus on the technical and pedagogical aspects of the WebTycho gradebook. You'll have the opportunity to learn some tips for effective organization of the gradebook as well as a chance to engage in hands-on practice. Reinforcement of basic instructions will be provided via multimedia modules that lead you through the process step-by-step. This Refresher Workshop is suitable for faculty from all divisions who have already successfully completed the basic three-week training, CTLU101 Effective Undergraduate Teaching at UMUC. If you have ever had any questions about using the Gradebook in your class, have encountered difficulties in manipulating its tools, or simply never had any formal training in its use, this workshop is for you!

Dates

Monday, June 10-Monday, June 17, 2013 (12 days)

Facilitator

Richard Powers, Collegiate Faculty

Description

Designed to assist UMUC instructors in working more effectively with military learners, this workshop will address teaching in the context of both face to face (whether in the US or overseas)and online classes—those with primarily military learners or a mix of civilian and military. Administrative and pedagogical best practices of teaching military learners will be explored, along with protocols for teaching on military installations and expectations for faculty. An important segment of this workshop will cover special issues associated with military learners, including returning and wounded veterans, and teaching downrange.

Description

This online workshop is designed to acquaint faculty with Wimba Voice Tools and Live Classroom, two suites of Internet tools that can be used synchronously or asynchronously. Wimba Voice Tools allow faculty to present and annotate content with audio through Voice Discussion Boards, Voice Presentations, Podcasts, Voice E-Mail, Voice Direct Meetings, and Voice Recorded Messages. Wimba Live Classroom allows faculty to hold synchronous meetings that can be archived for future viewing. Faculty can present and annotate content on an electronic White Board, conduct interactive polls, and share applications.

This workshop focuses on effectively integrating Wimba Voice Tools and Live Classroom features into UMUC courses and the WebTycho classroom. The workshop will provide many opportunities for hands-on practice using all of the tools. Faculty will have the opportunity to examine pedagogical uses of Wimba tools across disciplines and to create content for their own courses using Wimba tools.

The workshop is comprised of approximately 5-10 hours of participation time, depending on skill level and experience using Wimba or similar tools.

The workshop may be used toward the Technology Mastery requirement for the CTL Advanced Workshop Certificate.

Description

This advanced Wimba workshop is intended for faculty who are already familiar with and have been using the Live Classroom interface. In this workshop faculty will have the opportunity to extend their content management skills in Live Classroom. Faculty will learn how to integrate multimedia into their Live Classroom lectures and discussions. Faculty will also have the opportunity to practice application sharing. Through these methods faculty will be able to extend their use of Live Classroom beyond text-based chat, PowerPoint, and voice.

The workshop is comprised of approximately 5-10 hours of participation time, depending on skill level and experience using Wimba or similar tools.

The workshop may be used toward the Technology Mastery requirement for the CTL Advanced Workshop Certificate.