Teaching via Blackboard
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.
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 Ultra
- Develop engaging and interactive course materials and activities
- Design exams using best practices for online exams
- Effectively use tools such as Blackboard Ultra, Panopto and Zoom
- 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 Ultra
- Participate in one of Quality Matters’ (QM) professional development trainings for online teaching and development
Meet the Instructional Development Team
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 (For best results, please download as a Word document)
- Based on Quality Matters Higher Education Rubric, Sixth Edition.
- Recommended Syllabus Template (For best results, please download as a Word document)
- 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