Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

Event Name/Location

Best Practices in Online Teaching and Learning Workshop / Nova Southeastern University

Presentation Date

Summer 2020

Document Type

Dataset

ORCID ID

0000-0002-4542-7476

Keywords

new normal, pandemic, COVID-19, online teaching and learning, best practices, faculty perceptions, faculty development

Description

During the months of May and June 2020, the Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography in collaboration with the Learning and Educational Center (LEC) hosted a series of Faculty and Staff Professional Development workshops.

The “Best Practices in Online Teaching and Learning, Level 1” was designed, created, and facilitated by Dr. Judith Slapak-Barski, Instructional Technology and Design Specialist at the Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography. This workshop was designed to bridge the gap between the immediate need to move all courses to the online environment as a response to the COVID-19 Pandemic and faculty and staff’s readiness to teach online. The workshop was divided into four main areas: (1) Andragogy and Pillars of Online Teaching & Learning; (2) Building Online Courses; (3) Facilitating Online Courses (Promoting Interaction & Communication); (4) Assessing Learners and Enhancing Retention and Transfer of Knowledge.

During this 3-hour synchronous online workshop delivered through Zoom, Dr. Slapak-Barski “modeled the model” of active learning in online education by utilizing a myriad of highly interactive activities that faculty can readily apply to engage students in their own online courses. In one of these interactive synchronous online activities, the workshop facilitator prompted a group discussion by presenting participants with the following message: “We are not moving back to normal, we are moving forward to a new normal” (referring to resuming learning activities after the COVID-19 Pandemic), and after a group discussion on recent events and rushed switch to online learning, the workshop facilitator asked participating faculty and staff to input their thoughts in a shared editable Google form, as their perceptions of the characteristics of “Online Education Done in a Hurry” as compared and contrasted with “Online Education Done Right”. Participants were presented with an editable chart made up of two columns: the left column was titled “Online Education Done Right”, and the right column was titled “Moving Online in a Hurry - AKA Remote Learning”. Participants were also asked to input their name in parenthesis, but their names were removed after the workshop concluded to maintain confidentiality. The resulting dataset is presented.

After completing the chart, participants particularly appreciated the synchronous engagement of this activity. They were especially excited when they saw that they could write at the same time as their peers, and kept commenting on the appeal of such an activity. At the conclusion of the workshop, many participants expressed a strong interest in a future follow-up session, digging deeper into the topics presented.

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