Teaching Online @DU
Quarterly Updates for Online Instructors
In This Update
Teaching Online Workshop (TOW)

The next TOW session begins this summer and will be offered via the Canvas platform. If it has been awhile since you completed the workshop, and you would like to take it again or participate as a "lurker," please email Ryan Shiba at  

 

This email update is for instructors who have completed the Teaching Online Workshop. Please take a few minutes to review the latest news and updates about online learning at DU.
The Successful Online Learner

Not all students have taken an online course, so it is important we help them understand how online courses work and help them be successful online learners.

 

The Office of Teaching & Learning (OTL) created a resource page for students that includes  an "Online Readiness Assessment" to help students understand their level of preparedness for online courses. Please share this resource with your online students and encourage them to take the readiness assessment, especially if they are new to online learning. 

Transitioning to Canvas

As you probably know by now, DU is adopting Canvas as its new learning management system after a very successful Winter/Spring 2014 pilot. This cloud-based system created by Instructure, Inc. promises to meet the expanding needs of DU faculty and students for a truly robust and reliable web-based learning platform to support teaching and learning. Over the next year, DU will transition from Blackboard to Canvas.
 
To support the transition, the Office of Teaching and Learning (OTL) will offer workshops, open labs, and one-on-one consultations. To get started, you are also encouraged to review the following resources.
 
1.  The online DU Canvas Instructor Tutorial is self-paced and designed to familiarize instructors with the basic need-to-know tools and features of Canvas.
 
2. The online Canvas Guides provide step-by-step user instructions for a variety of Canvas tasks, as well as a search feature for quick answers to commonly asked Canvas questions. 
 
We have one year (through Spring 2015) to complete the transition from Blackboard to Canvas. Blackboard content may be migrated into Canvas on a course by course basis, however, not all content will display perfectly. Hence, instructors will likely need to refine migrated content or want to redesign their courses in Canvas to take advantage of its module-based structure and new features. OTL staff will be available to help with this process.  

   

Please contact us right away if you are interested in using Canvas for your Summer course. 

Exam Proctoring for Online Courses

If you are thinking about requiring proctored exams in your online course, it is important to let your students know about this requirement before your course begins.  Please contact Kathy Keairns right away if you need help with proctoring options.

Teaching Online @DU Learning Community
Our Teaching Online @DU Learning Community (TOLC) meetings are the 2nd Friday of every month from 9-10:30 in the OTL conference room. Our next meeting is this Friday, May 9, 2014. 

Last month, we had a virtual meeting via Adobe Connect that included an opportunity to experiment with VoiceThread. Watch or contribute to the Teaching 
Online VoiceThread to learn how instructors are using VoiceThread in their classes.

Please email Kathy Keairns at [email protected] if you would like to be added to the TOLC mailing list.   


Student course evaluation questions for online courses

As you know, it is now possible to add questions to your  student course evaluations. Below are the questions we recommend adding to online courses.caf_-laptop-people.jpg

  1. The instructor was active in the online classroom (including personal feedback and general course guidance).

  2. The course provided opportunities for me to be actively involved in my learning.

We will send a reminder to all instructors teaching online courses each quarter with more information.

  

Teaching Online @ DU Resources
 

More about all of the above, as well as additional resources about online learning, can be found on the Faculty Page of the Teaching Online Portfolio.

Thank you for being a part of our Teaching Online Community!
 
Sincerely,
 
Kathy, Kim, and Ryan
OTL Online Course Design Team
University of Denver
University of Denver. Office of Teaching and Learning. Anderson Academic Commons Suite 350.
Phone: 303-871-2084  Email: [email protected] 
Website
:
http://otl.du.edu