TA Training in Online Instruction

Course Information

Dates: June 4 - 10, 2017
Location: This is a fully online course. All activities and interaction will occur online.
Online Conference Times: There will be two online synchronous conferences via Blackboard Collaborate Ultra, the first on Wednesday and the second on Friday. Time TBA.

Course description

Welcome to TA Training in Online Instruction, a graduate instructor development course in the College of Letters & Science and sponsored by the Graduate School, L&S Learning Support Services, and DoIT Academic Technology.

TA Training in Online Instruction is designed to provide information related to pedagogical, logistical and technical aspects of teaching online. This course will help you prepare yourself, your course, and your students to participate in a successful online teaching and learning experience.

When it comes to teaching, most graduate students see themselves as falling into one of the following categories:

• You are a face-to-face instructor but have used a Learning Management Software (like Canvas) in your face-to-face class,
• You’ve completed one of the other faculty development courses offered by the university and now you’re ready for something more,
• Your department is moving courses and programs into the online environment, or
• You’ve taught online courses at other institutions and you think to yourself, “Teaching online? Yeah, I’ve got this!”

Whichever category you fall into, I feel that this course has something to offer you.

In TA Training in Online Instruction, you will essentially wear two hats: one of the student and one of the instructor. As a student, you will log on to the course, attend sessions, engage in discussions with peers, and complete assignments related to online teaching and course facilitation. You will wear your 'instructor hat' when you begin taking what you have learned and applying it into your own online course. There are many strategies for online instruction that we will cover throughout this week and this will at times it can feel a bit overwhelming. But don't worry if you don't catch everything this week. Teaching is an iterative process. Be mindful of what you think you can use, and pay especially close attention to the resources and websites that are recommended. That way when you're in the midst of teaching, you know where to go for help. Also, feel free to return to this course, and rummage around for information.

Our hope in this class is not only to supply you with a sample of the wealth of information related to online teaching but to consistently model different online teaching strategies and tools so you can decide what works best for your class. I also hope that being in the student’s seat this week will give you further insight into the design and class tone you hope to achieve as an instructor.

This course is taught as a fully online course, and I am here to answer your questions, help guide you as you build your course, and will continue to be at your disposal when you “go live.” 

This course is being taught using the learning management system called Instructure Canvas (or simply Canvas), and is organized in modules (units of content and assignments). As your online instructor, I will help guide you through the course. Please let us know if there is anything that I can do to ensure your success.

Also, remember that we all learn from each other. We are all a part of the University of Wisconsin's online community and are coming to this course with many different skill sets. I hope to create an active, supportive community this week and hope that you will make contacts here that will be with you for years to come.

What this course is and what it is not:

This Course is designed to help TA's facilitate a course. This is a marked difference from creating course. As such this course will not focus as heavily on course design or course creation.  That said, this course is for your benefit. I am more than happy to field any design or course creation questions during office hours, during our two online conferences, or via direct consultation.

Furthermore, if you are interested in learning more about course creation, there are many resources available to you from UW-Madison.

• Canvas Instructor Course
• TeachOnline (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
• Design + Teach + Engage
• Blend@UW
• Teaching with Technology

Course objectives

In this course, you will:

• Consider best strategies in online pedagogy
  • Reflect on your existing teaching strategies and adapt to the online medium
  • Create web-based content for your online course based on your learner outcomes.
  • Create assignments and activities for your online course based on your learner outcomes.
  • Develop an assessment strategy for your online course based on your learner outcomes.
  • Assemble grading criteria for your online course based on your learner outcomes and your assessment strategy.
• Explore different types of online instructional materials
  • Learn how to use a variety of tools within the Canvas learning management system, and those that can be integrated into Canvas (such as Kaltura or Google Apps)
• Identify interactive and effective activities , and plan for how you might incorporate such activities into your own course.
  • Develop course delivery strategies
• Create effective course management strategies
  • Develop a set of protocols related to course tools ( e.g., e-mail, discussions) designed as guidelines to help your online course run smoothly.
  • Develop instructional strategies to address course and time management issues.
  • Devise a strategy for implementing learner support in your online course.

Required text

There is no required textbook for this course. Supplemental readings (often provided as web links) are included as appropriate within the content.

Course Requirements & Grading

Upon the successful completion of TA Training in Online Instruction participants will receive a payment of $500 and certification of your ability deliver online courses. 

Successful Completion is defined as the following: A successful participant will . . .

• Complete online readings, activities, and assignments
• Participate actively in online small group discussions
• Attend at least on synchronous online conference (though you are encouraged to attend both)
• Complete all daily surveys (Day 1-4), and the final Course Survey (Day 5)
• Achieve a grade of at least 90%

This course is based on a pass/fail point system. All activities are due the day of their assignment (ex. all Day 2 activities should be completed on Tuesday, June 5). Due date are suggestions, not requirements and there is no penalty for late assignments. Due dates are in place to help you get the most out of the class, and participate fully informed of the content being reviewed.

The only hard deadline is 11:59 pm CDT, Saturday, June 10, 2017, which is when the course closes. You must have everything completed by then to get both the $500 and certificate. 

Course Structure

This web based course includes daily online content, assignments, and interactions with your instructor. 

Daily Content

Each day there are online readings and assignments to complete on your own. Each day of online content includes the following:

• Daily Overview of objectives and daily topics
• Online Teaching Practice which contains primarily pedagogical content aligned to daily objectives
• Technology section that is primarily focused on course technology and logistics. Frequently contains significant pedagogical exploration of technology and potential uses in your online course
• Activities that align to daily learning objectives and allow you opportunity to actively explore what you've just read about.
• Wrap-up that explores what has been covered and looks forward to rest of course. Also contains office hours and required surveys.

Online Teaching Journal

Each day you will complete an online journal activity. The journal offers reflective questions about teaching online. During and after you read and view the content in each online module, use this journal to record your reactions, responses, ideas, concerns, and solutions.

This journal is is for your own benefit. Use it to catalog ideas and thoughts that are of personal relevance. Please write your responses in a way that will be useful to you later as you begin to teach online. In other words write for you and not for me.

Surveys

This is a pilot course, and as such we really need additional data in order to grow and develop this material for future iterations. Therefore, YOUR feedback is essential for the success of this program. At the end of each day there will be a short survey for you to complete. These survey's should not take long to complete, but as they are so important, they are mandatory.

Course Expectations

Additional information to assist you in successfully completing this course is located in Course Expectations.

Disability/Accessibility Statement

The University of Wisconsin is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for all persons with disabilities. Participants with disabilities who need accommodations in this course should contact the instructor at the beginning of the week to discuss needed accommodations.

Academic honesty

Plagiarism and Cheating of any kind on an examination, quiz, or assignment will result at least in an "F" for that assignment (and may, depending on the severity of the case, lead to an "F" for the entire course) and may be subject to appropriate referral to the Office of Student Conduct for further action. I will assume for this course that you will adhere to the academic creed of the University of Wisconsin and will maintain the highest standards of academic integrity. In other words, don't cheat by giving answers to others or taking them from anyone else. I will also adhere to the highest standards of academic integrity, so please do not ask me to change (or expect me to change) your grade illegitimately or to bend or break rules for one person that will not apply to everyone.