Teaching and Learning Online is a hands-on course designed to guide the development of new online courses at UMass Boston. The course introduces current best practices for online instruction, including examples of successful instructional strategies, and shows how to employ recommended tools and methods for designing learning that is inclusive and engaging for all learners.
As a participant in this course, you will engage with the online course development process and learn how to self-assess your course design to ensure ease of access for all learners and to facilitate an effective learning experience. You will experience the course as an online learner to understand more fully how your students see and navigate through a course site, and to gain a clear sense of the instruction and guidance you need to provide for a successful online learning process.
Upon completion of this course, you will have developed at least four complete units of instruction for your online course.
This course is one of the training requirements for faculty developing a new online course at UMass Boston. After completing all the activities in the course, a course design consultation with an instructional designer is required to review your course and ensure it is ready for launch.
The course is also being offered to doctoral students interested in learning to teach online, as part of the Teach Online Certificate Program for Doctoral Students. To fully benefit from the practical lessons in the course, students should come prepared with a Syllabus for a course they have been assigned to teach or use a Syllabus from a course they’ve taken as a student.
Upon completing this course, you will be able to:
This course is facilitated by members of Learning Design Services. You can reach us at learningdesign@umb.edu during regular business hours (Mon–Fri, 9 am–5 pm).
The designated facilitators for the week will communicate with you using the tools available in Canvas and will check your work in the course during the day.
Teaching and Learning Online is delivered exclusively online in the Canvas Learning Management System available at umassboston.instructure.com. The course is based on best practices for online learning and serves as an example of an online course.
Within each lesson you will explore one primary topic about teaching and learning online consisting of learning materials to review (articles to read, video clips to watch) and one or two graded learning activities to complete and participate in. Discussion forums will be available through which you will report completion of exercises and communicate with facilitators and other learners in the course.
The course is designed to be completed sequentially, with each lesson building on the previous one and is intended to be experienced from the student perspective.
The course is available for the whole calendar year. The course consists of twelve mini lessons. All lessons and corresponding learning materials are made available all at once to allow faculty to drop-in at different times of the calendar year upon learning of their teaching assignment, and to advance at their own pace, while benefiting from the learning community and shared experience of their peers who went through the course before them. Canvas module requirements and prerequisites are enabled to help participants keep track of their learning progress and illustrate the feature.
This course is designed to be a practical guide you can build your course with, one step at a time. Each lesson and its activities can be done in 30 minutes to an hour, depending on your background and access to materials.
While past participants have taken anywhere from a day to four months (most finishing within two weeks!), this course isn't a one-shot deal. We recommend enrolling early and starting with the introductory activities. This way, you can fit the learning into your schedule and be prepared to hit the ground running when you're ready to build your own course.
All course communication will be conducted using the tools available in the course on Canvas: asynchronous discussion forums, announcements, individual feedback for assignments. Course announcements will be sent out to participants' UMass Boston email addresses periodically, to model best practices in facilitation and encourage participants to complete assignments and participate in the course.
Detailed guidance for participation is provided in the course platform. Additional assistance can be requested and scheduled with the facilitators.
In this course we hope to foster a learning community of UMass Boston instructors who are teaching online. Your active participation and sharing of your experience will help your colleagues and make this a success.
A variety of learning activities will be available in the course for participation and application of the concepts and strategies explored in the course.
To fully complete the course and receive a Certificate of Completion, you must submit work to all the activities and receive a minimum of 90% course completion rate. In addition to the graded activities (see Grading Breakdown table below) you will also be required to take surveys. Follow the prompts in the unit overview section in each lesson unit for detailed instructions and a list of activities to complete each lesson.
After completing all the exercises and building a minimum of four complete learning units in your course, you will schedule a Course Readiness Review consultation with the designated learning designer. We will review your course using the Course Readiness Rubric to provide you with detailed feedback about any suggested improvements (rubric is available through Grades in the course). A score of 90 or higher indicates your course is made ready for students.
We are using the Canvas Credentials tool as an added feature in this course. Canvas Credentials allows us to release a digital badge and certificate for successful completion of work in the course.
You can view the available microcredential and the earning criteria through the Credentials link in the course, and on the Canvas Credentials page.
Module | Activity | Category | Weight |
1 | Introductions: Discussion Forum | Course Foundation | 20% |
2 | Navigating Canvas and Unit Design | ||
3 | Course Organization with Modules | ||
4 | Creating Learning Objectives and Using Pages | Learning Materials | 20% |
5 | Finding Content: Adding Links and Videos | ||
6 | Creating Accessible Content: Attaching Files | ||
7 | Creating Learning Activities: Discussions | Learning Activities | 20% |
8 | Creating Learning Activities: Assignments | ||
8 | Creating Learning Activities: UDL | ||
9 | Creating Learning Activities: TLO Quiz | ||
10 | Creating Presentations | Grading & Interaction | 20% |
11 | Grading in Canvas | ||
11 | Communication Plan | ||
12 | Course Readiness Review | Final Steps | 20% |
12 | Course Readiness Consult with ID | ✓ | |
Other Required Activities | |||
12 | Course Evaluation Survey | Final Steps | ✓ |
Total | 100% | ||
For the best experience with Canvas, you should use a desktop or laptop computer with up-to-date Chrome and Firefox browsers – we recommend having both installed on your computer for the best results.
Word processing software such as MS Word will be required to complete assignments and develop content for your online course. IT Services provides MS Office software to UMB faculty to use for their courses: https://www.umb.edu/it/software/faculty_staff
For technical help with Canvas please use the Help button in Canvas for quick access to the available Canvas support resources (chat, phone, guides etc.).
For help with email, software or WISER please contact the IT Service Desk: https://www.umb.edu/it/help
Section 504 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 offers guidelines for curriculum modifications and adaptations for students with documented disabilities. If applicable, students may obtain adaptation recommendations from the Ross Center for Disability Services, M-1-401, (617-287-7430). The student must present these recommendations and discuss them with each professor within a reasonable period, preferably by the end of the Drop/Add period. For more information see http://www.rosscenter.umb.edu.
Participants are expected to behave in a respectful and civil manner and display academic integrity. Behavior in violation with acceptable online behavior and submitting of dishonest work will result in removal from the course. Learners taking this course are required to adhere to the University Policy on Academic Standards and Cheating, to the University Statement on Plagiarism and the Documentation of Written Work, and to the Code of Student Conduct as outlined in the University Catalog and Student Handbook. The Code is available online on the UMB website: https://www.umb.edu/life_on_campus/dean_of_students/students/student_conduct
The information provided in this syllabus is subject to change. The course facilitators will inform participants of any changes through course communication tools.