Syllabus

AO102 – Arcadia Online Instructor Course

Arcadia University

Valerie Green
Office: 2005 Church Road
E-mail: greenv@arcadia.edu
Work Phone: 267.620.4744

Welcome!

Welcome to the Online Instructor Training course at Arcadia University. This course is for all online
instructors. It will not only cover the specifics of teaching online courses at Arcadia, but also the general
pedagogy of online learning. If you’re new to online learning we hope this course marks the beginning of
a rewarding journey. If you’ve already taught online at another university, we hope this course will
familiarize you with online courses at Arcadia, provide you with some new and useful knowledge, and
give you an opportunity to share your experiences teaching online.

Required Materials

Since this course is being delivered online, your computer should meet minimum hardware and
software requirements. For this course, you will need to have access to Microsoft Office, or software
that can author MS Office formats (Open Office or Google Docs for example), and a working
microphone.

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for this course.

Minimum Technical Skills Expected

1. The ability to use a web browser, like Internet Explorer or Firefox, to navigate websites.
2. The ability to use your Arcadia e-mail address to send and receive e-mails.
3. The ability to use word processing software to read, author, edit and save documents.
4. The ability to use a search engine, like Google, to find information on the web.
Evaluation

Unit 1 (Learning Blackboard) 25%

Unit 2 (Online Pedagogy) 25%
Unit 3 (Managing your course) 25%
Unit 4 (Unit Simulation) 25%

Introduction

Course Objectives

 Demonstrate the procedural and technical skills required to instruct an online course in the
Blackboard Learning Management System.
 Instruct a unit in an online course, via simulation, exemplifying the best practices for teaching
online given in the course.
 Inspect and prepare the course you are teaching for use.
 Reflect upon your experiences of being a student in an online course.

This course is being presented in an online fashion. It is important that you login on a regular basis and
work on a consistent basis to complete your requirements. Since we are not meeting face to face, it will
be imperative that you participate in the discussion board, and contact the professor as needed. Also,
the Cyber Cafe is available for you to develop community outside of the course content.

You will need to be self-motivated and try to stay as organized as possible; developing a schedule is a
good strategy for succeeding in online courses.

Requirements for Discussion Board Sessions

1. When quoting the work of another scholar, it is important that you cite the work correctly. The
following are examples of what is expected when referring to the work of another scholar.

Example within the context of the posting:

"Constructivism is an epistemology, a theory of knowledge used to explain how we know what
we know" (Lorsbach, 1997).

Example at the end of the posting:

Lorsbach, A. (1997). Constructivism as a Referent for Science Teaching. Retrieved January 5,
2006, from http://www.exploratorium.edu/IFI/resources/research/constructivism.html
 2. You are required to respond to other student postings for forums that require interaction with
your peers. I will be looking at the way you analyze the postings and extend the conversation.
Please use this opportunity to share your own experiences, but remember to support your
assertions with current research findings. At this level we can all learn a great deal by sharing
our experiences.

"Studies report that peer learning promotes greater conceptual and procedural gains for
students, accommodates a broad range of learning styles, results in greater enjoyment of the
learning task, and encourages a stronger persistence in learning" (Johnson & Johnson, 1999).”

3. Your postings will be evaluated based upon the substantive nature and how it efficiently
addresses the question at hand. Simple responses such as "I agree" are of no value and will not
be counted as an acceptable posting. Try to use what I call the "no scroll" rule. If you have to
scroll a great deal to read the posting, it becomes an arduous task. Please try to be succinct and
to the point. Strive to respond at the synthesis or evaluation levels.

Discussion Etiquette

In this course, I welcome the creation of a dialogue that is open, thoughtful, and founded on the basis of
research. At times, some of you will not agree on the positions that are taken in the forum. This diversity
is welcomed. However, each student must exercise respect for the thoughts and comments that are
posted by their peers. If any posted comments are inappropriate or of an offensive nature, they will be
removed from the forum and I will address the issue with the author of the content. Please follow the
following guidelines:

 Never post, transmit, promote, or distribute content that is known to be illegal.

 Never post harassing, threatening, or embarrassing comments.
 If you disagree with someone, respond to the subject, not the person.
 Never post content that is harmful, abusive, racially, ethnically, or religiously offensive, vulgar or
otherwise potentially offensive.

Unit Schedule

Unit 1 – Learning Blackboard

Objectives

 Tsw (the student will) correctly create a discussion board post that includes an attachment
and a link.
 Tsw will reply appropriately to another person’s discussion board post.
 Tsw will use Blackboard’s “Send Email” feature to email everyone in the course, and email
the instructor individually.
 Tsw will use Wimba Classroom to meet with the instructor.
  Tsw will navigate all of Unit 1 and evaluate their “first week” experience of using Blackboard
as a student.

Readings & Materials

1. Tutorials for the following Blackboard tools: Discussion Boards, Send E-mail, The visual text
editor, Wimba Classroom.

Assignments

1. Introduce Yourself
2. Sending E-mails
3. Meet with the instructor in Live Classroom
4. Unit 1 Reflection

Unit 2 – Online Pedagogy

Objectives

 From the best practices given in the unit, TSW evaluate and rank them in order of their impact
on promoting student learning, as perceived by the student.
 From the Assess Online Facilitation (AOF) document, TSW reflect on the many responsibilities of
an online instructor.

Readings & Materials

1. Ragan, L. (n.d.). 10 principles of effective online teaching: best practices in distance education.
Retrieved from http://www.facultyfocus.com/free-report/principles-of-effective-online-
teaching-best-practices-in-distance-education/. (26 pages)
2. The 5 P's of Effective Online Instruction. Retrieved from
http://www.outreach.washington.edu/teaching/online_instructor_training/Instr-
Training/guidelines.html. (5 pages)
3. Van Duzer, J. (2007). Assessing online facilitation (aof) instrument. Retrieved from
http://www.humboldt.edu/~aof/aof.htm. (4 pages)

Assignments

1. Rank Best Practices

2. Discuss the AOF instrument

Unit 3 – Managing your course

Objectives
  Tsw will demonstrate the use of the following Blackboard tools: Grade Book,
Announcements, and Wimba Voice Authoring.
 Tsw will choose best practices from unit 2 and select appropriate tools in Blackboard
needed to implement those best practices.

Unit 3 Readings & Materials

1. Tutorials for the following Blackboard tools: Grade Center, Announcements, Voice
Authoring.

Unit 3 Assignments

1. Tips to Tools
2. Give Feedback

Unit 4 – Unit Simulation

Objectives

 Tsw instruct an online unit and successfully demonstrate the use of the Blackboard tools
included in the unit.
 Tsw instruct an online unit and apply the best practices taught in previous units.
 Tsw analyze their experience of taking an online course.

Unit 4 Readings & Materials

1. A unit chosen by the instructor from each student’s content area.

Unit 4 Assignments

1. Run Online Unit

2. Course Reflection