Learning design is usually taught to faculty, but faculty are not usually the subjects of learning design. This presentation focuses on centering learning design on faculty using a variety of alternative subject matter experts to teach faculty how to operate an online course in times of crisis.
The subject of learning design most frequently centers on faculty learning and creating for the betterment of their students, but faculty themselves are less likely to be the direct subjects of the same efforts. At Mississippi State University, the Covid-19 pandemic brought this disparity to the forefront as the entire institution shifted to bring over 3,000 courses online in a single week, with only one full-time employee dedicated to assisting faculty. This presentation focuses on how many experts in varied technical fields came together to create an innovative, effective, and efficient method to assist faculty learning to teach online for the first time.
This session will open with a brief introduction to how Mississippi State Online is structured, and then move into how we informed and mobilized the CRM coordinator, web developer, and student support coordinator into a viable technology unit actively assisting with moving courses online and answering faculty questions. We will then explain the foundational knowledge that each specialty found missing in our faculty at large and how we used each technical specialization to address those gaps in more advanced faculty training and assistance. Finally, we will speak to how we are continually pulling on the varied technical expertise to create new and relevant training to assist faculty in teaching online.