Online Summer and Possible Fall

[HigherEd7]

We are going online for the summer and there is a chance we can go online for the fall with the return of the virus. I know we have some experts here in online teaching, format and design in developing a course.

Are the following standards below for online learning?

Discussion question or journals
Assignments'
Quizzes
Exams

[downer]

https://www.chronicle.com/interactives/advice-online-teaching

[polly_mer]

If your institution is serious about being online, then you should not be doing any of this alone with only a thread on the internet to help you.  Transitioning suddenly midterm should be a very different experience than a planned online course.

Your institution should have course designers to provide personal discussions about good practices for your particular course based on what you know works in the physical classroom.  You are the subject matter expert, but they should have ideas about how to translate what you do into an online format.

Your institution should have IT folks who know all the ins, outs, and upside downs of the technical details in getting your course set up.  You shouldn't have to be fiddling alone with only an outdated manual to help you figure out which subsubsubsubmenu you need.

Your institution should have available specialized training you can take so you can use other people's time efficiently by asking better questions.

If your institution isn't doing all those things, then it is not serious about good online education.  That's a different conversation to have here about possible institutional survival and the need for a different job.

[dr_codex]

If your institution is serious about being online, then you should not be doing any of this alone with only a thread on the internet to help you.  Transitioning suddenly midterm should be a very different experience than a planned online course.

Your institution should have course designers to provide personal discussions about good practices for your particular course based on what you know works in the physical classroom.  You are the subject matter expert, but they should have ideas about how to translate what you do into an online format.

Your institution should have IT folks who know all the ins, outs, and upside downs of the technical details in getting your course set up.  You shouldn't have to be fiddling alone with only an outdated manual to help you figure out which subsubsubsubmenu you need.

Your institution should have available specialized training you can take so you can use other people's time efficiently by asking better questions.

If your institution isn't doing all those things, then it is not serious about good online education.  That's a different conversation to have here about possible institutional survival and the need for a different job.

All of this.

I have been invited to take about a dozen courses, about three dozen webinars, and who knows how many system-wide conversations. Not to mention all of the advice posted on higher ed websites, and offers from publishers about how to include materials in CMS and LMS course shells.

At this point, triaging all of the offers to help is a part-time job.

Except for pandemics and other emergencies, I would not be allowed to teach online without training and course certification. Your institution should be demanding the same; if it isn't, you should demand it for yourself. It will take longer to set up, but will save you an immense amount of time later on, and probably will result in a better product.

[HigherEd7]

Great points, I need to check and see if we offer an online certification course. If not does anyone know of any? I would like to learn this skill.

[polly_mer]

Great points, I need to check and see if we offer an online certification course. If not does anyone know of any? I would like to learn this skill.

You need to check?  No, as Dr_Codex pointed out, you should be digging out from the inundation of emails that your institution should be sending you.  Not having that situation while being told about future terms being online only is a red flag.

In fact, weren't you already teaching online before the shutdown per your question at https://thefora.org/index.php?topic=700.msg12545#msg12545

Why the interest now in being trained to teach online?  If your institution was serious about online teaching, having someone take training a year into the practice is another red flag.

[downer]

Some places run training courses for online teaching and provide a certificate. I have not seen one school accept a certificate from another school as evidence of competence.

[HigherEd7]

In response to your question not all institutions and many of the top institutions do not offer a certificate in online teaching. Especially those that offer a mixture of face to face and online courses. Institutions that have a specialty in just online learning and do not offer face to face courses require this type of certification or you will go through a training program before you are offered the job. 

Great points, I need to check and see if we offer an online certification course. If not does anyone know of any? I would like to learn this skill.

You need to check?  No, as Dr_Codex pointed out, you should be digging out from the inundation of emails that your institution should be sending you.  Not having that situation while being told about future terms being online only is a red flag.

In fact, weren't you already teaching online before the shutdown per your question at https://thefora.org/index.php?topic=700.msg12545#msg12545

Why the interest now in being trained to teach online?  If your institution was serious about online teaching, having someone take training a year into the practice is another red flag.

[Anselm]

I am being asked to teach a summer class in physics completely online and no emails so far have mentioned anything about training.   I have four weeks to prepare for this and I have never taught an online class before.  What I would really like is some sort of turn key online course with content and quizzes.   I found a few options that might work.   Any suggestions for me are welcome.

[OneMoreYear]

I am being asked to teach a summer class in physics completely online and no emails so far have mentioned anything about training.   I have four weeks to prepare for this and I have never taught an online class before.  What I would really like is some sort of turn key online course with content and quizzes.   I found a few options that might work.   Any suggestions for me are welcome.

I don't know if this these would be helpful for you, but here are some links that came through one of my listserves. I don't think any of this is a turn-key course, per se, so perhaps this is not what you are looking for (additional caveat, I'm not in physics):
https://www.physport.org/recommendations/Entry.cfm?ID=119906
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/18iVSIeOqKjj58xcR8dYJS5rYvzZ4X1UGLWhl3brRzCM/htmlview

[Anselm]

OneMoreYear,

Yes, that is very helpful.  Thanks.

[sprout]

I am being asked to teach a summer class in physics completely online and no emails so far have mentioned anything about training.   I have four weeks to prepare for this and I have never taught an online class before.  What I would really like is some sort of turn key online course with content and quizzes.   I found a few options that might work.   Any suggestions for me are welcome.

- Find out who taught the course this spring (if anyone) and ask them if they have any advice or material they're willing to share. 
- Do you have a campus eLearning or Center for Teaching department?  Get in touch with them.  I bet they'll have resources for going online to point you toward.  If you don't have one of those, reach out to your chair and/or dean and ask where you might be able to find resources that were given to spring term instructors.
- Get in touch with whatever local or national associations there are for physics professors. Get on their listserv.  I guarantee they were having discussions about how to do labs, exams, etc. online.

You are not the only person in this situation.  If you weren't in this situation in spring, then you get to take advantage of what's been learned by everyone who was. You just need to get in touch with them.

[polly_mer]

So, another name for the list of people ignoring red flags and pushing back on being told about the big, waving red flags.  Got it.

[sprout]

So, another name for the list of people ignoring red flags and pushing back on being told about the big, waving red flags.  Got it.

Eh?  Not sure what you're replying to.