PANEL & ROUNDTABLE: Survival Tips for Teaching Online (90 mins)

Darlene Smucny; Steve Brown; Stephanie Dodman; Joyce Johnston; Jihye Moon; Luanne Norden; John Beyers; Susan Campbell

doi:10.13021/itlcp.2020.2844

Authors

Darlene Smucny George Mason University, Assistant Director, Digital Learning, Stearns Center
Steve Brown George Mason University, Assistant Professor - Health Administration and Policy College of Health and Human Services
Stephanie Dodman George Mason University, Assistant Professor - College of Education and Human Development/Advanced Studies in Teaching and Learning
Joyce Johnston George Mason University, Adjunct Professor - English, College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Jihye Moon George Mason University, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Term Assistant Professor of Korean, Korean Studies Program Coordinator
Luanne Norden George Mason University, College of Education and Human Development, Coordinator of Student Teaching, Instructor - Health and Physical Education
John Beyers UMGC, Program Director & Professor - Mathematics & Statistics
Susan Campbell George Mason University, Instructional Designer - Digital Learning

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13021/itlcp.2020.2844

Abstract

NOTE: This is a repeat of the session with the same title offered on Tuesday, but with a different set of faculty panelists. The framework for both sessions is the same, but there will be unique perspectives and ideas shared, so there is benefit to attending both sessions.

As Mason expands our fully-online programs and courses, we (faculty) need to learn about best practices for online teaching, and how to apply these best practices and strategies to our own online teaching in our courses and disciplines. Online teaching takes much time and effort, particularly when teaching online for the first-time or when teaching a new course online. What can we do to better support each other, and particularly support faculty who are new to online teaching? Communal learning, such as mentoring, coaching, and faculty learning communities, all can have positive effects on online teaching development (Wright, 2016), with new & experienced faculty sharing ideas, strategies, practices and experiences in a supportive environment. In this session, we will provide participants with an opportunity for communal learning, by featuring a Mason faculty panel who will share their “online teaching survival tips”, i.e., practical tips, strategies and solutions for a successful online course and online teaching experience. The multidisciplinary panel consists of Mason faculty with a range of online teaching experience, from very experienced to those who have just started teaching online. This session will consist of three components:

(1) Q & A Discussion with Mason Faculty Panel;
(2) Breakout sessions to discuss online teaching strategies & practices; and
(3) Participant Feedback on Stearns Center Online Teaching Resources.

Mason Faculty Panel (communal learning): Panel members will share & discuss their online teaching tips guided by the format of how an online course progresses through the semester, i.e., tips for the start of a course; tips during a course; and tips for wrapping up/ending a course. “Online teaching survival tips” will emphasize strategies for managing time and workload while teaching online. The panel also will address specific questions from the session participants about online teaching strategies. Breakout Groups will allow participants to discuss and share online teaching strategies and practices with panelists. Participant Feedback (conclusion & next steps): The session will conclude with panelists and participants discussing what resources are recommended to better support online teaching at Mason. What can Stearns Center-Digital Learning do to support faculty teaching online? And how can online faculty support each other? Participants will be provided with link to survey to share their recommendations for Stearns Center resources for online teaching.

CITED Wright, M. 2016. Evidence-Based Principles for Online Faculty Development. EDUCAUSE Review® (November 14, 2016). https://er.educause.edu/articles/2016/11/evidence-based-principles-for-online-faculty-development (accessed 2/26/2020).

Author Biographies

Darlene Smucny, George Mason University, Assistant Director, Digital Learning, Stearns Center

Darlene's work at The Stearns Center (GMU) focuses on online course quality, online faculty development, services, and support. Offering an experienced instructor’s perspective of online teaching and learning, Darlene shares guidance, tips, and resources for getting started and actionable feedback for online teaching & online course improvement. Darlene received her PhD in Anthropology from UCLA. Prior to Mason, she worked at University of Maryland University College (now known as University of Maryland Global Campus) as academic administrator and Collegiate faculty member. At UMUC, Darlene worked with faculty teams to re-design the online curriculum in the social science degree program in The Undergraduate School. She also taught fully online courses and hired & managed online faculty in the social sciences undergraduate program. During her years at UMUC, Darlene helped to establish UMUC's fully-online chapter (Maryland Theta Chapter) of Pi Gamma Mu (The International Honor Society for Social Sciences). Maryland Theta is one of the largest active Pi Gamma Mu chapters, and has received multiple awards for its innovative chapter activities and events for UMUC's global student population.

Steve Brown , George Mason University, Assistant Professor - Health Administration and Policy College of Health and Human Services

Steve Brown has taught at Mason since 1988 and teaches both graduate and undergraduate courses in health care finance in the College of Health and Human Services. He has experience in f2f, hybrid, and on-line teaching. He holds a M.S. in Business Administration from the University of South Carolina.

Stephanie Dodman , George Mason University, Assistant Professor - College of Education and Human Development/Advanced Studies in Teaching and Learning

Stephanie Dodman is an Assistant Professor in the School of Education, College of Education and Human Development. Dr. Dodman teaches master's level courses in curriculum and instruction. Her research surrounds issues in educational equity, particularly in regards to teacher learning and teacher professional development. A current research project includes the design and study of online graduate environments for the development of critical reflection in teachers. Dr. Dodman was recognized for her commitment to and excellence in online teaching with the 2019 George Mason University Online Teaching Excellence Award. Previously she was also awarded the 2015 George Mason University Office of Distance Education Online Course Excellence Award.

Joyce Johnston , George Mason University, Adjunct Professor - English, College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Thirty years of online teaching experience have taught Joyce Johnston the importance of backward planning: that clear course goals require clearly scaffolded steps to learn them. Foregrounding the course structure keeps students' eyes on the benefits they will earn by following them and significantly increases their willingness to complete assignments and readings. In addition, Joyce is a specialist in digital intellectual property . Her most recent article, "Can Facebook Steal My Stuff? Intellectual Property Rights on Social Media," appeared in both Computers in Libraries and The Informed Librarian in spring 2020 after a presentation at the annual Internet Librarian conference in Monterey last October.

Jihye Moon , George Mason University, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Term Assistant Professor of Korean, Korean Studies Program Coordinator

Jihye Moon has been committed to course development and teaching Korean at George Mason University since 2014. She has taught students at all proficiency levels in various settings at Mason, including traditional face-to-face classes, 4-VA teleconference classes, and online classes. Regardless of the course delivery format, she has been actively engaging all learners in classroom, online, and mobile learning, as learners today flourish in such a blended learning environment. Also, she has been striving to utilize meaningful authentic materials effectively for learners at all proficiency levels and design tasks and small-scale projects aligned with the Integrated Performance Assessment (IPA).

Luanne Norden , George Mason University, College of Education and Human Development, Coordinator of Student Teaching, Instructor - Health and Physical Education

Luanne Norden, M.A., is the Coordinator of Student Teaching for the Health and Physical Education Program in the College of Education and Human Development. She has been at Mason over 20 years, collaborating with teachers in the schools to prepare our future teachers.
Luanne has been developing and teaching online courses since 2006. She has served on the Distance Education Council and worked with faculty new to online teaching by reviewing portfolios of new online courses and presenting sessions on strategies for teaching online. She received the Distance Education Award for Faculty in 2013 was an Online Teacher of Distinction in 2019.

John Beyers, UMGC, Program Director & Professor - Mathematics & Statistics

John F. Beyers, PhD, is Program Director and Professor of Mathematics and Statistics at UMGC. Dr. Beyers leads a global department of 200+ faculty to serve the educational needs of over 20,000 non-traditional, underrepresented undergraduate students globally. He is responsible for new program development, curriculum planning, teaching effectiveness and
Learning Outcomes Assessment. Prior to his current position, Dr. Beyers was the Associate Director for the Center of Distance Education at Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Beyers has an extensive academic background as a faculty member and leader of one of the largest online mathematics and statistics departments in the country. While earning a PhD in mathematics education from American University (his dissertation was the first to earn “pass with distinction” in over two decades), Dr. Beyers began his career in innovative
education as Research Coordinator on the NCTM Standards 2000 Project, which resulted in the national standards document Principles and Standards for School Mathematics
(NCTM, 2000). He later worked with post-secondary students and faculty at Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Distance Education on innovative distance education models to determine how difficult/easy is it for faculty to embed or integrate technologies into a course and in harmony with their pedagogic model.

Dr. Beyers has been recognized for his efforts as an innovative academic leader in higher
education. In 2012, he received the UMGC Presidential Award and the University System of
Maryland’s Faculty Fellowship Award from the Chancellor’s Office. In 2007, he received the
Adelle F Robertson National Educator of the Year Award (UPCEA) and in 2006, he received
the Alexander Charters Mid-Atlantic Region Educator of the Year Award (UPCEA).

Dr. Beyers has published and presented extensively on the topics of course redesign,
adaptive and accelerated learning models, distance learning, and mathematics education.
Most recently, Dr. Beyers book Teaching and Learning Mathematics Online published
May 2020 by CRC Publishing. His current interest is focused on how to support better
teaching and learning online from both the faculty and student perspectives. Dr. Beyers has
an extensive network of academic colleagues in STEM online education.

Susan Campbell, George Mason University, Instructional Designer - Digital Learning

For over 35 years, Susan Campbell has served in various roles including instructional designer, instructional technologist, technical writer, and trainer. Many of these years were spent at George Mason University, where she has been a guest instructor and lecturer in classes across disciplines (English, Finance, Communication, Education, Engineering, Math, Information Technology, Geography, Psychology, and Conflict Resolution among others). She has also helped faculty develop successful online courses (asynchronous and blended) both at the undergraduate and graduate levels in Bioengineering, Bioinformatics, Math, Film & Video Studies, Music, Religion, Theater, Photography, Government, Conflict Resolution, Social Work, History, Anthropology, Economics, Computational and Data Sciences, Research Methods, and Health Administration and Policy to name a few. She holds a B.S. in community services from Virginia Commonwealth University and her expertise is establishing and implementing service-oriented programs in the public sector. She has also completed the Sloan-C Online Teaching Certificate and the Certified Blended Learning Designer Certificate from the, University of Central Florida and EDUCAUSE. Susan has spoken at national conferences and consulted for the World Bank, Computer Sciences Corporation, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and the ‘Faculty Online Technology Training Consortium,’ a Maryland Higher Education Commission grant-funded project among others.