OLC Online Teaching Certificate - April 2016

• Leverage your background and proficiencies as an educator, administrator, or institutional leader to become highly effective in the principles and practices of asynchronous instruction
• Integrate OLC‘s research-based, conceptual and theoretical foundations relating to learning theory and assessment to compliment and personalize your online classroom
• Capitalize on your potential as an innovator in the field of online education by being challenged to create high quality work products that will be assessed by the program facilitators and your peers.
• Work with and learn from recognized experts in the field
• Receive actionable feedback for immediate application
• Collaborate with peers from a variety of institutions and disciplines
• Design and develop a complete online or blended course based on current research and best practices

The Certificate program consists of three phases: The initial 10-week foundation course, 3 elective courses and a final capstone presentation. During all phases of the program, participants apply knowledge and skills to the development and/or revision of their own online or blended course.

Phase 1: The 10-week foundation course is an intensive, collaborative practicum. Participants explore an array of topics, develop strategies to build their own online courses, and give and receive peer reviews. Participants also demonstrate their mastery of the basic elements of online courses: planning the course, understanding role adjustment, organizing the course, incorporating the advantages of online communications, and applying the pedagogical principles that create purposeful learning communities. At the end of the foundation course, participants are matched with a personal mentor who continues to provide targeted coaching, support, and resources throughout the remainder of the program.

Phase 2: During the elective phase, participants pursue identified areas of interest and/or need as they continue to refine strategic online course components.  Participants must successfully complete 3 one-week electives or 1 Mastery Series workshop.  

Phase 3: The Final Presentation consists of a synchronous, online presentation demonstrating the participant’s fully developed and/or revised online course, specific developed course components and a reflection of key learning points. This invitation-only presentation is attended by the participant’s mentor and is the capstone event for this program.

Total length of time to completion: All phases must be completed one year from program start.

Note: only workshops taken after beginning the Foundation Course of the Certificate Program can be applied as electives to complete the program.   Additionally, the workshop New to Online: The Essentials will not count as an elective.

Learning Objectives – By Week

Week 1: Overview, Expectations and Community

• Review and discuss the program structure, expectations and requirements
• Identify additional personal learning goals for this program 
• Establish an online learning community 

Week 2: Quality Online Courses and Teaching

• Explore key characteristics of quality online courses and teaching
• Identify strengths and opportunities for improvement related to personal course design and instructional strategies

Week 3:  Online Syllabus and Schedule Design

• Explore the elements of an effective online syllabus/schedule
• Identify strengths and opportunities for improvement as related to your identified online course schedule and syllabus
• Draft an online syllabus/schedule that reflects quality standards

Week 4:  Online Learning Communities

• Explore key concepts regarding learning communities, presence and interactions
• Identify strengths and opportunities for improvement as related to your online course
• Describe strategies for integrating or enhancing community, presence and interaction in your online course

Week 5:  Online Learning Activities and Assessments

• Explore online learning activities and assessments
• Develop an online learning activity and an appropriate assessment strategy that aligns with an identified course learning objective

Week 6:  Teaching and Learning with Technology

• Explore and evaluate various online technologies and tools that may be used to support your learning objectives, online presence and interactions
• Identify online technology strategies that are appropriate for your course and your students

Week 7:  Curating Content and Copyright

• Explore strategies for curating content for your courses
• Explore institutional and regional copyright policies that may impact your course content
• Identify copyright issues as they pertain to your course content
• Identify curated content for your course that aligns with your course learning outcomes and adheres to your copyright policy

Week 8:  Accessibility and Usability Best Practices

• Explore best practices regarding accessibility and usability
• Identify strategies for integrating accessibility and usability into your online course

Week 9:  Workload Management and Summary Reflections

• Explore online faculty workload issues
• Identify strategies to manage workload
• Prepare to meet your mentor

Week 10:  Meeting Your Mentor and Next Steps

• Summarize key knowledge gained 
• Determine next steps in program that align with personal learning goals
• Meet your mentor
• Review syllabus and related course components with your mentor
• Identify and enroll in elective workshops

Dr. Ann Musgrove

Dr. Ann Musgrove is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning in the College of Education at Florida Atlantic University. She enjoys working with faculty and administrative teams to create, administer and deliver meaningful, flexible, learning environments. Ann has extensive experience designing professional development programs for instructors transitioning into online and blended learning environments. She embraces the philosophy of “Pedagogy before Technology”. Currently Ann teaches education courses online and face to face at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, and has been teaching online for over 15 years. She is actively involved with both the Online Learning Consortium (OLC) and Quality Matters (QM). She facilitates and creates workshops for OLC and has completed OLC’s Online Teaching Certificate (OTC) program. Ann found the OTC learning experience to be transformational and continues to support this valuable program by facilitating the foundation workshop and mentoring students in the program. Two courses she has developed have been nationally recognized by QM. Her QM experiences include serving as an Institution Representative and a master course reviewer. She also facilitates the online versions of the QM cornerstone workshop “Applying the Quality Matters Rubric”, “Teaching Online: An Introduction to Online Delivery” and “Peer Review Certification”.

• June 2016 Cohort – Jun-Aug
• July 2016 Cohort – July-Sept
• August 2016 Cohort – Aug-Oct
• September 2016 Cohort – Sep-Nov
• October 2016 Cohort – Oct-Dec

• Online teaching experience or completion of New to Online: The Essentials workshop
• An online or blended course that participants can revise or create that is at least two weeks in duration (LMS shell provided if needed)

Almost every OLC workshop can serve as an elective for your program.  Optionally, participants may choose to specialize in specific workshop concentrations.To specialize in a concentration, select workshop electives from the same track Current tracks include:

• Online Design
• Online Learners
• Online Tools
• Online Management

 

Any specializations will be noted on the program certificate of completion. If you do not want to specialize, you can select any three eligible workshops to meet your electives requirements.  Each workshop lists on the registration page whether it is or is not eligible to be an elective

To specialize in a Mastery Series, use the appropriate pricing option. Register/pay for the Foundation Course Only and then pay separately for either of the two mastery series options

Note: only workshops taken after beginning the Foundation Course of the Certificate Program can be applied as electives to complete the program.   Additionally, the workshop New to Online: The Essentials will not count as an elective.

You have two purchase options for the Certificate Program.

• Option 1: Foundation Course +3 Elective Workshops Package. The price for this option is $1849. This price includes the cost of the foundation course and the three electives. With this option, no membership discounts or college pass coupons can be used.

Note – you may not use the Mastery Series programs to fulfill your electives using this option. See Option 2 for more details.

• Option 2: Foundation Course Only. The price for this option is $1499 for the cost of the foundation course and no membership discounts or college pass coupons can be used. The three electives are purchased separately and may be funded by coupons available through OLC membership discounts and the OLC College Pass professional development package.

Note – if you plan to use the Blended Learning Mastery Series, the Mobile Learning Mastery Series, the Online Nursing Mastery Series, the Online Science Labs Mastery Series, or the Spatial Thinking and Web Mapping Mastery Series to fulfill your electives requirements, you must use option 2 and pay for the foundation course separately and then purchase one of the mastery series for your three electives.