One in four students take some of their courses online, and two-thirds do so at a public institution in the same state where they live (Allen, Seaman, Pouline, & Straut, 2016; Allen & Seaman, 2017). This past spring, those numbers increased dramatically when the world turned upside down.
In early November, UMBC celebrates National Distance Learning Week (NDLW) with a series of lunchtime conversations. Our theme, Surviving to Thriving: Rocking the New Normal, celebrates all the successes and challenges our campus community has experienced as we continue to adapt, teach, and learn together during the pandemic. Topics include:
Care & Feeding of Your eLearning Community: Faculty & Students Together
Teaching and learning online can make everyone feel a little isolated, especially in today’s world of social distancing. With faculty and students separated, how do we create and maintain community? While you and your students might not be in the same physical space, there are some strategies you can use to build community and increase motivation.
Beyond Blank Screens: Designing Webinars for Interactivity
Although web conferencing tools offer many opportunities to synchronously meet with your students, the experience is not quite a perfect match for the classroom experience. The rhythm of the conversation enhances and expands the interaction between students and instructors. While web conferencing tools support video for visual engagement, not all students want to be on camera. When faced with blank screens, how do we design our live sessions to maximize interactivity?
The 3 Cs of Online Learning: Communicate, Collaborate, Connect
Earlier this year, EDUCAUSE surveyed graduating seniors who reported on what worked and what didn’t during remote instruction. As incoming college/university first-year students, they outlined what they hope their professors will do this fall and how they hope to become effective online students. While students craved structure and engagement, they also wanted clarity and flexibility. What does this mean for you as an online instructor?
Impact of OER on Student Access During Remote Instruction
In the Spring of 2020 the University System of Maryland surveyed faculty across the state to understand the extent to which they believed open educational resources (OER) did or could have improved students’ access to instructional materials and eased their transition to emergency remote teaching in response to COVID-19. Join our panel of OER adopters to learn more about how they’ve used OER before and after remote instruction, finding quality materials, and helping students easily access online materials.
GO Chat: The Future of eLearning at UMBC
Online learning provides flexible opportunities to students who cannot come to campus. As UMBC invests in technology, support, outreach, and professional development, we’re faced with an important question about the future of e-Learning: Is COVID-19 merely a temporary distraction or a disruptive innovation? Join our closing roundtable for an active conversation about the future of online learning at UMBC.
From active learning and engagement to live instruction and asynchronous lecture capture, join us to discover and share the many ways e-learning has changed our teaching and learning practices.
Can't make these National Distance Learning Week sessions? Bookmark this post for updates about other virtual events!
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References
Allen, I. E., Seaman, J., Poulin, R., & Straut, T. T. (2016). Online report card: Tracking online education in the United States. Oakland, CA: Babson Survey Research Group. Retrieved from http://onlinelearningsurvey.com/reports/onlinereportcard.pdf
Allen, I. E., & Seaman, J. (2017). Digital learning compass: Distance education enrollment report 2017. Oakland, CA: Babson Survey Research Group. Retrieved from http://onlinelearningsurvey.com/reports/digtiallearningcompassenrollment2017.pdf
The UMBC Instructional Technology Update is provided by the Division of Information Technology for students, faculty and staff. If you have questions or need help, please consult the Blackboard Help FAQs or directly at www.umbc.edu/blackboard/help. You can also contact the Technology Support Center at 410.455.3838 or submit an RT (Request Tracker) ticket via the myUMBC Help Menu or directly at my.umbc.edu/help.
HEADLINES
What’s New
UMBC faculty on a mission to prepare robust, high-quality online classes for fall
New PIVOT Site Launched for Faculty Professional Development
Recommended Template Language for Inclusion in Syllabi on Blackboard for Fall 2020
Academic Continuity
May 4-8 & August 10-14 PIVOT Live webinar recordings available [myUMBC login req’d]
Training & Professional Development (view all events)
Start of Semester Faculty Sprint: August 21
Essentials Series: VoiceThread, Panopto, Bb Original
Skill Builder Series: Collaborate, Ultra
Webex (Basics, Advanced, Teams, Events) & Virtual Desktop Environment
Other DoIT News
As always, if you have any questions, please consider the following options:
Academic Continuity | Keep On Teaching | Student Technology Resources
Follow the Instructional Technology & DoIT myUMBC groups
Request a consult with instructional technology staff
Blackboard course shells for FA2020 were created on July 27, 2020.
NOTE: In recognition of the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing social distancing practices, UMBC’s fall session will mostly be online with some exceptions. Please review the Fall 2020 Course Information and these resources to prepare:
About FA2020 Course Shells
Course development shells were created for faculty to prepare earlier this summer. Content can be copied from those development shells into the production sites where student enrollments are populated.
The Ultra Course Preview setting is again enabled in FA2020 courses to allow faculty adoption with anupdated support schedule of Ultra (see prior announcement). The Ultra Course Preview tool allows faculty to convert an existing Original course and see what it looks like in Ultra.
Ally, an accessibility tool, is also enabled in all course shells as of last summer. Ally automatically scans uploaded and created course content, then performs a series of steps to make that content more accessible. Please review the Ally FAQs for more information about the accessibility indicators on course content and alternative formats.
Instructors who teach multiple sections of the same course will find those enrollments merged into one Bb course shell. These sections may be split upon request by an RT ticket, which we recommend submitting at least one week before the semester starts, if not as soon as courses are created in Blackboard.
Student enrollment in Bb mirrors the official registration in SA and updates hourly. However, courses are not accessible to students by default until the instructor of record makes them available.
As always, if you have any questions, please consider the following options:
Based on higher than expected turnout for last week’s prototype of the Planning Instructional Technology for Online Teaching (PIVOT) Live webinars, DoIT is offering a monthly repeat of the five 60-minute webinars in five days approach on the following dates (up to 100 people can participate, but registration via myUMBC is required).
July 20 to 24 at 10 a.m. (canceled)
The PIVOT webinars will include the following topics:
Organizing & Designing an Online Course
Active Learning Strategies
Engaging Students & Building Online Community
Reconceptualizing Online Assessments
Supporting Students and Monitoring Progress
As a reminder, last week’s webinars on these topics were recorded and available on the original announcement and DoIT’s Academic Continuity site (a PIVOT site is also under development). The recordings will also be paired with key instructional technology FAQs to form the basis of PIVOT Solo, which is designed as a totally asynchronous, self-paced to enable a more deliberate approach to online teaching than was the case in Spring 2020.
Last week’s turnout for the first prototype of the PIVOT webinars included the following:
We had 1,030 registrations with 764 attendees for one or more sessions (72 people attended all 5 sessions and accounted for 360 attendees).
There were 263 unique participants during the week, 122 of whom are teaching this summer, which was our most pressing need.
To date, we've received 100 survey responses from the 263, and 77% rated the webinars as helpful, 8% not-helpful.
As discipline-specific or cohort-based plans develop within Colleges, DoIT will use the PIVOT webinars & PIVOT Solo “playlists” to support such groups, which will inform the synchronous and asynchronous approach of PIVOT + that was previously announced.
In addition to new monthly offerings of PIVOT during the summer, DoIT’s Instructional Technology team has also announced focused training in Blackboard Essentials, Collaborate, Panopto, and VoiceThread, which were popular topics throughout the week. To learn more, visit DoIT’s training site at doit.umbc.edu/training.
As always, if you have any questions, please consider the following options:
Academic Continuity | Keep On Teaching | Student Technology Resources
Follow the Instructional Technology & DoIT myUMBC groups
Request a consult with instructional technology staff