Making an online or hybrid class is a lot like planning a space mission -- the thinking/rethinking, planning with extreme attention to detail, creative re purposing and problem solving for a safe and successful launch, flight and return.

Effective January 1, 2014, all New Online & Hybrid courses must go through the NCSC Quality Matters (QM) Peer Review Team Process.

This session is intended as a "cram Session" for those who have not taught either an online or hybrid class previously.

This will walk you through the initial phases and get you ready for a follow-up consult with the Distance Learning (DL) Department to prepare you for your formal prototype course review with the team.

Read this brief article from the TLT Group:
http://www.tltgroup.org/coursenotpizza.htm

** Questions: **
-So if we agree with the premise (?), then what *IS* the essence of a course? The Learning Process?

-What is an essential part of *YOUR* teaching that you want to preserve in the move to ONLINE or Hybrid environment?

-What is an essential process/core that you love about LEARNING that you want to preserve in the move to ONLINE or Hybrid environment?

Through experience and best practices, here is the countdown process we will use to launch your course to preserve core pieces, incorporate best practices and start your course with confidence for success!

Throughout this countdown, please keep your mind open and focus on your ultimate hopes and possibilities. The end of the process will walk it back to specifics, realities and messy stuff for practicalities :)

The #1 rookie online or hybrid teacher mistake is to start building their distance course with the TOOLS -- where faculty then have choices about learning & teaching dictated by technology!

A Fundamental key to success at a distance is a thorough "ground up" deconstruction/re imagining of the fundamental instructional design of the course...

"...Course design has the greatest potential ... to create courses in which students have significant learning experiences, they must learn how to design that quality into their courses. Unless a course is designed properly, all the other components of effective teaching will have only limited impact.... "
(Fink, Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An integrated Approach to Designing College Courses, pgs 24, 60 62).

"the model of integrated course design... has a number of attractive features. It is... Simple.. Holistic.. Practical... Integrative... & Normative..."
(Fink, Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An integrated Approach to Designing College Courses, pgs 24, 60 62).

This is a course design model that distills much of the research on teaching and learning best practices and is being utilized around the country and the world to help faculty offer consistently high quality learning experiences. Utilizing this design model "bakes in" best practices to help ensure your online-hybrid course will also have a setup that meets Quality Matters rubric standards for excellence in distance courses.

There are five basic steps to the process...

Finks' simple course design model can be followed in depth via his free self-directed guide:
http://tinyurl.com/finkicdguide

In summary, it goes like this:
1- What is the full context/situation of the course --you, students, college, etc?? ['SITUATIONAL FACTORS']

2-What are the required and implied and desired learning goals you need and want to accomplish? ['LEARNING OBJECTIVES']

3-What are engaging active learning activities that will allow students to reach these objectives? ['LEARNING ACTIVITIES']

4-What are various ways to do supportive, forward looking assessment to see if the students have reached these objectives? ['ASSESSMENT']

5-What is the best way to sequence activities/assessments to make a "staircase" from simple to complex mastery/concepts? Calibrate this with revisiting #1 and revise as needed to account for variables.

Start with taking a step back to consider the FULL context of the course --

FINK GUIDE Pages #6 & #7
(8 & 9 in pdf)

ANSWER THESE QS BASED ON *YOUR* EXPERIENCE IN TEACHING THE COURSE FACE TO FACE.
(note: Best practice is to have taught the course face to face many times, at least a year or 2 BEFORE converting to distance)

FAQS:
* Lower v upper division v graduate (Q#1 Specific Context) - Lower division = first year, 1000 level, upper = 2000 level 2nd year.

* 'CONVERGENT' v. 'DIVERGENT' (Q#3 Nature of Subject) - Convergent courses get students to THE answer -- example in a Math course, however students do work, 2+2 MUST = 4. Divergent courses can have multiple valid answers -- example a Philosophy class where 'What is the Meaning of Life?' can have MANY defensible answers.

Next, we need to think about ALL of our objectives, required and wished for/hoped for....

FINK GUIDE Pages #8-#12
(10-14 in pdf)

Commentary:
Yes, you can simply limit yourself to the mandated syllabus specified learning Objectives for a course and call this part done.

HOWEVER, most faculty who have gone through this process find they have many of their own personal HOPES for students -- (eg be a lifelong learner, exhibit grit tenacity & perseverance etc.).

IF we want to make extraordinary courses and or make courses that prepare our students to meet the many challenges of the moment and tomorrow, we MUST account for this & challenge both our students & ourselves. If so, we need to pull these ideas out of the shadows and wispy vagueness and EXPLICITLY account for them and by INTENT & DESIGN actively work and account for having students achieve these. As such, adding your own desired learning objectives is essential.

Next, to make engaging online or hybrid courses that motivate, engage students to best achieve student success, we need to get creative to envision ACTIVE learning activities to reach the objectives!

FINK GUIDE Pages #16-#21
(18-23 in pdf)

Commentary:
* Great active learning activities are often what separate a "meh" distance course from a memorable and compelling distance course.

* TAKE CHANCES! Think outside the box!

* GET STUDENTS FROM OUT BEHIND THE KEYBOARD! Get them out into the world to make connections, have direct or indirect experiences USING & or SEEING the course material in action! This SHOWS the importance/relevance of the material more than you could ever TELL in a month of Sundays!

* Active learning activities can take time, so think of activities that could potentially help students reach MULTIPLE learning objectives to make them as efficient as possible.

TRUE "Active Learning" requires a FULL cycle to be gone through. Here is brief summary of each piece:
Reference Fink ICD Guide, page #18 (20 in PDF) for ideas...

STEP 1 - Students get baseline Info/Concepts to Make experience meaningful
To support the time requirements needed, you will need to find ways to get students the info -- recorded lectures/podcasts, electronic guides/ website links etc.

STEP 2 - The Experience
Need to get students to either directly DO something or OBSERVE something appropriate to show the concepts in action, preferably in person. Examples: Interview/shadow a pro in the field, conduct their own small scale poll/research, role play, view full movie/video etc. etc.
For your own health and sanity, make sure you spell out AS MUCH DETAIL as you can what you want, what is acceptable and is not, where to locate any needed resources, waivers, what they should do while engaged in the activity etc. etc.

STEP 3 - Student need to then reflect and process in 2 separate phases -- 1-Inidvidual initial (more immediate) reflection & then sharing with a team, small group or whole class to compare notes. Online, a discussion board can accommodate much of this process. Make prompts that encourage the student to make their own connections to the material and its importance! (note these serve as great assessment artifacts to boot!)

Next, you need to take a deep dive to think about and re-envision your assessments.

FINK GUIDE Pages #13-#15
(15-17 in pdf)

Commentary:
* Multiple-choice objective tests/quizzes can be made to be cheating RESISTANT, but not iron clad bullet proof to students with enough time/money/resources (EXACTLY LIKE FACE TO FACE TESTS!). As such, current best practice DE-EMPHASIZES objective tests for significant, summative assessments (such as a MIDTERM or FINAL EXAM). As low-stakes, FORMATIVE tools such as a reading concept check, tests can still serve a useful role in a modern distance class.

* With the epidemic of plagarism, UNIQUE projects with distinctive deliverables that would be hard to plagiarize are encouraged!!

Can seem a bit confusing or jargony, but really some simple ideas here... An assessment strategy that incorporates best practices for student success will include ALL of these...

* FORWARD-LOOKING ASSESSMENT
You are getting students ready for what tasks you want them to be prepared to do IN FUTURE. It is not "rear-view mirror" oriented of 'ok, did you get chapter 2 this week? Oh you bombed the test -- oh tough luck, well here comes chapter 3!"

* CRITERIA & STANDARDS
If you don't use grading rubrics, this process can be a great excuse to start. Rubrics are best practices. Practically, not only can they focus grade disputes, offer a degree of objectivity, but they also help us 'think out' what EXACTLY we want for a given assignment. great starting resource: http://rubistar.4teachers.org/

* SELF-ASSESSMENT - Once you have clear rubrics/standards, another best practices is to have students apply standards to their own work with a goal to internalize quality standards. particularly with EARLY initial assignments you will have students doing a number of, having an assignment to then use the grading rurbic to send you a reflection on how they are seeing their work, can lead to a very rich and productive dialog!

* FIDELTY -- Two key ideas here -- 1-Make sure your overall assessment strategy has *multiple* "heartbeats" for you AND students regularly be able to monitor their progress with as QUICK of a turnaround on grading as possible! 2-Be supportive and constructive in your communications, feedback and approach to students. (NOT saying you should NOT enforce consequences or enforce High expectations!!)

NOTE: This is NOT in the Fink Guide but this is a piece of the QM Rubric and Emerging Best practices!

"the formation of a learning community through which knowledge is imparted and meaning is co-created sets the stage for successful learning outcomes. Ten years ago, the notion of building community online was seen as 'fluff' ... However, much research has been conducted in recent years regarding the importance of community in an online course and in online teaching in general ... The findings of these research studies and others have supported our notion that the key to successful online learning is the formation of an effective learning community as the vehicle through which learning occurs online. Adams and Sperling (2003) note that the community building process embedded in online courses has helped transform teaching and learning in higher education. Some of the changes they describe for students include greater availability and accessibility of information, engagement of different learning styles, and promotion of increased responsibility for teaching and learning."
-Paloff & Prat, "Building Online Learning Communities", pg 4

Palloff & Pratt's Model of a 'Community of Inquiry' offers a way to visualize a minimal conception of community.

A key to be aware of is how to manage and sustain a strong "presence" online:
"When a course is in session, students need to see 'evidence of engagement' such as announcements, discussion board posts, and uploads of photos or videos on the part of the instructor... It’s not enough to log in and monitor a course. Instructors need to show that they are active in the course. "
-http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/creating-a-sense-of-i...

However, designing and building in ways to build student community if done well, can be a massive boost to motivation, retention and success. A Team Based Learning (TBL) approach can be especailly powerful in hybrid, online or face to face: http://www.teambasedlearning.org/starting

Next, we need to think about taking all of these re-imagined building blocks together into a 16 week sequence to give you the rough working schedule blueprint for your new online/hybrid course.

This will consist of two phases:
A) Aligning your objectives, assessment & activities

B) Forming these into progressive "stair step" order to rough out a draft 16 week semester schedule.

A) Use "3 column" worksheet to ALIGN your Objectives, Assessment & Acitivties :

FINK GUIDE Pages #23 (25 in pdf)

STEP 1 - Fill out the learning goals column (pg #11 & #12 worksheets)

STEP 2- Fill out 'Ways of assessing' column (pg #15 worksheet) with *CORRESPONDING* ASSESSMENT FOR EACH LEARNING GOAL.
(note: One assessment that hits multiple goals is ok and good!)

STEP 3- Fill out 'Actual Teaching-Learning Activities' column (pg #19 worksheet) with *CORRESPONDING* ACTIVITY FOR EACH LEARNING GOAL.
(note: One activity that hits multiple goals is VERY good!)

STEP 4- Fill out 'Helpful Resources' column (pg #20 & #21 worksheets) which *CORRESPOND with ACTIVITIES FOR EACH LEARNING GOAL.*
(note: you can also note any other needed resources/ materials here)

FINK GUIDE Pages #26-#27
(28 & 29 in pdf)

STEP 1 - Use the worksheet on page #27 (29 pdf#) and fill out what the 4-7 major topics (should be a related group of learning objectives), appropriate sequence -- that is which major topic should go 1st, 2nd etc.

Note that this may mean adjusting or combining some activities.

Be warned -- This may break from standard chapter by chapter linear "table of contents" approach... but that is OK! You are thinking holistically and focusing on the SUCCESS & LEARNING, not merely broadcast/receive "coverage" or the textbook author's egos :)

The FINK GUIDE offers a table to then layout a student full 16 week course schedule (Page #30 --32 in pdf) for face to face that may be helpful for a hybrid class. However, DL has created a more customized distance version of this with a suggested template you can download as an editable Excel doc at:
http://tinyurl.com/fink16wkdistancesked

Take materials from previous 2 steps to fill in the blanks to make your full 16 week sequence.

TOP TIP:
Some faculty find it helpful for this stage to take a stack of post-it notes and a large wall and layout "rows" for each week with a separate post-it for each Week #, Learning Objectives, Activities & Assessments. You can then stick and unstick and visually play with your sequence -- REMEMBERING TO KEEP ALIGNMENT FROM "3 column" sheet when it is all finished.

Now you need to do a final pre-flight check and review of your draft course design...

FINK GUIDE Pages #24 (26 in pdf)

STEP 1 - Review your In-Depth Analysis of Situational Factors -- FINK GUIDE Pages #6 & #7
(8 & 9 in pdf).
DOES YOUR DRAFT DESIGN ACCOUNT FOR & ADDRESS ALL Situational Factors you identified for this course?

STEP 2 - Review your draft learning objectives, assessment strategy, activities, and integration of all... where do things need tweaked? What needs moved/adjusted?

STEP 3- Make revisions, alterations and adjustments to the draft course design to address any gaps or weak points.

Now, at long last, with your well thought out and fully developed course design blueprint in hand, you are now ready to come to grips with nitty gritties of building your course prototype!

You now need to find the right tools to accomplish the tasks you need to have happen, according to YOUR needs vs the tools' marketing or shareholders interests!

To prepare for your NCSC Quality Matters Team Review, your prototype will need to fully built for Weeks 1-4 before your review date.

You are not alone though in having to figure out how to build out your blueprint!

The NCSC DL Department has had extensive experience with this process as well as the array of technology tools available out there and will be happy to help you at ANY point: 419.755.4706

As part of the NCSC QM Team Review process you will have a 1on1 consult to help you through the design process to help get you kick started and ready for your QM Team Review.

After your QM Team Review and approval, you then need to build out the remaining weeks of your course, incorporating revisions/feedback you gleaned from the QM Review.

As you complete preparations, plan for and remember that WEEK 1 of any distance course IS CRUCIAL!

Expectations, the tone, community and the course of a distance course are all set in students minds by the first couple weeks.

PLAN MAXIMUM EFFORT for the first part of the course -- establishing your presence by rapid replies to messages/calls etc., frequent reminders/announcements, through and in-depth feedback on the first assignments, replies to discussions etc.

FINK GUIDE Pages #33 & 34 (35-36 in pdf)

Once the rubber meets the road, in the give and take and rush and confusion of managing your first distance teaching experience, take the time to take notes!

-What Worked Well?
-What Needs Help/ Scrapped?
-What Could Be Improved/ Polished?

ASK YOUR STUDENTS TOO!
* Weekly "Muddiest Point" posts/assignment of what they are most confused about (make clear how will you clarify/respond to these?)
* A brief extra credit Midterm survey can be a great way to get great feedback.
* Final Exit extra credit survey can be great source of info as well.

All this will be solid gold in the bank when you go to revise the course for next semester!

“Whether or not you can never become great at something, you can always become better at it. Don't ever forget that! And don’t say 'I’ll never be good'. You can become better! and one day you’ll wake up and you’ll find out how good you actually became.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson