Refining a faculty development model that’s been successful for a decade is a wicked opportunity that requires some design thinking. A multi-track foundation course, mastery modules, and a faculty development portal are the highlights of a new faculty development model that provides a more personalized training curriculum.
For the past decade the Center For Instruction and Research Technology (CIRT) at the University of North Florida (UNF) has successfully provided comprehensive faculty development through several teaching online seminars, a Master Online Teacher certification, and ongoing workshops focused on the effective use of instructional technologies. During that time more than 450+ full-time and part-time faculty members representing all five colleges at UNF have completed our rigorous training. While the past decade of faculty development training at UNF was largely successful, a new focus in the adaptive and personalized learning space along with a recent migration to a new LMS has invoked the need for a more robust and refined teaching online faculty development model that follows this trend and provides faculty members with a more personalized training curriculum.
For the past year the instructional design team at CIRT has been working diligently to develop a refined three-tier faculty development model that includes a teaching online foundation course with separate learning tracks for adjuncts and full-time faculty, a suite of mastery modules designed to provide a more in-depth understanding of topics related to effective online teaching and learning, and several advanced training and certifications options for eligible full-time faculty members, including certifications through OLC Learn, Quality Matters certified reviewer training, and several in-house opportunities to collaborate with instructional designers on professional development workshops.
In this presentation, participants will be introduced to the previous teaching online faculty development model and its successes, the new faculty development model and the major pedagogical, logistical, and technological refinements, the major implementation points, and a few tips concerning the dissemination of campus-wide communication about the purpose and changes associated with all of this. Finally, we’ll explore the new Teaching Online Faculty Development (TOFD) portal designed to provide UNF faculty with a central location from which they can access their foundation course, participate in mastery modules, engage in ongoing discussions about course design and delivery, browse resources related to online teaching and learning and apply for advanced training and certifications, and other professional development opportunities.
This session will be interactive with a live tour of the TOFD portal and associated foundation course and mastery modules, include resources that participants can download and reuse, and there will be opportunities for questions and answers throughout.