eVision

Are you new to online teaching and learning?
Are you an experienced online faculty member, but would like to learn some tips and
techniques to incorporate into your course?
Do you want to enhance your face-to-face or hybrid course?

If yes, then visit the VSU “New to Online Learning: The Fundamentals CO” course!

 Current faculty have been added as students in the course which will be available in
both BlazeVIEW and GoVIEW on Mon., March 10.

New faculty will be added at the beginning of each semester. However, new faculty can request to be manually added by emailing blazeview@valdosta.edu or goview@valdosta.edu.

The course covers:

– Overview of LMS, D2L, BlazeVIEW and GoVIEW
– Technology Requirements
– Transitioning to Online Learning

•  F2F vs. Online Teaching
• Instructional Design

– Quality Online Instruction

• Syllabus and Schedule Design
• Faculty and Course Introduction Tips

– Course Design

• Quality Online Course Design
• Online Course Design Tips

– Creating and Finding Content
– Online Learning Presence
– Discussion Boards

• Effective Discussion Board Design
• Discussion Board Tips

– Creating Effective Activities, Assessments, Rubrics and Grading
– Why and How to Use Technology in an Online Course
– Quality Matters

• What is Quality Matters?
• What do I do next?

– ADA, Citation, Plagiarism and Copyright Policies and Procedures
– D2L Resources and Assistance

We envision this to be an evolving course and updated regularly with new ideas and techniques. We need your help with this! Send us your feedback so we can incorporate into the course.

Dr. Penelope Schmidt was recently honored with attaining the Quality Matters (QM) certification for a Political Science course – POLS 4860.  QM provides an opportunity for faculty to be part of a review process which gives feedback and recommendations for course design improvements to meet quality expectations based on National Standards.  It allows for the continuous improvement of online and hybrid courses and provides certification of quality course design. This is truly an outstanding achievement by Dr. Schmidt and displays her commitment to her learners.

The Center for eLearning interviewed Dr. Schmidt recently about her accomplishment and her thoughts on online learning.  Below are excerpts from the interview.

Would you please talk a bit about your position at VSU and how long you have been here?
I started at VSU as a graduate teaching assistant in 2010 and upon earning my Doctor of Public Administration degree in 2011, I began as an adjunct instructor.  I teach undergraduate political science courses within the Organizational Leadership major such as Nonprofit Management, Introduction to Public Administration, and Public Relations in the Public Sector.  I also teach graduate courses within the Public Administration major such as Quantitative Methods, Public Sector Planning, Policy Analysis, and Grant Writing and Management.

Why did you seek out QM certification?
When I began teaching under the leadership of Dr. Jerry Merwin, he introduced me to the Quality Matters (QM) standards.  Those standards provide guidance on designing high quality online courses, which is very important for students’ academic success, so I incorporated the standards into the course designs.  Others also contributed to the designs and that team approach helped maintain a consistent level of quality across the courses.  When Dr. Merwin asked me to participate in the QM certification review of one of the courses, I gladly agreed because of the value it would bring to the students and university. (more…)