Special Education Faculty and Instructors Hone Skills to Deliver Quality Online Courses

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University Professor Barbara Gartin and Kathryn Bell, an adjunct instructor who lives in Texas and holds a doctor's degree, attend a workshop focused on enhancing the design and quality of online courses.

Faculty and instructors who teach special education courses gathered on a Saturday morning earlier this month to attend a day-long workshop, hosted by the Global Campus, to enhance their skills in delivering quality online courses.

The Global Campus, a support unit for distance education, provides an orientation and training three times a year for university faculty and instructors who are new to teaching courses online. The Feb. 2 workshop in Peabody Hall was unique because it gave veteran online faculty and instructors an opportunity to polish their technology skills and learn more about nationally recognized quality standards for online course design.

Barbara Gartin, University Professor of Special Education in the College of Education and Health Professions, requested the training.

“Our faculty and instructors are self-motivated in their field,” Gartin said. “They are driven professionals. What they did not have access to was training to teach online. They know their curriculum, but they did not know all of the strategies and design tools discussed during the workshop.”

Ten faculty and instructors from the curriculum and instruction department met with instructional designers from the Global Campus to discuss quality standards and explore the expanded capabilities of the latest version of Blackboard Learn, the content management system used by the university to deliver online courses.

“The more faculty and instructors learn about Blackboard, the more they learn about design strategies, the better the product they can design for our students,” Gartin said. “And they want to provide the very best.”

Elaine Terrel, Global Campus instructional designer

Elaine Terrell, an instructional designer for the Global Campus, led the workshop. Miran Kang, director of Instructional Design and Support Services, and Rebecca Martindale, director of Web and Instructional Based Services for the College of Education and Health Professions, assisted. Kang and Terrell are certified as peer reviewers for Quality Matters, a faculty-centered program recognized nationally for providing quality assurance for online education.

“The Global Campus is a resource for faculty who seek tools and information to help them design robust, high-quality online courses,” Kang said. “We work with faculty in groups, and we work with them individually. We try to reach people where they are and help them move forward.”

Workshop participants included Gartin; three other faculty members, Peggy Schaefer-Whitby, Marcia Imbeau, and Elizabeth Jordan; and adjunct faculty Terrell, Martindale, Kathryn Bell, Colleen Mick, Donna Broyles, Patty Thomas, and Maureen Bradshaw.

Faculty and instructors experienced the added benefit of exchanging ideas among themselves, interacting while learning, and drawing closer as an academic group, Gartin said.

The Global Campus supports the academic colleges and schools that develop and deliver online degree programs and courses. It provides instructional design services, access to national distance education organizations, and assistance with strategic academic program development. Faculty can visit the Global Campus website to access more online teaching resources.