This online course provides prospective online tutors with an opportunity to develop the skills and experience they need to teach effectively online. The target audience for the course is teachers delivering education online, academics looking to develop new skills for teaching undergraduate and postgraduate-level courses online and organisations involved in Continuing Professional Development who wish to improve the effectiveness of their distance learning courses. The course is also suitable for individuals looking to deliver training online or those interested in facilitating online collaborative spaces. The programme fee is £795. Period: Mon 28 May to Fri 13 Jul 2012. Applications for this course are being accepted now.
The course provides a practical introduction to the social, administrative and pedagogical techniques of teaching online. Focused specifically on teaching, rather than on designing or developing online courses, this course will introduce you to the role of the online tutor through selected reading, group discussions, role-playing, case studies and other activities.
This is an online course – there is no requirement for attendance at the University of Oxford at any stage of the course.
In this course we will: explore the online learning environment; identify the responsibilities and practical skills required by online tutors; look at techniques for managing and facilitating online activities; and consider the challenges of teaching online.
Learning by doing is a key concept of this course, and you will have lots of opportunities to try out new skills and techniques and share your experience with other tutors.
This course will use Moodle as the learning management system and Adobe Connect Professional for synchronous activities (which enables the simultaneous delivery of voice, video and presentation documents to imitate a traditional tutorial environment).
The course will last for seven weeks with the course materials being made available to students for one month at the end of the course for consolidation and reflection. The first week of the course will be self-paced (tutor support will be available if required during this week) and weeks 2-6 will be tutor-led. The course tutor will also be available during week 7 to answer any outstanding questions from students, but there will be no formal course activities during this week.
The total study time of the course will be 30-48 hours to study the core content (5-8 hours per week for each of weeks 1-6) plus any additional time students spend reflecting on the course in week 7. Note that the course offers additional optional material during weeks 2-6.
- Introduction & learning outcomes – Each unit will start with a summary of the topics to be covered and will include a list of learning outcomes for the unit.
- Topics – Three to six topics will be explored in each unit. Topics will include an overview of the subject with a range of activities (some individual and some group) to explore the topic in more detail.
- Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional tutorial – Units 2-6 will include a synchronous tutorial using the Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional software. Note that tutorials are normally performed either Tuesday or Wednesday evenings at 8pm GMT. You will not be required to purchase this software.
- Summary & reflections – Each unit will include a summary providing an overview of the key points and will also include a ‘reflections’ discussion forum to encourage participants to reflect on their experiences and what they have learnt so far.
- Further reading – Most units will conclude with a list of further reading.
There will be no formal assessment for this course.
In order to complete this course and receive a certificate of completion, you will need to actively take part in the group activities; complete the four tutor-marked assignments; give a presentation in one of the „Presenting and facilitating online” online tutorials held during unit 4 of the course; and participate in a minimum of two of the other online tutorials delivered during the course. You are expected to make at least one substantive posting to the majority of the discussion topics initiated by your tutor. As a matter of courtesy, you should treat any discussion topics started by your fellow students in a similar manner.
Programme fee is: £795.00
Programme details
- Unit 1 – Tools for Teaching Online
- Unit 2 – Introduction to Teaching and Learning Online (unit 2 is available as a free trial unit)
- Unit 3 – Communicating with Students
- Unit 4 – Effective Teaching in the Online Environment (2 weeks study are allocated for this unit)
- Unit 5 – Meeting the Challenges of Teaching Online
- Unit 6 – Post-Course Reflection and Consolidation
More info: http://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/courses/X990-1