A 'Blended' Approach to Training Online Faculty at the University of North Florida

August 9, 2011 - 8:06pm | by dfmiller
Presenter(s)
Deb Miller (University of North Florida, US)
Len Roberson (University of North Florida, US)
Session Information
November 10, 2011 - 4:30pm
Track: 
Faculty and Professional Development and Support
Areas of Special Interest: 
Innovative Blends; Practical Application
Institutional Level: 
Universities and Four Year Institutions
Audience Level: 
All
Session Type: 
Poster Session
Location: 
Southern Hemisphere I-III
Abstract

Faced with increased demand to prepare online faculty, with limited resources and skeptical faculty, we developed a blended training model to maximize resources while still providing an engaging and high-quality experience. The session covers the challenges and successes along the way.

Extended Abstract

Faced with increased demand to prepare online faculty, in an environment of limited resources and skeptical faculty, the Center for Instruction & Research Technology at the University of North Florida developed a blended training model to maximize resources while still providing an engaging and high-quality experience.

At a university just dabbling in distance learning, with no centralized office, the university’s distance learning committee was adamant that faculty training remain ‘something we do ourselves.’ The existing Teaching Online Seminar that engaged faculty in a redesign of a course from F2F to wholly online was very popular and produced positive effects on teaching beyond online courses, but it was also very labor-intensive and only allowed for about 10 participants per year.

In the new model, faculty complete two Sloan-C workshops in online pedagogy, two UNF-specific online workshops that cover LMS training and institutional logistics, and then spend 4 intensive days redesigning their online course in a face-to-face seminar.

Participants will learn about the development of this training model and the challenges and successes along the way. The presenters will offer this model as a basis for engendering discussion about preparing faculty to develop and deliver online courses.

This session will be beneficial for college-level faculty and administrators, instructional technology and media professionals, instructional designers, and trainers in public and private sector organizations. The session presentation will be made available on the conference website.
 

Lead Presenter

Deb Miller had been at UNF since 2001, and previously worked in the Duval County public school system as a classroom and resource teacher. She received her M.Ed. with a Specialization in Instructional Technology in 1999 from UNF. Her current interests include the use of classroom response systems, mobile media, and change management in higher education.

Dr. Roberson is the dean of The Graduate School and Assistant Vice President of Academic Technology at the University of North Florida. He has been at UNF since 1998 and has been the graduate program director of the Deaf Education program, department chair, and is a tenured associate professor. Involved in the fields of deaf education and interpreting for 23 years, he holds a Ph.D. from Gallaudet University in deaf education with a concentration in interactive instructional design and e-learning. He is also a nationally certified sign language interpreter. He has published several articles in his fields, and his current research is in the fields of legal interpreting. He serves on national committees and has received more than 3 million dollars in external funding as the principal investigator for numerous grants. Dr. Roberson is married and has seven beautiful children, 4 girls and 3 boys.

 

Notes: 

Presentation URL:

http://tinyurl.com/tol-sloan2011

Survey Results: 

http://tinyurl.com/tol-sloan2011-survey

Presenter 1 Email: 
deb.miller@unf.edu