Planning Instructional Variety for Online Teaching: PIVOT to Success

In a recent survey of college presidents and provosts, 75% expressed concern about faculty readiness to deliver virtual instruction (Lederman, 2020). An earlier survey suggested many faculty desire to incorporate technology into their teaching practice, but feel underprepared to effectively use it (Brooks & Pomerantz, 2017). While natural disasters may be part of a university’s short term academic continuity plan, the COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to be a devastating disruption to the social and academic progress of a campus community. Planning Instructional Variety for Online Teaching outlines a professional development program to assist faculty who needed to move face-to-face courses into an online format for summer 2020 and beyond. 

Dr. Mariann Hawken is a member of the Blackboard Community Leadership Circle. She is the eLearning Manager at University of Maryland, Baltimore County. With more than 21 years of experience in educational technology, Mariann coordinates professional development for faculty who are preparing to teach online; supports online and hybrid course development; and spearheads the campus transition to Ultra. Mariann is a certified Peer Reviewer and F2F Facilitator with Quality Matters.

Dr. Susan Biro serves as Online Learning Coordinator within Instructional Technology at University of Maryland, Baltimore County, where she supports initiatives to enhance and expand online offerings. Susan has 20 years of experience in distance learning program administration, online student support services, and professional development for online faculty. In her current role, Susan focuses on Universal Design for Learning and course accessibility, OER adoption, and is a certified Quality matters Peer Reviewer. 

Mr. Collin Sullivan is the Learning Management System Support Specialist at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Collin supports the day-to-day operation, administration, and troubleshooting UMBC’s LMS, Blackboard. Throughout his undergraduate career at UMBC, Collin served as a student consultant to Instructional Technology, where he helped faculty coordinate the use of clickers in their classrooms, led trainings about supported cloud storage options, and created the first annual TechFest.

Dr. Sherri Braxton currently serves as the Senior Director for Digital Innovation at Bowdoin College. In this role, she is responsible for supporting the ongoing Bowdoin Online Learning and Teaching (BOLT) operational vision and strategy and providing day-to-day guidance and support across the overall effort. She regularly partners with stakeholders throughout the college while leading efforts to identify, prioritize, and pursue other opportunities for digital innovation. She also leads efforts to partner and collaborate with peers and other institutions on these digital learning initiatives. Sherri’s most recent role prior to her position at Bowdoin was as Senior Director of Instructional Technology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She also previously served as the Director of Distance Education in the Whiting School of Engineering at Johns Hopkins University for the Engineering Programs for Professionals.