FCPE Launches Hybrid and Online Teaching and Learning Seminar (HOT-L)

For many Adelphi faculty, January Intercession can be a time to relax between busy semesters or catch up on work. But for sixteen Adelphi faculty members this year, January 10th through 17th was a time for intensive professional development in online teaching and learning. That was when the Faculty Center for Professional Excellence (FCPE) conducted its inaugural Hybrid & Online Teaching and Learning Seminar (HOT-L).

In step with the University’s mission to provide a high quality learning experience both in class and online, the seminar introduced faculty to the instructional technologies, pedagogies and best practices that make hybrid and online courses effective and engaging. Technologies like Twitter, Google Hangouts, Moodle and Tumblr were used in seminar activities to help faculty gain facility with online tools for teaching. Seminar topics focused on best practices and included: An Introduction to Tools; Communication and Community Building; a “Where Learning Happens” Digital Project; Instructional Design Principles & Practices; Pedagogy (Learner Agency & Other Theories); and a section on Formative and Summative Assessment. The seminar was designed to ready faculty for developing an online or hybrid course over subsequent months and offered them the experience of being an online student – a crucial experience for those who will teach in this modality.

According to feedback on the seminar, one clear highlight for faculty was the “Where Learning Happens” project. For this project, faculty used a digital tool of their choosing to help explain a past learning experience. They were asked to address where the learning happened and to reflect on how its being situated in a particular place shaped the learning experience.

Another highlight was the webinar panel on “Learner Agency” with Assistant Professor Matt Curinga and Ms. Jeannie Crowley, Manager of Digital Media and Learning at Bank Street College. The two panelists shared their perspectives on how teachers can co-create learning experiences with their students rather than directing students toward learning goals that are pre-defined soley by the teacher. The FCPE used Google Hangouts to stream and archive the panel on its Adelphi Youtube channel and it can be watched here.

The course concluded with a reflective panel discussion between seminar leaders and participants. with faculty sharing what they learned and were most excited about implementing in their courses.

For many, the idea of putting a course completely or partially online seems understandably daunting. HOT-L seeks to ease faculty concerns and equip them with the tools they will need to create online and hybrid courses that meet Adelphi’s standard of excellence.

Please stay tuned for email messages from the FCPE on how to register for future HOT-L seminars.

A Sampling of Faculty Feedback on the January 2013 Intercession HOT-L Seminar:

“I definitely feel more prepared to use this technology and much more present to what the students are going through with it than I was before.”

“I realized how important clear instructions are…”

“Originally, I worried about the ability of a student to learn the material online to the same extent as a face-to-face course, as students may be less disciplined with completing assignments or may lose focus without an instructor. However, I definitely now see the ability to make online courses much more engaging, interesting, captivating, etc. for students from the various forms of technology that can be used, such as PP voiceovers, YouTube, Discussion Forums, and so on.”

“I really enjoyed the intellectual stimulation with people outside my subject content field of expertise–although, at times, I felt like my head was going to explode–but I knew the intensity was for a limited time period, and it was worth the risk 😉 thank you again to all!”

“Wow! So much! I realize you need to allow students a much longer time to prepare for projects, debates and time to schedule synchronous activities. Time to read and study the material before expecting them to participate actively. Also that the personalization is necessary – videos make a difference! You need to encourage students to look ahead at the workload and let them know they can’t just take it day-by-day.”

“Made you think of all of the “angles”

“Helped me recognize the potential downsides such as what could be perceived as tedious, boring and non-engaging.”

“It made me aware of how many tools are available – more than I thought.”

“because actually experienced as a student and can now better relate to what their challenges and issues might be, experiencing things as a novice again and not as the expert, it is good to be periodically reminded…”

“I am more sensitive to the time commitment for collaboration, organization, and implementation of projects.”

Jarrett Carter
Graduate Assistant Intern
Faculty Center for Professional Excellence

This piece is from the Spring 2013 Issue No. 18 of the FCPE Newsletter.