Learning Technologies and Online Education

Faculty Training Program

This training program has been designed to fit the individual needs of all participating faculty. This process is required for any faculty member who is replacing 33% or more of a course’s seat time. Please contact Scott Robison (sarobison@plymouth.edu) at least two months (full term preferred) before the course is taught to begin the process.

Here are the required steps:

1. The individual faculty completes a needs assessment survey
2. The individual is required to complete the Distance Learning Certification Course in Moodle. This would coincide with the course development, if applicable.
3. A pre-course review of the course, using PSU’s course development checklist, is completed by an instructional designer
4. The instructor member then teaches his/her online course
5. The PSU Course Evaluation is administered to gather student feedback
6. A final course review is done by an instructional designer and a written assessment is given to the instructor. The instructor has the opportunity to respond to any of the suggestions/comments.
7. Upon  the successful completion of the above, a certificate is issued to the instructor and a copy is sent to the Provost’s office.

This process is required for any faculty member who is replacing 33% or more of a course’s seat time.

(Note: If you have received an online teaching certification at another institution, send us a copy of the certificate for our records. You will then only need to participate in the completion of our certification process which would include an orientation to PSU-specific course information requirements and a post-course review using our course rubric.)
If you have not previously completed a distance learning certification program, then we can begin the training process, either through an online, face-to-face or blended method.

We ask you to complete and return a needs assessment, so that we can meet your course creation time frame. As soon as we receive this, we can provide you with access to a Moodle “Sandbox” along with other online resources. We look forward to working with you. We offer an extensive series of training modules in three basic categories:

Designing Your Course, Teaching Your Course, and Assessing Your Students.

Based on the results of your Needs and Skills Assessment, we’ll decide together which modules make the most sense for you and we’ll create a curriculum and schedule. If you’ve got lots of experience and feel comfortable with Moodle for instance, your curriculum might focus most heavily on course management. But if you’re just getting started with Moodle we’ll want to make sure you get the basics about navigating the system and designing courses as well. Of course, you’re always welcome to complete any of the modules at any time.

Building Your Course

In the process of completing the training modules, you’ll be building an online or blended course. Once that’s complete, we’ll review your course and discuss its strengths as well as those areas that might benefit from revision. Then you’ll teach the course (of course we’re available to assist you throughout the term!). Once the course has been offered, we’ll ask you to meet with us once more to reflect on and discuss the experience and your plans for future offerings. This is a chance for you to review what went well and what you’d like to change before offering the course again or building your next one.

Completion

Once this procedure is complete, you’re “certified” to teach online at PSU! While major changes in course management system or other institutional policies may require future attendance at training or workshops, this is a one-time certification process. Of course we encourage you to stay in contact with us and to attend workshops or complete other training modules as interests you. There are always new technologies to incorporate into your classes – and we want to support you in all of your efforts.

To get started, please contact Scott Robison (sarobison@plymouth.edu)

Click here to access Learning Technologies and Online Education’s Policies and Procedures