HBCU Summit: Creating Your Own OER? Consider Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT)

Concurrent Session 4
HBCU

Brief Abstract

8:30am - 8:45am: Warming up for the next climb to the summit
8:45am - 9:25am: Creating Your Own OER? Consider Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT) 
Karen Nichols, Xavier University of Louisiana​

Studies show that just two instances of transparent instruction in a term significantly enhanced students' success, with even greater gains for first-generation, low-income and underrepresented college students. Transparent teaching methods help students understand how and why they are learning course content in particular ways. Participants are shown an overview of the TILT program. The Assignment Template is given to the participants with examples from various disciplines. The presenter discusses the positive impact of changing one assignment in her own online class. Additional resources as well as how to sign up for the research study are provided.

9:25am - 9:40am: Questions, answers and reflections on applying lessons learned

Presenters

Lead Presenter: Karen Nichols, Xavier University of Louisiana

Karen N. Nichols is the Distance Education Coordinator at Xavier University of Louisiana. She holds a doctorate in Romance Languages from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has been involved in distance education for over twenty years at the secondary and post-secondary levels. She has developed and taught online courses in French and Spanish and has conducted numerous workshops and mentoring training sessions for online instructors on such diverse topics as accessibility, providing excellent student feedback and using avatars. Of particular importance, is OER (Online Educational Resources) and she is a member of the steering committee of HBCU-Innovate. Xavier has just partnered with MERLOT to bring AL$ (Affordable Learning Solutions) to the campus. Dr. Nichols holds memberships in POD (Professional and Organizational Network of Higher Education), and Francophonie des Amériques. She is part of Xavier’s Center for Continuing Studies and Distance Education (http://xula.edu/ccsde/) and assists the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Faculty Development (http://cat.xula.edu/). She is training faculty in using Brightspace and is the lead on implementing SLATE for Graduate Admissions.

Extended Abstract