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Introducing the New Version of CTLA 201, Teaching with WebTycho Richard Schumaker, Manager, Worldwide Training, Center for Teaching and Learning

On the 1st of August 2004, the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) rolled out the pilot of its new version of CTLA 201,Teaching with WebTycho, to a group of 22 participants. In an effort to adapt its five-week baseline training course to the current needs of UMUC, CTL has significantly improved the course syllabus, organization, and content. Our major goals have been to make the training experience more consistent, relevant, and user-friendly. The development of this new version of the training builds on the extensive input gathered from diverse sectors of the UMUC community over the last year. The first of the major revisions of the training course concerns the syllabus.  Three major features distinguish the new syllabus from its predecessor.  First, the CTLA 201 course learning objectives have been reformulated with strict attention to their relevance to UMUC's present instructional practices and values.  This makes it easier for the trainers to manage the course, the faculty participants to assimilate the material, and the program directors to explain the importance of this training requirement to newly hired online faculty. Second, the required assignments in the course have been streamlined.  Anything resembling busy work has been eliminated from CTLA 201.  From the first to the last day of the course, the focus of the assignments is on the concrete teaching needs of the individual participants.  The faculty participants begin setting up their assigned UMUC course almost immediately.  In a word, all assignments are clearly relevant to the matter at hand--being prepared to teach the initial online class for UMUC. Third, the training course's assessment procedures have been improved.  Participants are provided with a checklist and rubric detailing the criteria and relative weight of every assignment. The Gradebook is used by the trainer to communicate the faculty member's progress. As a result, faculty should never be in doubt about where they stand in the course.  Thus, program directors will also have a clear, objective, and handy guide to evaluate their faculty participants. In addition to reworking the syllabus, CTL also improved the organization and design of the training course. All discursive material for the course has been placed in the Course Content area, rather than dividing it between the Course Content and Conference areas.  The Conference area will be reserved for discussions, specific assignments, and Q & A. The nomenclature and labeling have been made more uniform in these areas, so that participants can see a clear correlation between the Content and Conference areas. The result of no longer mixing these two areas is enhanced clarity amongst participants and unhindered learning.  Moreover, not only has the "content" of CTLA 201 been shifted from one area to another, but it has also been carefully organized into a modular, highly logical format.  Each week's lessons are broken into a sequence of tightly organized and structured segments. In addition to remodeling the syllabus and improving the course's structure, the content of CTLA 201 was modified and brought into line with the current needs of UMUC's online program. The first modification of course content focused on contextualizing UMUC's online learning program. In the past, the training course contained no reference to the mission, goals, or values of UMUC.   This meant that faculty who were new to our university finished the course with only a vague notion about the global nature of UMUC, its historic relationship to the military, its strategic plan, or its ambition to integrate academic rigor and open admissions.  This resulted in faculty members not being fully prepared to properly teach our particular student population.  CTL felt strongly that it should include an introductory segment that gave a succinct profile of our students and faculty, explained our mission, and articulated the core learning values of UMUC.  Because of the modular nature of the new course, the "Introducing UMUC" segment can easily be updated at the beginning of every academic year. Second, in the spring of 2004, UMUC's Institute for Research and Assessment (IRAHE), under the direction of Husein Abdul-Hamid, completed the first phase of its pioneering study entitled "Best Online Instructional Practices." (BOIP) This rigorous study is particularly relevant to the baseline training class because it analyzes current pedagogical practices of exemplary UMUC teachers. CTL incorporated material from this study into the CTLA 201 training modules in an effort to close the loop between UMUC research findings and our training. These modules, and the discussions generated from them, should serve as a firm and stable foundation for all the participants. Third, the thematic material of the training class has been expanded and updated to reflect both contemporary standards in training and the needs of global UMUC faculty in 2004.   The following Course Content topics reflect the reshaped identity of the training course: Diagnosing and Referring Student Problems Intellectual Property and Plagiarism Working with Students with Disabilities Using UMUC Course Modules Integrating Multimedia Using Guest Speakers Assessment, Feedback, and Rubrics Managing Your Syllabus Fourth, the library module was improved to reflect the latest changes in the UMUC databases and to reinforce the importance of instruction in contemporary standards of information literacy and academic integrity. The assignments were also streamlined.  CTL is very grateful to UMUC's Information and Library Service for its continuing support of the training program.  This updated version of CTLA 201 has important consequences for UMUC faculty and staff. In the past, making significant changes in the training course was often difficult.  Now, because of the modular format and the fact that all sections of the training will contain the same content, CTL can easily update and upgrade portions of its training course. The training program will thus be more responsive to the various changes in the world of online learning, and to UMUC's own evolving faculty needs. Having a contemporary, comprehensive, and consistent baseline training course is crucial to UMUC's strategic goal of having thoroughly prepared faculty.  With the revamped CTLA 201, faculty and administration can be assured that CTL certification reflects work done in a consistent and rigorous training course. CTL is looking forward to sharing its new training course with the entire university community.   We welcome your interest and involvement in the training program.

Our thanks to Richard Schumaker for contributing this timely and relevant article to the Graduate School's DE Oracle @ UMUC. If you have questions/comments regarding this article, or you have classroom management advice and experiences you would like to share, or would like to recommend someone to contribute an article, please send an email to: degrad@umuc.edu or contact your DE Coordinator. Thanks very much!

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