E-Learning and Online Teaching Graduate Certificate (UW-Stout!)

University of Wisconsin-Stout
School of Education
Online Professional Development 

E-Learning and Online Teaching Graduate Certificate http://www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/elearningcertificate.html

• Are you looking for an E-learning and Online Teaching Certificate program?
• Is your institution rapidly developing online courses and programs?
• Are you looking for a new career or a way to supplement your current salary?
• Our courses benefit educators interested in effectively teaching online or blended courses. 

Spring registration is open. Sign up soon.

Courses are completely online; no travel to campus required.
8-Week Online Courses Recommended Course Sequence  

• EDUC 760 E-Learning for Educators two start date options:  February 8, 2010 or March 22, 2010
   
• EDUC 762 Assessment in E-Learning Begins January 11, 2010
   
• EDUC 763 Instructional Design for E-Learning  Begins February 1, 2010
   
• EDUC 761 Creating Collaborative Communities in E-Learning Begins January 25, 2010
   
• EDUC 764 E-Learning Practicum  (Prerequisite: Completion of EDUC 760, 761, 762, 763 and Consent of Instructor)
   

For more information, visit http://www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/elearningcertificate.html You may enroll in any single course for professional development or complete all four courses and the practicum to receive the Certificate in E-Learning and Online Teaching.

Courses can be used to fulfill requirements in the Master of Science in Education, Master of Science in Career and Technical Education and Ed.S. in Career and Technical Education degree programs.
Benefits

• Expert facilitation by veteran online educators
• Small highly interactive classes
• Professional quality projects for an e-portfolio to aid in job searches
• Career mentoring and job placement assistance
• Credits may also apply as electives in three different UW-Stout graduate degree programs
• Highly competitive tuition (tuition is the same for Wisconsin residents, out-of-state and international students)

The courses model best practices in e-learning with interactive discussions and hands-on experiences

• creating and using blogs, wikis, and other social tools
• integrating video and podcasts
• adopting best practices for engaging class discussions and assignments
• designing authentic assessment activities, quizzes and grading options 
• building strong communication activities in your online class
• motivating online students who are falling behind      
• managing your online teaching workload

If you have any questions, please contact Dennis O'Connor, the program adviser, at (530) 318-1145 or email oconnord@uwstout.edu

REGISTER SOON  

Register online today to reserve a spot at: http://www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/register.shtml

Mark university billing (do not include credit card info) and no tuition payment is due until mid January.

Online Instructional Design Graduate Certificate from UW-Stout!

New! Instructional Design Certificate

http://www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/instructionaldesigncert.shtml

Sign up now and begin January 19, 2010

The Instructional Design Professional Certificate is designed for professionals interested in switching careers, enhancing their career or developing focused competency in instructional design.

You might work as a member of an instructional design team or as a professional development coordinator, instructional designer for textbook or e-learning company, web developer, software consultant or designer, or in curriculum development in education, healthcare, museum, nonprofit organization or military settings.

• Eight week intensive graduate-level online courses

• Expert facilitation by veteran online educators

• Small highly interactive classes

• Professional quality projects for a job search e-portfolio

• Career mentoring

• Highly competitive tuition (same tuition for Wisconsin residents, out-of-state and international students)

Need more information?  Click Here! 

Notes from the front lines: The first week of class.

Getting Started: Week 1

The first week of an online class is so intense. Here are notes from the front lines that capture some of the realities of teaching online.

Teaching two intense online classes, E-Learning for Educators and Teaching and Assessing Writing with the 6-Traits means I'm reading a lot of posts. (I've got the classes grouped so the volume of posts isn't burying the students.)

Social Icebreakers

It's the critical first week and the icebreakers have worked well. This is a discussion where every one in the class is talking together. With about 150+ posts in the icebreaker discussions of each class folks are staggering a bit trying to cope with the multiple threads of ideas and introductions. It's like walking through a crowded room where everyone is talking and sharing. I always like to start a class with a big social exchange. It give folks a chance to learn the software while they get to know each other without the pressure of an academic assignment. This is great!

An International Group

I think everyone gets a kick out of learning online with people from around the world. In addition to a large group from Wisconsin, we've got folks from New York, Delaware, Maryland, Minnesota, California, and Vermont. From overseas there are teachers connecting from Korea, Okinawa, Taiwan, Dubai, Germany, and England. I get a kick out of the geographical diversity of each class. (If I had the time I'd create a Google Earth tour of everyone's home...hmm with time enough...)

Ways to read a discussion thread in D2L

Over time I've learned to read these threads using some of the D2L message reading options. I like to check every box in a thread and then view it in printing format. This puts the entire thread up, one on top of the other, in message format. It's easy to read the entire exchange and scroll past the re quoted text. (Sometimes I wish folks would delete the quoted text, but I always leave it up to them to follow my model. I don't want it to be too complicated.)

Changing Subject Lines

When I respond I usually change the subject line. I'm trying to model this method early on so folks learn to capture the essence of the post in the subject area. Some do, some don't.

Mark as read

When I finish reading the posts in message view I scroll to the bottom of the group and click "Mark as read". I then close the window and return to the main discussion. A quirk of D2l is that you have to hit the refresh button on the navigation bar of the message system to get the posts to go from bold to plain (for read).

This helps me see my progress as I work through the posts.

Notes Become Grade Book Comments

I'll often write my responses into the grade comments area as I read the posts. I can put the notes in a field visible to participants, or in a private comment box. This way I capture my thinking about each post as I read and work a bit on my comments for the week. I can then paste them into the public discussion or save them for the private feedback for each learner.

Obsessed with feedback

I want to offer evaluation comments to all students at least once a week. Sometimes this becomes overwhelming and I have to lighten up. A really efficient voice conversion system would help. My right hand has carpal tunnel and a degraded thumb joint making typing a bit painful... but not enough to keep me from it. Still folks deserve timely and regular feedback, from their instructor and from their colleagues.

Good start

Both classes are rolling and packed with articulate interesting people. My job is to help them become a community so they can learn from each other. This is going to be fun!

Dennis/ SanMarcos