This presentation will focus on faculty development programs and strategies at the Penn State Abington and Berks campuses for blended learning and hybrid course development, as well as the evolution of administrative polices regarding the development of hybrid courses. Specifically at PSU Abington a hybrid course for effective hybrid teaching and course development was launched this past year, along with new administrative polices for hybrid course proposals. At PSU Berks, a small team approach is used to work with faculty on the professional development of creating a hybrid course and implemented a formalized process last year. To expose faculty to the instructional tools to create a hybrid course, the Berks Learning Technologies (BLT) Certificate was created in the past year in conjunction with the Office of Academic Affairs. During this session, participants will learn key strategies for faculty development in the areas of hybrid course teaching and development, including the models and approaches for this type of professional development, as well as successful administrative policies to ensure the development of the highest quality hybrid courses. Additionally, this session will explore the challenges, process, and results of the implementation of these programs and corresponding policies. Participants are encouraged to share their own challenges and experiences in an interactive discussion via social media which will be interlaced within the presentation. Penn State Abington's hybrid teaching and development course is required for any faculty member who wants to submit a proposal to take their existing face to face course and develop it in the hybrid format. It first focuses on best practices for online teaching and transitioning between the traditional classroom and online learning environments. Included in the goals and objectives are, building cooperative learning communities in the online learning environment, student engagement, effective communication, and time management. Faculty who participate in this three week course transition between face to face class meetings, and asynchronous online interactions, just as their own students will do once their hybrid course is developed. Next the focus of this course shifts into hybrid course development with specific tools and strategies for identifying key course objectives, and developing online learning activities and assessments to accomplish those specific objectives. Specifically, available web 2.0 tools, LMS capabilities, online learning repositories, as well as instructional design services, and the instructional design process. A showcase of successful hybrid course that were already previously launched is also included, as faculty find it extremely helpful to see what their colleagues have already developed both in and across disciplines. At the end of the course, participants will have created three deliverables that will get them started in the hybrid course development process; a revised syllabus, a course outline (identifying what units of study will be delivered online, and specifics on how they will be delivered), and the first learning module for their hybrid course. These deliverables in turn fulfill the requirements of PSU Abington's hybrid course development proposal, which is required to have a course listed as such in the course catalogue. After the course is concluded, faculty will continue to work on development of their course on a one on one basis with the instructional designer, until the course is ready to launch. After the course concludes, an analysis and course improvement plan is constructed. Penn State Berks utilizes a formalized Hybrid Course Development Model that focuses on a collaborative team approach. The interdisciplinary team model includes faculty members, a manager, an instructional designer, an instructional technologist, a multimedia specialist, and a librarian. Faculty receive one-on-one and group support from these team members. The model results in similar deliverables to the PSU Abington's professional development course including a revised syllabus and a course outline, as well as, aspects of a detailed design. The course outline at Penn State Berks includes the learning activities of each online and face-to-face class that make-up the course and how they interact with one another. The detailed design "fleshes out" the high-level design created in the course outline by providing more detailed information about each learning activity. During the Hybrid Course Development Process, there is an option to create multimedia instructional elements. These elements including animations, videos, interactive games, and online tutorials that can be an effective part of a hybrid course. Due to the time and effort involved the multimedia elements are considered optional and a separate aspect of the hybrid course development model process. During the session both the Hybrid Course Development Model and multimedia instructional element process will be discussed. During the past academic year, the BLT Certificate became a requirement for new faculty as a request from the Director of Academic Affairs. The BLT Certificate is also open to full time and part time faculty. Sessions focus upon the modalities of web-enhanced and hybrid courses, benefits of both modalities, and how both modalities are implemented at Penn State Berks. Sessions also include tools to organize and assess students for success, motivating students' course engagement, enhancing instruction with multimedia, and using web 2.0 tools to connect ideas within the classroom and beyond. After attending the workshops, faculty write reflections about how they will implement what they have learned.
