Making Online Course Development a Transformative Experience

Inside Higher Ed’s 2019 Survey of Faculty Attitudes on Technology? revealed an interesting statistic: 77% of instructors who have taught online believe it made them better teachers by refining their pedagogical skills and practices (Lederman, 2019). Online teaching helps instructors to think more critically about ways to engage students, utilize technology and the LMS, and align course content and assessments with learning objectives. Moreover, the proportion of instructors who have taught online has grown steadily over the last five years.

The University of Wisconsin Extended Campus has a unique structure to facilitate online course development within its degree programs. At the program level, best practices in online education are followed, and a highly-involved administrative team oversees the implementation of courses. Regular meetings and workshops with stakeholders assure flow between program courses and alignment with learning competencies and outcomes. At the course level, instructional designers guide faculty through the course development process through a defined developmental structure. Timelines with set deliverables, media support, LMS expertise, and regular one-on-one meetings with instructional designers are extended to faculty.

Also provided are numerous professional development opportunities, such as trainings, webinars, e-newsletters, symposia, and other learning supports. In this session, the MS in Applied Biotechnology program is used as an exemplar for the UW Extended Campus course development process. The process is described in detail by the Program Manager and Instructional Designer for the program. Feedback from the program’s faculty who have recently undergone online course development is presented, demonstrating how their teaching practices have changed as a result of the experience. Responses from faculty who are new to online instruction and those with previous online course experience are provided. Audience questions are encouraged. 

Eric Peloza is an instructional designer at UW Extended Campus. He has two professional development certificates in online education from UW-Madison Division of Continuing Studies: Foundations of Online Teaching and Professional Certificate in Online Education. As an instructional designer, he has worked on the asynchronous UW Independent Learning program specializing in science-focused courses. One such course, Legendary Performers, won the Association for Distance Education and Independent Learning College-Level Course Award 2018. He currently works as an instructional designer for the UW Master of Science in Applied Biotechnology Degree.

Melinda Verdone is a Program Manager at UW Extended Campus. She has an M.A. in Teaching and Learning and an Ed.D. in Higher Education Leadership. She has previously taught online courses in graduate-level biochemistry and designed blended courses in introductory biology and microbiology.