Written by Kendall Job, Editorial Intern

For the fourth academic year in a row, CITL held the Create Your Own Online Course Workshop for faculty members and teaching assistants. Several in-person and online streamed sessions, with topics regarding online learning, were offered each day for those looking for guidance on generating their online course material and designing classes. 

“The Instructional Design Team started this workshop to reach faculty and TAs who… we couldn’t provide the full development service to...” said CITL Program Management Analyst Katie Dalpiaz. “Or they weren’t sure what course they wanted to offer but instead just wanted a little bit more information about online education in general.” 

Workshop sessions were conducted by members of the Instructional Design and Media Resources Teams, as well as the Faculty Development Team, among others. The workshop always begins with a presentation by a veteran faculty member who has created and operated an online course before. 

“This year, the faculty member who presented actually attended this workshop about a year ago… so that gets [the attendees] excited,” Dalpiaz noted. Faculty and TAs have found it helpful to hear from someone the workshop has helped in order to see the success it can help create in online course design. 

Topics of presentation included learning objective development, online assessments and interaction in online courses. Faculty sometimes find it challenging to engage with their online students since there is no face-to-face interaction. One session specifically included tips on how to increase engagement in online instruction.

“Especially with the interaction in an online course piece, I think a lot of faculty members aren’t sure where to start with that… so if these faculty members incorporate some of those activities that include interaction, it’s a better experience for the students, said Dalpiaz. ” 

Included in this semester's workshop was a tour of the new Instructor Studio in the Armory, since it is now available for faculty and TAs to use if they desire to incorporate that in their course design. The Instructor Studio provides faculty, instructors, and TAs with fewer configuration options than the full studios, but it is perfect to learn the basics and record on your own. 

Some of the presentation materials can be accessed online, which is a significant perk for those who were unable to attend. The workshop also mentions the Online Course-In-A-Box, which has an abundance of resources that cover a lot of the same topics that the workshop involved. Anyone can access these materials through the CITL website here: https://bit.ly/2WajfK2 

Dalpiaz also mentioned that there are numerous benefits of the workshop for faculty and TAs who attend the workshop, as the students who will end up taking their future online courses will have a better experience overall. 

“Hopefully [the workshop] ends in the faculty member creating a higher quality course than they might have because they know what they need to consider ahead of time.” 

To begin work on your own online course, please contact citl-pm@illinois.edu.