Making a Frenemy into a Friend

Situation

I'm taking 3 courses this semester and the layout for every course is different, making it hard to find things when I need them. Every syllabus is located in different places (rarely under the Syllabus tab), Zoom links are in several different places even one course uses Microsoft Teams. Only one professor records lectures and puts them online.

Why do I have to remember different paths to find the basics that I need to complete these courses?

• Log into Mentimeter - details next slide
• Rank the statements - sliding scale (0 not important -10 important)

Sound Familiar?

What can teaching faculty do to ensure Teresa's successful semester?

Faculty Know Best How to Design their Course

Challenge #1

• Faculty Training
• Student Experiences

throughout this session 'faculty' 'teaching faculty' and 'instructors' are  used interchangeably

123 fall 2020/ spring 2021 Rapid Training Workshops, 541 tenured & non tenured attended (from 3000 teaching faculty) University of Miami

113 biology faculty surveyed nationwide 40% remained untrained in ERT as of August 2020 (62% of research-intensive university faculty had received no training)

Problems: time & budget constraints, systemic adjunctification & little to no professional development

2015 Boston College faculty: 26% (432) never attend training, 40% unlikely

 Problems with course design, wifi bandwidth, technology expectations (Voice of the Online Learner: Wiley 2021)

Time management, bigger workload, increased anxiety

(InsideHigherEd.com/Student-Voice 2021)

Inconsistency across courses, programs & edtech tools, more flexibility & teacher presence, overloaded with tech and coursework (UM Student Focus Groups 2021)

Carmen Common Sense: Tips for Instructors to use the LMS  effectively - students @ Ohio State University 2019

• accessible content
• teacher presence
• community
• thoughtful edtech use
• flexibility
• rubrics
• consistency across courses

Helpful

• inconsistent course design
• non-standardized courses
• non-transparent grading
• edtech tools with little purpose

Your online teaching training experience (faculty, instructor, tech staff, ID etc)

Share one experience with your neighbor: good or bad

What would you do differently now?

Templates Erode Academic Creativity

Challenge #2

Showcase course

I really prefer when professors take the time to organize their course. It makes it much easier to find assignments, videos, materials, etc. ... (student survey Wake Forest University 2021)

When a templated course design works

UOnline Graduate Program

University of Miami Division of Continuing & International Education

It's been a busy two years

• layout aids in efficiency for instructors & student help desks
• easier to update/revise existing courses
• increases content creativity
• fosters student success

Course Standardization

• enrollment policies & engagement requirements influences design
• stakeholder buy-in
• faculty training & development
• cookie cutter image
• unsuitable for some courses

Standardization is a Frenemy

Challenge #3

But you can sway it in your favor

Boost Freedom Set Limits

Pre-written syllabus templates

Pre-established course templates: accessible & inclusive

Rubrics for transparency, improved grading practices, inclusion

 Focus on layout not content design

Remember Teresa?

3 courses = 3 different layouts and design, feeling overloaded and frustrated