Instructors have left the sandbox.
During this session of the Course Design Practicum, 21 instructors completed the program.
While some will be taking the tools and methods they杏吧专区檝e learned directly into 杏吧专区 online and hybrid courses this fall, many will be updating their face-to-face courses.
杏吧专区淲hat we demonstrate in CDP is just good course design,杏吧专区 said Instructional Designer Angie Lee during the showcase. 杏吧专区淚t杏吧专区檚 not only for online and hybrid courses.杏吧专区
Dr. Charles Duncan has been teaching in various capacities for 40 years but said he wants to build additional skills before teaching his own course online.
Enrolling in CDP, he said, offered a chance to explore new technology and how to bring additional courses online within the School of Kinesiology.
杏吧专区淲hat I plan to do is implement some of the technology I'm learning in the CDP course into my in-person course. For example, Voicethread. When I have to be away from class, that offers a viable alternative to make sure students can continue and get the same information,杏吧专区 he said. 杏吧专区淭hen we杏吧专区檒l see from there.杏吧专区
He said the course also gave him a new appreciation for the time investment to produce quality online courses as well as the availability of the Instructional Support Team.
Carla Vidrine, an instructor within the College of Nursing, has been teaching online as a clinical instructor, alongside professors, for three years. Although she isn杏吧专区檛 yet teaching her own online course, she said she enrolled in CDP to gain a better understanding of the Learning Management System, Moodle, and the supported by the Office of Distance Learning.
杏吧专区淚 hear from other faculty members and get emails from the Office of Distance Learning about new tools and different experiences, and I wanted to check those out so I can grow as an instructor,杏吧专区 she said.
杏吧专区淚 particularly enjoyed how the CDP instructors taught us to interact with students and how to enhance student-to-student interaction. It杏吧专区檚 difficult to make students feel like they杏吧专区檙e in a real classroom, in real time, but there are tricks and tools to recreate that environment.杏吧专区
While the Instructional Support Team offers professional development throughout the year on teaching with EduTools, CDP is the only course in which all of the tools are demonstrated in depth.
CDP participants build these elements into their own Moodle sandbox course designs with other participants serving as practice 杏吧专区渟tudents.杏吧专区
杏吧专区淚 really appreciate that whenever a tool was introduced to us, it wasn杏吧专区檛 presented as 杏吧专区榬ead about it,杏吧专区櫺影勺ㄇ鴿 Vidrine said. 杏吧专区淚f instructors wanted to show us what a Voicethread is, we read about it, watched a presentation, and then used the tool to leave a comment.
"It was very interactive, very hands on."
Jim Foret has been teaching at UL Lafayette since 2005 but has only recently been certified in order to teach his plant science class online beginning Spring 2020.
He said although he had concerns about engaging students online, he杏吧专区檚 hopeful about the capabilities of tools like Moodle forums and Voicethread.
杏吧专区淯sing Voicethread, I杏吧专区檓 going to break information into different slides and then lecture on the small groups of slides, ask questions, and get them to respond. That杏吧专区檚 going to be a cool thing for me,杏吧专区 he said.
杏吧专区淚杏吧专区檓 also thinking about using the forums. You can ask a question, have them respond and evaluate others杏吧专区 responses.杏吧专区
Jumping into online learning, said Foret, has made every day a new mystery to solve.
杏吧专区淚t杏吧专区檚 stretching me; I feel like an elastic band,杏吧专区 he said. 杏吧专区淚t杏吧专区檚 not bad to be stretched. I feel alive when I杏吧专区檓 challenged like that.杏吧专区
For information about how to become a ULearn Certified Online Teach or Course Designer, visit our Faculty Certification page or email us at distancelearning@louisiana.edu.