Faculty Online Course Readiness

• Since most of us have busy lifestyles, online courses are a great alternative to face-to-face courses. Just because online courses are more flexible, that does not mean you can spend less time teaching the material. Make sure to provide enough time for editing content, responding to students, grading student submissions, etc.
• Develop a routine. Pick certain times of the day when you work. This will make good use of your time and let students know you are not available 24/7.
• Try to have most, if not all, of the course built before the semester begins. This prevents you from scrambling at the last minute to add content. This will also save you time responding to student complaints asking for content that should be available.
• The first time you build/teach an online course may be cumbersome. Just like anything in life, it will take time to adapt.

• Communicate on a regular basis. Pick certain times of the day when you respond to students. This will make good use of your time and let students know you are not available 24/7.
• Create ice breakers in the discussion board for you and your students to provide introductions. This may help create a more friendly environment and a chance to get to know your students.
• Make it known to students the best way and best time to get in contact with you. Course Messages, Email, and web conferencing are all great tools that can be utilized in an online course. Make sure you are consistent with the tool you use, so students do not get confused.

• Assessment of student learning in the online environment offers as many options as you can incorporate in on-ground classes. Course management systems all offer quiz/test modules with great flexibility. Typically, you can have nearly any form of test from simple multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank, to matching, short answer and essay. Quizzes/tests can be timed or open-ended. They can be set to allow the student more than one chance at an answer, or they can be set for one attempt only. They can be time released for a specific date and time period, or they can be conditionally released based upon students meeting a specified criteria. Finally, some of these tests can be automatically computer-scored and entered into an electronic grade book, while others will require manual grading and grade book updating. The specific options that are available for quizzes/tests will vary somewhat by Course Management System. However, you will find enough flexibility in any of the advanced CMSs to more than meet your testing needs.
• Beyond quizzes and tests, online assessments are much like designing interactions: they are limited almost solely by the instructor imagination. One of the most interesting parts of designing assessments is to develop 'authentic' measures which present tasks that allow students to reflect the kind of mastery that they would be expected to be able to demonstrate in a real world situation. Such strategies typically assess the higher order learning that is reflected in the Bloom taxonomy levels of analysis, synthesis and evaluation.
• Regardless of the assessment strategy used, aligning assessment to course goals and learning objectives and communicating expectations to students is critical. Students need to know what will be assessed, how it will be assessed, and they need some guideline by which they can monitor their own achievement to see if they are meeting the expectations before they submit an assignment or project. The relationship of performance standards to grades also must to be specified. The need to communicate these factors to students is not unique to the online environment. However, clear requirements are more important in situations where it is not quite as easy for students to resolve issues of clarity and instructor intent. Rubrics provide a very helpful tool in this area. They can help to define expectations for students more clearly and can also help instructors deal with subjective evaluation more objectively.
• Assessment is a major part of course design and specific assessment activities are typically in place by the time the instructor begins actually facilitating the course.

The Illinois Information Technology Accessibility Act (Public Act 095-0307) became law on August 20, 2007. The ITAA requires Illinois State agencies and universities to ensure that their websites, systems, and other information technologies are accessible to people with disabilities. The Illinois State Library (ISL), after a review of the Act and the Standards for its implementation developed by the Illinois Department of Human Services, has developed a series of policies for compliance. A central tenet of those policies is that, to the greatest extent possible given fiscal, staffing and technological constraints, as permitted by the ITAA, the ISL will provide accessible versions of materials created by the ISL and contained in our online collections upon the request of our patrons.

Please view the GSU Web Accessibility Policy and Standards.

• Aside from the basic computer skills, such as keyboard shortcuts, utilizing web browsers, and sending/receiving emails, instructors should understand how to use different Learning Management Systems (LMS), web conferencing software, and social media. Volunteer to learn new technology that will help students understand the material.
• Make sure you have the appropriate tools to get the job done. A reliable computer, a strong internet connection, and the appropriate plug-ins to accommodate the LMS. Since GSU's LMS is Blackboard, you can find more information on getting your computer Blackboard ready on the Technology Requirements page.
• Instructors should be flexible. Technology is changing everyday. In case a technology no longer works in your course or a glitch occurs, you should have a backup. You can then make the appropriate changes to resolve the issue.
• Get to know your school's LMS. Come to the Faculty Workshops or use the Faculty Tutorials to understand how Blackboard works, so you can better setup courses and assist your students.

In order to gain access to Blackboard, instructors must complete the FERPA form. Please allow several business days for the FERPA approval. A member from IT will notify you when the request has been processed.

If you would like for a student to become a Teaching Assistant in your online course, a FERPA form must be complete for that student.

To access the GSU FERPA tutorial and form, please visit the FERPA webpage.

• From the Governors State University's homepage: Proceed to www.govst.edu webpage and scroll to the bottom. Under the Academics column, select Blackboard.
• From the myGSU portal: Proceed to the and login to the myGSU portal using your GSU username and password. Select the orange eLearning Blackboard button above the Quick Links section.
• From the GSU Blackboard web address: Proceed to the Blackboard login webpage.

• After you login to a course, notice the left navigation menu. Students will be able to click on those menu links to access materials.
• Under the left navigation menu is the Control Panel. Access Course Tools, such as Collaborate Ultra (web conferencing), Discussion Board, Rubrics, and more. Also in the Control Panel are Course Reports, the Full Grade Center, and Course Copy. Students only have access to the left navigation menu and cannot view the Control Panel.
• In content areas, such as Syllabus & Orientation, Course Content, Assignments, and Quizzes and Exams, you may add materials, such as Items (read-only), Files (from your computer or the course), Assignments (drop box for student submissions), and Tests. You may add these materials using the action bar that contains Build Content, Assessments, Tools, and Partner Content.
• Hovering over titles shows a chevron (down arrow), which is an options menu. Click this to open the options available to that particular item.
• Near the upper right corner you will notice Edit Mode is ON/OFF. Select on to show all instructor functions and OFF to hide all instructor functions. Turning Edit Mode OFF is similar to what students will view.
• Near the upper right corner you will notice Student Preview (sphere with arrows icon). Click this icon to change roles from Instructor to Student. This view will show exactly what the students can see.

For more information, please visit the Navigate Inside a Course webpage.

Cross-listing is merging two or more courses/sections together for one course shell in Blackboard. This must be approved by the department chair. If the department chair approves, the department will add the cross-listed courses/sections to Colleague. Once in Colleague, the cross-listed course will be created in Blackboard when the course creation script is run.

Blackboard course shells may be requested for "academic use" only and are subject to approval by your department.

For more information regarding the non-academic course request, please visit the Course Guidelines webpage.

Similar to the Complete FERPA section above, since students will be working with other students grades, they will have to go through the FERPA training and fill out the FERPA form. This form will be signed by the instructor and chair for approval.

For more information regarding adding a Teaching Assistant to a course, please visit the Course Guidelines webpage.