Transitioning to Fully Online Instruction is a five-part webinar series designed to help faculty who are adapting their face-to-face courses for fully online instruction in Blackboard during the Spring or Summer 2020 semesters. You are welcome to participate in any of the webinars depending on your needs and interests. This is a great next step for faculty who learned about Blackboard during the March Essential Online Skills drop-in session. Faculty should have a basic familiarity with Blackboard or watch a recording of the Essential Online Skills session before participating.
Prior to the webinar, participants should consider submitting an Online Instruction Support request to have a week-by-week folder template added to their existing Spring or Summer 2020 Blackboard shell. This template is used in each of the webinars and provides a basic framework to build out your content for the remainder of the Spring 2020 semester or for the full Summer 2020 semester.
Participant security in virtual meetings, like this webinar series, is very important to us. We are conducting pre-registration for our webinar events to limit unauthorized access. You can learn more about keeping your virtual meetings with students secure by reviewing our Best Practices for Running Secure Online Meetings in Blackboard Collaborate Ultra.
Live captioning is available for participants during the webinars. A fully captioned recording of the webinar will be made available afterwards as well.
Please click on each webinar below for a description, link to register, webinar recording and presentation slides (posted afterwards), and how to apply for CEUs.
April 2 - Part 1: Laying Out Your Online Course and Providing Quality Content
This webinar will showcase proven strategies for designing online courses in Blackboard using intuitive, student-friendly navigation and transparent instructions. Methods to clarify student expectations and create a clear roadmap for success in your course will also be shared. Last, techniques for creating and hosting microlectures along with other instructor-created and curated content and activities will be demonstrated.
- Thursday, April 2, 2020 – 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
- Watch the webinar recording
- View the presentation slides: PDF version, PowerPoint version
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CEUs: Complete this personal action plan by August 7, 2020 to receive 0.2 CEUs after attending the webinar or viewing the recording
April 7 - Part 2: Bringing Your Course Activities and Assessments Online
Intentional and transparent design is critical for online learners to have meaningful experiences with assignments and succeed on quizzes, tests, and alternate assessments. This webinar will provide a technical overview of using the tools in Blackboard along with strategies to apply the transparency framework to assignment and assessment design. Examples of online discussion boards, group work, and student presentations will be included.
- Tuesday, April 7, 2020 – 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
- Watch the webinar recording (captioning available soon!)
- View the presentation slides: PDF version, PowerPoint version
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CEUs: Complete this personal action plan by August 7, 2020 to receive 0.2 CEUs after attending the webinar or viewing the recording
April 9 - Part 3: Providing Feedback and an Organized Gradebook in Your Online Course
Providing students with timely and constructive feedback will help to maintain student motivation and foster continual growth and learning. This webinar will share strategies for providing collective and individualized feedback in a meaningful and efficient manner. An overview of best practices for using Blackboard’s Grade Center will also be provided, along with tips for aligning your grade book with the grading policies in your syllabus.
- Thursday, April 9, 2020 – 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
- Watch the webinar recording (captioning available soon!)
- View the presentation slides: PDF version, PowerPoint version
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CEUs: Complete this personal action plan by August 7, 2020 to receive 0.2 CEUs after attending the webinar or viewing the recording
April 14 - Part 4: Building Community and Enhancing Communications in the Online Environment
Online courses provide opportunities for students to build relationships through interactions and feel a sense of belonging in a responsive, supportive environment. Much like social media, well-designed online courses connect students with each other and with their instructor, ultimately enhancing their learning experience and motivating them to engage more deeply. This webinar will provide several strategies and Blackboard tools that foster community development and enhance communication.
- Tuesday, April 14, 2020 – 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
- Watch the webinar recording (captioning available soon!)
- View the presentation slides: PDF version, PowerPoint version
- Additional resources: Wording for Discussion Areas, Guide for Discussion Board Post, Sample Discussion Board Rubric
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CEUs: Complete this personal action plan by August 7, 2020 to receive 0.2 CEUs after attending the webinar or viewing the recording
April 16 - Part 5: Supporting Every Student in Your Online Course Through Universal Design
All students benefit when Universal Design Principles are utilized to optimize accessibility in any course. In online courses, the likelihood of hidden disabilities among students is much higher and implementing ”on-the-fly” accommodations is particularly challenging. At the end of this webinar, you will be able to assess your course materials for digital accessibility and apply principles of Universal Design for Learning to improve the learning experience for students of all abilities.
- Thursday, April 16, 2020 – 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
- Watch the webinar recording (captioning available soon!)
- View the presentation slides: PDF version, PowerPoint version
- CEUs: Complete this personal action plan by August 7, 2020 to receive 0.2 CEUs after attending the webinar or viewing the recording
For more resources with Blackboard and other tools that support online instruction, visit the Planning for a Rapid Transition to Online Instruction webpage.
Where can one view the video of the seminars? When? I am teaching classes during all of the live sessions.
Hi Perry! The recording will be posted after each webinar (within one business day). Click on the toggle of the webinar you are interested in above, and then click on “Watch the webinar recording”. Please let us know if you have any other questions, thanks!
Hi. I would like to participate in the Thursday, April 2 webinar at 10 AM. Do I need to do anything in advance or do I just click on the link the day of the event?
Thanks, and “Hi y’all”!
Peter
Hi Peter! Thanks for reaching out – all you need to do is click on the “Click here to join virtually” link at 10 a.m. on that day. Please let us know if you have any questions or issues. “See you” tomorrow!