Academic Innovation Blog

This past Fall 2018 semester, I am certain that none of us were celebrating the announced mandatory training series for online teaching. As if we have endless hours in our schedule just waiting for something to fill it…not! In addition to all the training, they throw in a 20-hour Quality Matters (QM) course. What is that all about?!

Before I talk about QM, I want to provide a little bit of context. I’ve been teaching online classes since the late 90’s when we used AOL messenger and not much else. Fast forward to 2019, we have all manner of amazing technologies available for online teaching. The virtual classroom looks very different than what it once did almost three decades ago, and even more different than the physical classroom!

Suddenly, students have access to college courses they may not have had access to in the more traditional face-to-face model. In addition, we also find ourselves in a competitive teaching marketplace where students have more choices beyond the traditional local community/state colleges. It is in this global economy and increased digitization that we begin to think about national standards for designing the online classroom.

This brings us back to why QM? QM is the gold standard for online course development and delivery. Our goal as an educational institution is to put student success first, while also remaining economically and competitively viable. Using nationally vetted quality assurance, course alignment, and foundational concepts provide DSC faculty with the insight to develop online courses with clarity and intention. Additionally, QM is data-driven, providing colleges and universities with the tools to measure online success and growth. QM also looks good on a resume and for accrediting bodies (both discipline specific and for SACSCOC).

Below is a video from Shoreline Community College providing some more context to why QM.

Daytona State College has been a QM member since 2012. This affiliation is now statewide, through the Florida QM Initiative. To learn more, click on Florida Shines link.

Online courses will remain transformative and fluid; we must continue to embrace the concepts of online course design and delivery to the highest standards we can to remain sustainable and relevant. I, for one, will do my utmost to make sure we are the ones leading the way by embracing the QM investment our college has made.

Martin Smith, MS, RHIA, CCA
Faculty, Health Information Programs
Daytona State College
martin.smith@daytonastate.edu
386-506-3748

Hello everyone! My name is Kara Parkes, and I am the new Online Retention Coordinator here at DSC! I’m currently splitting my time between Academic Advising and Online Studies, and I am primarily housed with my Advising counterparts. I’m here to advise online students and relay both the strengths and challenges they face at DSC in order to maintain the best environment for them. With Daytona State’s innovative adoption of online programs so early in the game, we lead the pack in experience and knowledge of online programs. I know without a doubt that we can translate these attributes into a remarkable success story for our students.

I have previously worked in higher education in both the admissions and counseling departments at other institutions. I am looking forward to being in another student support role and helping students who are both near and far from campus feel right at home here in the Falcon family.

Finally, I would like to say “thank you” to those of you that I have already met! Everyone has been so welcoming and kind, and I have already learned so much from each of you. If you would like to stay up to date with Online Studies, please subscribe to the blog, and please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or suggestions for me as well!

Kara Parkes
Online Retention Coordinator, Academic Advising
kara.parkes@daytonastate.edu
386-506-3895
https://library.daytonastate.edu/onlinereadiness 

In Fall 2018, the Division of Online Studies launched the Online Faculty training series, developed for faculty who currently teach fully online classes. This training is the result of a concerted effort to address success gaps in online versus face-to-face classes, support the development of knowledgeable and innovative faculty, and ensure a high-quality online educational experience for students.

Most faculty are required to finish the training series by June 30, 2019; however, faculty who were hired in the Spring 2019 will have additional time to complete the series. If you are unsure which cohort you belong to, please contact your chair or the Division of Online Studies. Below are the cohort schedules for the next four semesters:

I want to begin teaching online in....

Fall 2019

• Begin series in Fall 2018.
• Complete by June 30, 2019.

Spring 2020

• Begin series in Spring 2019.
• Complete before Fall B, 2019.

Summer 2020

• Begin series in Summer 2019.
• Complete before Spring B, 2020.

Fall 2020

• Begin series in Fall 2019.
• Complete before Summer B, 2020.

To learn more about the training series and find links to register for workshops, please click on our Training page. This 45-hour training is required for all faculty (full-time and adjunct) who teach fully online classes. Upon completion of the required 45 hours, faculty will be compensated for completing this series at a non-instructional rate ($20 hr/$900.00 total). Faculty who have already taken parts of this series will not need to retake classes and will still receive the full 45-hour stipend.

As always, we encourage you to subscribe to this blog so that you can comment and ask questions. When you subscribe you will also receive email notifications of future posts. You can also contact us in the FIC at fic@daytonastate.edu or 386.506.3485 for assistance. Or visit us between 8AM - 5PM M - F.

Cheryl Kohen
Director, Division of Online Studies
cheryl.kohen@daytonastate.edu
386-506-3405
http://www.daytonastate.edu/onlinestudies/ 

Our review standard #16, Continuous Course Improvement, is on the rubric for online class design because we believe students should have the opportunity to provide feedback specific to course design, content, and the online user experience. Feedback is important because it helps you, the instructor, understand their online classroom experience, and it gives you the chance to improve your course. Examples of student feedback include a Discussion topic, Office 365 form, and a survey within Falcon Online. This blog is to assist you with the survey tool in Falcon Online.

Fortunately, for the faculty members that completed the online training series, the Learning Object Repository (LOR) is familiar to you. For those faculty that have not taken LOR training, I recommend highly that you invest an hour of your time because the LOR is a valuable resource, especially if you teach multiple sections of the same course. The questions exist in two folders in the Daytona State College LOR and are ready for you to import into a survey within your course.

After you retrieve the objects and import the folders into your Question Library, you can select all of the questions or just a few to personalize the survey to your needs. It works best to import the questions and then review them afterward. The Course Feedback folder has questions to assess course understanding, skill, attitudes, and integration of learning, while the Course Design Survey folder has questions to address course design and navigation. All of the questions and statements are set up as a Likert scale so students can provide you with a range of answers. The screencast video guides you through the steps to import the questions from the LOR, create a survey and set up the properties, and add the questions to the survey.

Transcript (6:46 mins)

Keep in mind the option to create your own survey questions with a scale that is appropriate for your discipline, course design, skills, and technology. Learn more about the Online Class Peer Review Process, find additional resources, tools, and support. The objects available to you are a starting point, so feel free to create your own or stop by the Faculty Innovation Center for additional assistance with the survey tool.

Aaron Sunday
Instructional Designer, Division of Online Studies
aaron.sunday@daytonastate.edu | 386-506-3209 
http://www.daytonastate.edu/onlinestudies/

SU19 Course shells are available April 1st, 2019

Around this time of the semester, we often are asked when the next semester course shells will be made available to students and faculty. Falcon Online college credit courses are controlled by an automated process that creates the course shells and enrolls students and instructors. Falcon Online shells are generated 45 days prior to the start of the following semester and instructors are enrolled during this period into their specific course shells.

Student enrollments begin 30 days prior to the start of the semester, students can see their courses, but cannot access the course until the first day of the semester start date. All students can access the Falcon Online home page that has announcements for students and faculty. If you wish to contact your students before classes begin, you can use the Falcon Online course shell to send an email using the Classlist tool welcoming students and providing any housekeeping updates such as information about course materials or initial assignments.

The Falcon Online enrollments update daily at 7:30am, 2:30pm, 9:30pm, and 2:30am. As always, if you have questions, feel free to contact the Faculty Innovation Center at 386-506-3485 or FIC@daytonastate.edu.

IT/Instructional Resources
helpdesk@daytonastate.edu | (386) 506-3950
http://daytonastate.edu/help/faculty.html