Registration for Online Teaching Days is now closed.
This summer the Provost's Teaching Fellows and Center for Teaching and Learning will be hosting virtual Online Teaching Days for UT Instructors.
Online Teaching Days are an opportunity for instructors to watch their colleagues teach, and to talk with each other about their teaching successes and struggles. As a non-evaluative peer observation practice, Online Teaching Days instead focus on reflection and sharing of new ideas and methodologies. On July 22 and 23, Online Teaching Days will take place for the observation of Spring and Summer 2020 courses - instructors will have the opportunity to observe both synchronous and asynchronous undergraduate courses across many disciplines, and will have opportunities to reflect on the intersections between the course observed and their own upcoming Fall courses.
While there is much to learn from each of our observed instructors, we are encouraging participants to keep in mind several common threads throughout the two-day event. This year we are looking at the Five Cs for Teaching with Technology as a framework for thinking about creating online and hybrid courses for the Fall semester:
- Closing the Loop
- Communication
- Content
- Community
- Collaboration
Closing the Loop: Integrate experiences for your students and build on prior knowledge.
- How are we connecting synchronous and asynchronous learning experiences such that they extend and expand on each other?
- How are we structuring our course so as to include opportunities for regular and meaningful student feedback?
Communication: Ensure students know about course expectations, as well as how and why they are using new technologies.
- How are we creating positive and respectful ‘social presence’ in our courses?
- What communication strategies have we adopted to engage students in more inclusive frameworks?
Content: Choose the right tools for course needs with a ’less is more’ mindset.
- What kinds of tools and techniques are we employing to create a more dynamic online course?
- How are we following a ‘plus-one’ mindset or Universal Design for Learning approach when it comes to developing course materials?
- How are we ensuring accessibility in our online courses?
Community: Encourage the use of new tools and technologies to bring students together, build relationships, and foster belonging.
- How are we using the tools available to help students build relationships with one another?
- In what ways are we fostering belonging in the online environment for students enrolled in our courses?
Collaboration: Seek to leverage technology to help students effectively work together to solve problems and/or produce a final product.
- In what ways are we creating opportunities for students to work together, both in groups and teams, within our online courses?
- What new opportunities have we explored that allow students to engage with individuals and communities outside of UT?
- How are we providing options for virtual experiential learning in our courses?
We hope you will join us on July 22-23. Please reach out to eyesonteaching@utexas.edu with any questions or for more information.