From UBC: an open access resource for teaching online

The Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology at the University of British Columbia has launched the Online Teaching Program (OTP) to help faculty adapt courses for an online environment and to prepare to teach online. The program consists of:

• a course with self-paced modules in Canvas,
• online workshops with experiential learning opportunities, and
• one-on-one consultation support with an educational consultant. 

The modules cover the following topics:

• Introduction to online teaching
• Getting started
• Designing online assessment
• Designing engaging learning activities
• Online content to promote learning
• Teaching in the online classroom
• Creating a supportive learning environment
• The role of TAs in the online classroom
• Midcourse feedback on teaching

The OTP modules are publicly available and openly licensed so that they may be adapted and reused. Please get in touch with the CTLT at UBC if you have any questions about this program.

My comment

This is one of a number of initiatives being developed by Centres for Teaching and Learning in Canada and elsewhere. For instance, Lethbridge College has adapted its Facilitating Online Learning course to the new academic reality and has made it available for free to all post-secondary institutions and faculty members.

These open access courses and modules are becoming essential as a way of scaling up faculty development as all institutions pivot towards online learning. They are best used when supplemented with workshops, and one-on-one consultancies with online design specialists, but are particularly valuable for individual instructors in institutions that are not providing the necessary support. They are also likely to be valuable to smaller institutions without the resources to develop such modules in-house.

If you are new to online learning, and think that it is just common sense, remember that ‘common sense’ is the result of many years of making mistakes. Taking courses or even just modules such as these can save your students from such mistakes.