Distance Education

“Is Teaching DE Right for you?” Informational Session, April 17, 2013

The DE Informational Session, “Is Teaching Distance Education Right for You?” will be held on April 17, 2013 at 3:30 p.m. in the Presentation Room of the Office of Admissions.  If you are unable to attend, a recording of the session will be posted on this page approximately two weeks after the session.  If you are a faculty member interested in teaching online at the College of Charleston, please consider attending.

In order to teach an online course for the Spring and Summer semesters of 2014, interested faculty members will need to complete certain requirements set forth by Academic Affairs.

In order to teach a Distance Education course, faculty will need to meet the requirements and expectations set forth by Academic Affairs. These requirements help ensure that CofC faculty are providing quality online courses to students.

There are mandatory training requirements for faculty who plan to teach an online course.  Please carefully note the following requirements:

• All faculty need to be competent with the OAKS Learning Management System. As a result, all faculty will need to complete the OAKS Self-Assessment Checklist in order to show mastery (see below for more details). Faculty must use OAKS for their online courses.

• All faculty must complete the necessary training that includes one of the following:

  • Faculty DE Readiness course (fully online course) offered by Teaching, Learning and Technology. As a result, faculty will need to complete the DE Training Application in order to register for the course.  (see below for more information)
  • Distance Education training at another Institution (Academic Affairs will independently verify training).

Faculty Training Requirements offered by Teaching, Learning and Technology:

Participants will:

• Complete the OAKS Self-Assessment Checklist by August 2, 2013.  Faculty teaching a fully online are required to use OAKS. (Please note: The self-assessment checklist will be sent to you once your training application has been approved – June 2013).
  • You can start to learn the tools by reviewing step-by step instructions at http://blogs.cofc.edu/oaks.
  • You should get started by learning the following OAKS tools:
    • Content
    • Gradebook
    • Classlist
    • News
    • Discussion
    • Dropbox
    • Calendar
    • Checklist
    • Quizzes
• Complete the Faculty DE Readiness course via OAKS offered by Teaching, Learning and Technology. You will need to register for the course via the DE Training Application by May 3, 2013 (see below for more details). The course will start September 3, 2013 and last until November 5, 2013. The week of fall break is observed. Successful completion is required to teach a DE course. Faculty teaching in the Spring 2014 will have priority registration.
  • Expect to dedicate 5-7 hours per week on average outside of your normal workload. Please note that this time will vary depending upon your experience with teaching online.
  • All coursework will need to be completed in order to teach online.
  • General topics for the DE Course are:
    • Orientation and Getting Started with Online Learning Module
    • Module 1: Course Planning
    • Module 2: Content Design
    • Module 3: Content Delivery
    • Module 4: Community
    • Module 5: Communication
    • Module 6: Activities
    • Wrap-up Module
  • Participate in an educational-technology needs assessment with the designated Instructional Technologist during the Fall 2013 semester. This assessment will match the faculty’s instructional learning objectives, goals, and activities with recommended technology tools/applications that can be supported by the College.

Training Application Information

Please complete the DE Training application by May 3, 2013. You will be notified by in June if you’re accepted into the Fall 2013 Faculty DE Readiness Course. You can access the application by clicking the link below:

• DE Training Application: http://goo.gl/BTs1p

Please note that after you submit this application, it will be sent to your department chair for approval.

Important Dates

Please note the important dates below. If you have any questions, please contact your instructional technologist or email tlt@cofc.edu.

Faculty Facilitator Program

With the support of Academic Affairs, Teaching, Learning and Technology has started a DE Faculty Facilitator program to help support faculty as they develop their online course.

Overview
CofC is committed to providing quality distance learning courses to our students. Due to the increase of course offerings in this relatively new teaching and learning environment, TLT proposes a Distance Education Faculty Facilitator program. This Distance Education Faculty Facilitation Program is designed to expedite and help lead the DE Readiness course, as well as to provide feedback and mentoring opportunities for individuals new to teaching in the distance education format at CofC. Facilitated and supported by Teaching, Learning, and Technology (TLT) and Academic Affairs, the initiative is described below:

Objectives of the DE Faculty Facilitator Initiative

• Facilitate the exchange of ideas regarding effective distance teaching styles and strategies
• Offer collaboration opportunities for faculty teaching distance courses to promote a sense of collegiality and support
• Create a community with new distance education faculty and experienced faculty in Distance Education

Checkout Equipment

Teaching, Learning and Technology provides checkout equipment specifically for distance education faculty. Available equipment includes a high-definition video camera, wireless mic system, and webcams. TLT also offers a wide variety of checkout equipment for all faculty. To inquire further please contact your Instructional Technologist.

Technology

For a list of technology tools that may help you meet your objectives for your fully online course, see Technology Tools for Learning.