Faculty Development
In past FutureU™ Programs . . .
. . . 83% of participants said they felt like “intermediate,” “advanced” or even “professional” Web course builders when answering our post-training evaluations.
In our before training readiness assessments, two-thirds of mainstream faculty (not early adopters) called themselves “beginners.”
Source: Internal data.
Overview
The online classroom represents a whole new way of communicating and learning, with its own set of challenges and opportunities. Even the best vendor training only scratches the surface. Until now, the only other alternative was to enroll in an expensive graduate or certificate program that might take a year or more to complete.
FutureU™ is proud to offer our time-tested orientation and advancement program for planning, building, and teaching an online or blended course. This program helps you achieve real competence with the skills, tools and processes involved in technology-mediated education—in just six weeks.
Participants work online as part of a cohort of peers designing courses and are guided by an educator who is an expert in both research-proven learning methods and pedagogically sound instructional design. The program instructor guides participants step-by-step through the four phases of online course development:
- Discovery
- Design
- Development
- Delivery
Participants unfold their courses, each at his or her own organization or institution and with their own students in a way that truly encourages interactive collaborative learning. This is the development program for instructors who are serious about using technology in their courses and want an easy, low-cost way to prepare for success.
Participant Profile
For instructors and course designers who are ready to add technology-enriched learning activities to their existing courses or who want to build a course that is delivered completely online. This program will help you make the most of your investment in hardware and software as you plan, create, and deliver courses with one or more technology components.
You will learn the best ways to add and use online course tools like discussion forums, chat, email attachments, organized lessons and assignments, group learning activities, and more.
Delivery Options
- Two delivery options:
- Online Delivery: 100% online and six weeks in length.
- Blended Delivery. Two one-day, face-to-face workshops surrounded by 4 weeks of online time.
- Instructor Supported.
- 1-year license for the FutureU™ Faculty Web Book: Make the Most of Teaching Online.
- 1-year access to a learning community for online educators.
Participants “attend class” from their own desktop or laptop computer, at home or at work, and at whatever time is most convenient to them. In either delivery format, online participation requires an average of 1 hour per day, 5 out of 7 days per week.
Price
$8,000.00 for up to 40 participants ($200 each) if delivered online or up to 20 participants ($400 each) if delivered in a blended format. Customization and tailoring are available for an additional fee. Contact us directly for an estimate.
Instructor
This program is usually led by FutureU™ co-founder Claude Whitmyer, who has been learning and teaching online since the early 1980s before the World Wide Web became publicly available. His friendly communication style makes it easy for participants to master the sometimes challenging tools of Web-based instruction, and his skillful use of threading, harvesting, weaving and other hallmarks of good online facilitation provides a model for every instructor. Mr. Whitmyer will be assisted by one or more FutureU associates who have been trained in FutureU’s effective online facilitation methods and who have themselves completed this program.
Topics Covered
Part 1: Help Your Students Succeed At E-Learning.
Available as the first part of this program or as a stand-alone module. Participants solidify and build on what they already know about e-learning.
- The advantages and challenges.
- The unique time management skills.
- The unique structural elements.
- Navigation.
- Hardware/software requirements.
- Email and discussion skills.
- File sharing.
- Internet research.
- Standards for frequency and style of participation.
- Ergonomic and other safety issues.
- Facilitation skills for online group interaction and collaboration.
Part 2: Plan and Create a Technology Enriched Course.
A step-by-step walk-through of the four phases of course design as they apply to e-learning, with a checklist for each phase.
- How to accommodate different learning styles in the online environment.
- Overcoming time management and workload issues.
- Site visits to and discussion about existing online courses.
- Differences between the physical and electronic classroom.
- Differences between traditional learning and facilitated collaborative learning.
- Considerations of time and place.
- Possible delivery mixes, learning structures, learning activities, and media choices unique to e-learning.
- Benefits and limitations of various media, with ideas to help you choose the right combination for your purposes.
- Mapping, storyboarding, chunking and linking, and sequencing.
- Three types of presentation design.
- Facilitation skills for asynchronous discussions, including harvesting and weaving.
- How to effectively use chat.
- Audio and video on the Web.
- Introduction to basic HTML codes for creating Web pages and enhancing their appearance.
- Link to valuable course resources.
- Tracking and evaluating assignments.
- Tips for launching your online course in a way that encourages participation.
- Annotated list of print books that can further deepen your own and your students’ understanding of the Internet and e-learning.
- Hyperlinks to many other Web sites that address specific aspects of e-learning and technology-enriched course development.
Required Readings
FutureU’s Faculty WebBook: Make the Most of Teaching Online
- Volume 1: “The Student View of Technology-Enriched Learning”
- (A specially annotated version of FutureU’s Student WebBook: .)
- Volume 2: “Planning and Creating a Technology-Enriched Course”
Access to both volumes is included for each participant.
Prerequisites
Participation in an online course like this one is not difficult but it does require discipline, forethought, and the willingness to take the time required. Armed with these, successful completion is a matter of taking one step after another, asking questions, and sharing in the joy of learning. Here are the basics you’ll need to get started:
- Ability to work at a detailed level.
- Eagerness to try some new ways of thinking about teaching and learning.
- Ability to keep going in the face of sometimes challenging and frustrating experiences.
- Typing skill of 100% accuracy at a net 20 words per minute, minimum.
- Basic computer literacy, including how to use Windows and Windows Explorer or macOS and Mac Finder, how to use a mouse, and so forth.
- Ability to enter an HTTP URL into the address window of a browser and have the page come up.
- Ability to create directories or folders and to use Notepad or another text editor to make and save files to a particular directory or folder.
- Familiarity with a major-brand word-processing software, such as Microsoft Word or Libre Office Writer is strongly recommended.
Technical Requirements
Internet access and an Internet email address.
Delivery Options
“Off-the-shelf” or customized to meet your organization’s needs. Often delivered entirely online, via FutureU ‘s Web-based virtual “classroom in the cloud.” May be delivered to groups of 10 or more participants on your own e-learning platform. Also offered for on-site delivery with a shorter period of online participation.
Customization
The FutureU™ team can customize this course to address your particular requirements and preferences. For example, the version we created for Missouri State University included resources and examples provided by the client contact (a dean of one of the colleges). Contact us directly for more information about customization.
Learn More
For more information about our custom faculty development programs for online teaching and learning, contact us directly.