Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning

Online Teaching and Other Training Opportunities

August 2020: Your Stearns Center team has created a new set of resource pages to support faculty teaching in Fall 2020 and Spring 2021. This includes a new page for webinars and trainings. The information on this page is still accurate but will not be updated after August 10, 2020.

Online Teaching and Other Training Opportunities

Webinars

A variety of webinars will be provided throughout Summer 2020 to support and enhance online teaching. Webinars will be 75-minutes with some availability for facilitated Q&A at the end; webinars will be offered once and recorded sessions will be available for those unable to attend. Recording links will be published on this page following the live sessions.

Please register for the development opportunities using the registration links below.

  • Using Zoom in Synchronous Online Teaching: Aligning Teaching Strategies to Enhance Class Engagement: This webinar will focus on using Zoom to enhance your hybrid or online class’ engagement by exploring key features and settings from teaching strategies perspectives, including the use of whiteboards, polls, and breakout rooms. The webinar will cover synchronous collaboration using text, audio, and video. The team will also review how to integrate a doc camera using Zoom. Note: This webinar does not review creating or setting-up your Zoom account. To create a Zoom account, review the ITS Service Catalog: Zoom page.
  • Strategies for Facilitating Your Online Course: In this session, participants will be introduced to the tools and strategies used to facilitate learning in the online classroom. Practices such as establishing instructor presence, providing effective feedback, and monitoring asynchronous learning will be discussed, providing faculty with the confidence they need to begin facilitating their online courses.
  • Creating Media for Your Online Course: In this session, participants will learn about options for creating and leveraging media elements for learning in the online environment, including DIY video, screencasts, narrated lectures, and graphics. We will also cover best practices and resources for copyright and accessibility when incorporating media into your course.
  • Managing Your Blackboard Course: In this session, participants will learn how to leverage Blackboard tools to effectively organize their courses, communicate with students, analyze student behavior and performance, and provide rich opportunities for discussion and collaboration.
  • Designing Compelling Synchronous Sessions: This session focuses on remote synchronous sessions with students. Participants will learn about different ways to leverage synchronous sessions to maximize student engagement and learning, including best practices for preparing for, facilitating, and following up on a synchronous session.

Online Teaching Strategies Course

  • The Online Teaching Strategies incorporates evidence-based online practices in a facilitated, 4-week session. By the end of this course, those new to the online teaching environment should feel better prepared and confident to enter the world of online teaching. Those with some experience online should come away with tips and learning strategies to improve student learning and retention.
  • This training experience includes:
    • Overview of online learning research-based principles on how students learn
    • Review of the community of inquiry model and its relevance to the online learning environment
    • Strategies for establishing presence and keeping students motivated, providing effective feedback, monitoring and assessing learning, and facilitating online discussions
    • Suggestions for synchronous learning
    • Management techniques to achieve work/life balance, dealing with challenge situations, and legal/ethical issues
    • Collaboration and group discussions with other faculty
  • Dates:
    • July 13 – August 9 Registration is full for this session
    • August 10 – September 6 Registration is full for this session