Teaching via Blackboard | Online & Distance Education

Online & Distance Education (ODE), in cooperation with ITS-Educational Technology and the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, provides comprehensive instructional support for faculty members who wish to develop online courses. instructional developers work individually with faculty and staff using Blackboard, Our online learning management system, to develop courses in an online format. No prior experience with Blackboard or specialized knowledge of the Internet is required.

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Instructional Development Support

As you consider developing a new course online or revising an existing one, our Instructional Development (ID) team is ready to help you with all aspects of the online course development process – from implementation or revision to developing interesting and engaging course activities, and anything in between.

Let us help you...

Convert course content to an online format within Blackboard
Develop engaging and interactive course materials and activities
Design exams using best practices for online exams
Effectively use tools such as Blackboard, Panopto, Zoom, Turnitin and VoiceThread
Troubleshoot technical issues as the course progresses
Become familiar with the Blackboard environment and its instructional features
Identify course options and provide course content design recommendations

Prior to converting course materials online, we ask that instructors do the following:

Review ODE’s operational procedures for online courses
Consult with ODE to share course objectives
Provide course content electronically, so your assigned instructional developer can place it into Blackboard
Participate in one of Quality Matters’ (QM) professional development trainings for online teaching and development

Meet the Instructional Development Team

Michelle Kosalka

Instructional Support Services Manager

michelle.kosalka@uni.edu
319-273-7203

Caran Howard

Lead Instructional Development Specialist

caran.howard@uni.edu
319-273-7639

Kara Guyer

Instructional Development Specialist

kara.guyer@uni.edu
319-273-6736

Christine Hilger

Instructional Development Specialist

christine.hilger@uni.edu
319-273-7885

Kristin Johnson

Instructional Development Specialist

kristin.johnson1@uni.edu
319-273-2400

Online Teaching and Design Resources

Designing an online course comes with its own set of particular benefits and challenges, and teaching online also presents benefits and challenges. To help make your course as engaging and effective as possible, here are some helpful resources:

ODE Recommended Syllabus Template

Recommended Syllabus Template (Use your CatID to access this file)
- Based on Quality Matters Higher Education Rubric, Sixth Edition.

Engagement

Engage Students. Teaching Remotely, University of Washington.
Faculty Focus. (September 30, 2021). Student Engagement Strategies: Encouraging Behavioral, Emotional, and Cognitive Engagement in Your Course.
Infande, A. (September 21, 2022). The Two Best Practices for Successful Online Teaching and Learning. Faculty Focus.
Crawford, S. (June 22, 2022). Creating Social Presence with Single Presenter Videos. Quality Matters.
Roth, S. (September 14, 2022). Cultivating Connection in a Course Setting. Faculty Focus.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) / Accessibility / Inclusion

Brooks, R. and Day Grady, S. (May 3, 2022). Course Design Considerations for Inclusion and Representation. Quality Matters White Paper.
Lynch, M. (July 20, 2021). Applying Universal design for Learning in Remote Classrooms. The Tech Edvocate.
Blackboard: Accessibility Features in Blackboard Learn
Howard. C. (March, 4, 2020). Designing for Accessibility: How to Front-Load Your Digital Content with UDL Principles. Faculty Focus.
Panopto: Learn About Best Practices for Captioning
Tobin, T. 2 Minute Takeaways: What Is Universal Design for Learning (UDL)? Innovative Educators.
WebAIM: Accessible Documents: Word, PowerPoint, & Acrobat

Course Design / Best Practices

Faculty Focus: Faculty Focus Live Podcasts
Gober, C., Locher, M., and Schisler, L. (June 1, 2022). Ten Online Course Structural Components to Support Learning. Faculty Focus.
McLaughlin, L., and Ricevuto, J. (June 2, 2021). Assessments in a Virtual Environment: You Won’t Need that Lockdown Browser! Faculty Focus.
Panopto: Learn About Recording Best Practices
Resources for Strategies and Course Design Development to Promote Academic Integrity.
Quality Matters: Standards from the QM Higher Education Rubric, Sixth Edition.
Zoom: Webinars and Zoom Meetings best practices