Upcoming Instructional Design Workshops

Below is the Fall 2012 Instructional Design Workshop Schedule. Feel free to attend as many as you can even if it's just for the free food! (Although I will hope that it is for the enriching information you will receive and ideas you will share ;)). Please e-mail me the workshops that you will attend at lmm88@drexel.edu. Please bring your laptop with you if possible. I hope to see you there!

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Workshop 1 - The Fundamentals of an Online Course:
Content, Community, & Discussion

focus: course content
learning objectives: By the end of this workshop faculty will be able to:

1.     create an exercise focused on building community in an online course

2.     identify a variety of ways to present course content that engages different learning styles

3.     create, facilitate and assess robust online discussions

date: Wed., Oct. 24^th
time: 12:00-1:30
place: PSA 115

Workshop 2 - Building and Assessing Active
and Collaborative Learning

focus: course design
learning objectives: By the end of this workshop faculty will be able to:

1.     design an online collaborative project

2.     design an active learning exercise

3.     identify and develop different styles of assessments

date: Thursday, Nov. 1^st
time: 3:30-5:00

place: PSA 114

Workshop 3 - Integrating Media and Web 2.0 Tools

focus: course content
learning objectives: By the end of this workshop faculty will be able to:

1.     identify different online resources for media course content

2.     recognize how to stream videos from the library through Blackboard

3.     identify different Web 2.0 tools and describe how they could be used in a class

date: Tues., Nov. 6th

time: 12:30-2:00

place: PSA 115

Workshop 4 - A Second Look at Online Learning:
Building or Redesigning your Online Course

focus: course design
learning objectives: By the end of this workshop faculty will be able to:

1.     identify the steps to designing a course

2.     discuss major differences between face-to-face and online courses

3.     discuss the importance of presence and communication in an online environment

date: Thursday, Oct. 18th

time: 3:30-5:00
place: PSA 114

Let's Get Talking!

Now that we are a few weeks into the fall semester, it’s a good time to take a moment to think about how you can continue strong communication with your students beyond the first week or two of welcome and orientation messages. Students who feel like they have a direct line of communication with the professor and are listened to are much more engaged and excited to participate in an online class.  It is extremely important to the students to know that you are active and present in the course and that they know what your expectations are for online discussions, assignment submissions etc.  Here are a few simple tips to keep lines of communication open.

·      In the first few weeks it is critical to let the students know

o   how you have set up the site

o   how they can navigate through the content

o   how they can get technical help

There is a link to Bb tutorials for students on the login page (http://drexel.edu/irt/coursetools/toolList/learn/student/tutorials/) and once they are logged into Blackboard there is a “Tech Support” link with many different resources for students. Making sure students know about this before there is a problem can be a great time saver for both you and them if a problem ever arises.

·      As the semester progresses, continue to use the announcement feature to do weekly overviews and wrap-ups.

·      Keep you calendar up-to-date and notify students of any changes that occur.

·      Let students know how often they should post to the discussion board and be sure to participate in the discussions yourself by providing feedback, insight and guidance to the students. A good rule of thumb for you is to post a minimum of 3-4 times. Some professors prefer to respond to each studen's' post individually.

·      Be clear about how quickly you will respond to student e-mails—a response within 24 hours is a recommended best practice.

·      It is also helpful to let students know when to expect feedback from you on things like exams or written assignments.

If you have additional tips or tricks that you use in your courses please share them in the comments area!

Happy Communicating!