Instructional Technology Foundations

This program is ideal for faculty who are new to CSULB or have not completed previous ATS programs related to Alternative Modes of Instruction (remote/online/hybrid/hyflex). We'll cover the basics of using BeachBoard and Zoom, foundational concepts for online course design, and student success factors in an online or hybrid course format.

Following completion of this program, faculty will be eligible to move on to the Quality Essentials 1 program as a next step in the sequence of this professional development series.

  • Prerequisites:  None     
  • Estimated Hours to Complete: 30-35 hours
  • Stipend:  After successful completion of the program requirements = $1225

Summer 2021 Program Dates (choose one)

June 14-July 9 (Session 1)

Weekly Schedule [PDF]

  • June 18: Application Deadline
  • June 14: Orientation / Start date
  • July 2: Program End Date
  • July 9: Deliverables Due
  • Fall: Stipend Disbursed

July 26-August 20 (Session 2)

Weekly Schedule [PDF]

  • July 25: Application Deadline
  • July 26: Orientation / Start Date
  • August 13: Program End Date
  • August 20: Deliverables Due
  • Fall: Stipend Disbursed

 

ELIGIBILITY
There are no prerequisites to participate. However, program participants who fall under one of the following categories may not qualify for the stipend:

  • College of Continuing and Professional Education (CPIE) Instructor for Self-Supported (Non-Academic) programs or courses
  • Academic Advisors, Teaching Assistants, and Student Assistants
  • CSULB Staff and Students

You are still able to participate in the program and access the course content, resources and work closely with the Instructional Design team in these cases.

STIPEND REQUIREMENTS:
Participants must complete the following requirements to receive the $1225 stipend:

  1. Complete the Instructional Technology Foundations BeachBoard Course content, including quizzes. View the Course Syllabus [PDF].
  2. Complete the AMI Checklist [PDF]:
    The Alternative Modes of Instruction (AMI) Checklist has been developed by ATS and adapted to the needs of CSULB for course conversion to online and other modes of instruction. This is intended to offer a basic quality check for implementing best practices for course conversion.
  3. Complete the Course Alignment Blueprint [PDF]:
    This document ensures that assigned Course Learning Objectives (CLO's) and faculty-designed Module Learning Objectives (MLO's) express a clear connection to course content, learning activities, and assessments as applicable. The purpose is to help identify desired results and determine acceptable evidence of learning as students progress through your course. Successful completion of this document will facilitate appropriately designed learning experiences and instruction.
  4. Build 2-3 weeks of your BeachBoard Course.
  5. Attend three (3) ATS Live Course Enhancement Sessions (listed below).

OPTIONAL (NOTE: these options do not fulfill program requirements):

  • ATS Tech Talks (listed below):
    Sign up for any of the Tech Talks workshops and discover how to use new instructional technology tools!
  • Hyflex and Hybrid Instructional Techniques
    Learn how to use the equipment in our "Hyflex (hybrid-flexible)" classrooms and best practices for teaching in this format.

TO REGISTER:  Visit the dedicated web page links below.

  • You may register for as many sessions as you like; only three (3) are required to meet program requirements.
  • Recordings of the sessions will be available on each sessions' dedicated web page one week after the event.

Designing Effective Grade Books  |  June 8  |  @10am & 2pm
Building your grade book as part of your initial course development will make the rest of your online course simpler to design. In this session, we will introduce BeachBoard tools and techniques for designing an effective, self-calculating grade book with automatic weighted scoring to make grading easier and more transparent for your students. 

Collaboration During Synchronous Zoom Sessions |  June 10  |  @10am & 2pm
Use Zoom tools effectively to increase engagement and interactivity in the course.

Best Practices for Accessibility  |  June 15  |  @10am & 2pm
Looking to enhance course and content accessibility? This session will review best practices for document creation and promote accessibility tools supported by Academic Technology Services including Zoom, Labster, BeachMedia, and Blackboard Ally. Among the learning activities, this session will review how to enable and manage live captioning via Zoom and BeachMedia, add the Accessibility Report to your BeachBoard Navbar, interpret Ally generated scores of course content, and identify accessible Labster simulations. Join this session if you are interested in learning these tools and elevating accessibility for your course.

Ice-breakers: A Community Building Tool  |  June 17  |  @10am & 2pm
We are all tired of Zoom silences in our classes. In this session, you will participate in three fun ice-breakers that you can take and use with your class right away. Although a tall task, by developing peer-to-peer relationships, your students feel more comfortable sharing in your learning environment.

What's in That Teaching Bag?   |  June 23  |  @10am & 2pm
Are you looking to move beyond the breakout room discussions? Come join us in a session to review tips for teaching strategies, share ideas as a community, and reflect on how we can improve motivation through engagement.

Active Learning / Evidence-based Pedagogy  |  July 1  |  @10am & 2pm
Active learning comprises a wide range of teaching techniques.  Their common theme is to get students to actively think and interact. This workshop will present a clear and quick-to-implement technique called Contrasting Cases, taken from the research-based book The ABC's of How We Learn. The presentation will take less than 50% of our time, and you will spend the rest finding applications of the technique to your class(es) and getting feedback.

Leveraging Technology Tools for Student Success  |  July 6  |  @10am & 2pm
This session is developed for those who are comfortable using BeachBoard. We will go in-depth on tools (e.g., knowledge checks, intelligent agents, news items, etc.) that are commonly used to review student's progress in a course. We will share some ideas on how to leverage these tools to increase student retention in a course. 

Engagement Framework for Online Learning  |  July 12  |  @10am & 2pm
This session will explore the five key elements of a research-based engagement framework for online learning in higher education and a variety of aligned learning activities using technology tools inside and outside of BeachBoard for courses across the disciplines. This online engagement framework approaches learning design from a conceptual, practical, and research basis to support you in creating opportunities for high levels of engagement in your courses.

Designing Effective Grade Books  |  July 13  |  @10am & 2pm
Building your grade book as part of your initial course development will make the rest of your online course simpler to design. In this session, we will introduce BeachBoard tools and techniques for designing an effective, self-calculating grade book with automatic weighted scoring to make grading easier and more transparent for your students. 

Designing Group Work  |  July 14  |  @10am & 2pm
Thinking of assigning group work? Join us as we discuss tips on designing and evaluating group work. We will go over activities to ensure the group work is fair.

Best Practices for Accessibility  |  July 21 |  @10am & 2pm
Looking to enhance course and content accessibility? This session will review best practices for document creation and promote accessibility tools supported by Academic Technology Services including Zoom, Labster, BeachMedia, and Blackboard Ally. Among the learning activities, this session will review how to enable and manage live captioning via Zoom and BeachMedia, add the Accessibility Report to your BeachBoard Navbar, interpret Ally generated scores of course content, and identify accessible Labster simulations. Join this session if you are interested in learning these tools and elevating accessibility for your course.

Recognizing Common Challenges Facing Online Learners  |  July 22  |  @10am & 2pm
Supporting students in the era of remote and hybrid instruction is a challenge in itself, but much has now been written about identifying and navigating these issues. We will consider topics including digital literacy, technical issues, time management, mindset, and the need for the “social process” of education.

Leveraging BeachBoard for Outcomes and Alignment  |  July 27  |  @10am & 2pm
Is your course aligned? Do you have measurable outcomes? In this webinar, you will learn how to use BeachBoard to create and measure learning outcomes in a logical, easy-to-read format. BeachBoard has all the features you need to assess your students' learning and demonstrate the alignment of your outcomes to students, faculty, and administrators.

Ice-breakers: A Community Building Tool  |  August 2  |  @10am & 2pm
We are all tired of Zoom silences in our classes. In this session, you will participate in three fun ice-breakers that you can take and use with your class right away. Although a tall task, by developing peer-to-peer relationships, your students feel more comfortable sharing in your learning environment.

Active Learning / Evidence-based Pedagogy  |  August 4  |  @10am & 2pm
Active learning comprises a wide range of teaching techniques.  Their common theme is to get students to actively think and interact. This workshop will present a clear and quick-to-implement technique called Contrasting Cases, taken from the research-based book The ABC's of How We Learn. The presentation will take less than 50% of our time, and you will spend the rest finding applications of the technique to your class(es) and getting feedback.

Alternative Assessment Strategies  |  August 5  |  @10am & 2pm
Measuring students’ learning beyond traditional methods such as multiple-choice quizzes and essays can seem like a daunting task. During this session, we will explore examples for designing more assessment types. Join us as we look at various ways to evaluate learning during formative and summative assessments.

Engagement in Discussions  |  August 10  |  @10am & 2pm
This will be an introduction to creating discussions, best practices, and a demonstration of how to use the Discussion board tool in BeachBoard to create engaging discussions with students. This will be best for first-time users or users who have not had a chance to explore this tool.

Tricky Learning Objectives  |  August 12  |  @10am & 2pm
Learning objectives can sometimes feel constraining and frustrating to write. This session presents practical ideas for writing learning objectives effectively and explores the limits of measurable learning objectives. For further discovery, more can be found in Design For How We Learn.

These workshops will enhance your technical skills through live demonstrations of instructional tools available at CSULB. Recordings of the workshops will be available on each workshop's dedicated web page one week after the event.

  • NOTE:  These workshops are optional and do not meet stipend requirements for the Instructional Technology Foundations Program.
  • TO REGISTER:  Visit the dedicated web page links below.

Blackboard Ally   |  June 18  |  @1pm
Blackboard Ally assists faculty in the development of inclusive and accessible learning materials. The primary functions of Ally include converting course materials, check course content, and guidance to ensure accessibility.

Introduction to BeachBoard  |  June 22  |  @10am & 2pm
This training will include an overview of effective practices to help faculty learn how to utilize BeachBoard for remote and hybrid teaching. Participants will emerge from the session with a better understanding of BeachBoard, specifically on how to organize course materials, keeping students engaged, communicating with students, and assessing student learning using various tools within the LMS (Learning Management System).

Getting Started With Zoom  |  June 29  |  @10am & 2pm
This training will introduce faculty to the web-conferencing tool, Zoom, and how to use it effectively to hold class sessions and office hours. Participants will learn how to manage Zoom class meetings, create recordings, share screens, set up recommended Zoom settings for asynchronous and synchronous classes, and learn how to keep students engaged with all of the various engagement tools that Zoom has to offer.

Blackboard Ally   |  July 16  |  @10am
Blackboard Ally assists faculty in the development of inclusive and accessible learning materials. The primary functions of Ally include converting course materials, check course content, and guidance to ensure accessibility

Playposit  |  July 20  |  @10am & 2pm
PlayPosit is an interactive web-based video platform that allows for the embed of questions, discussions, surveys, and other interactions into videos from BeachBoard Media/Kaltura, YouTube, and Vimeo. This session will explore the basics for using PlayPosit along with strategies and use cases for maximizing learning with this powerful but simple tool.

Gradescope  |  July 29  |  @10am & 2pm
Gradescope helps you administer and grade your assessments, whether online or in-class. It saves you time, drives consistency, and gives you a clear picture of how your students do.  In this workshop, we’ll go through the basics of setting up and using Gradescope and demonstrate the specific ways that Gradescope can make grading less annoying and more informative. We will leave lots of time for Q&A.

Poll Everywhere  |  August 3  |  @10am & 2pm
Poll Everywhere is an engagement tool that can be used for live or asynchronous classes/ sessions to get feedback from an audience.

Blackboard Ally   |  August 17  |  @1pm
Blackboard Ally assists faculty in the development of inclusive and accessible learning materials. The primary functions of Ally include converting course materials, check course content, and guidance to ensure accessibility

Labster   |  August 18  |  @10am & 2pm
This training session is intended to introduce Labster virtual simulations as a tool for teaching remotely embedded in BeachBoard. Labster uses gamification and storytelling approaches to engage and assess students in course materials. See inside a virtual lab, experience different simulations, and discover exactly how educators are using Labster to improve learning outcomes in STEM courses.

New Technology at ATS  |  August 19  |  @10am & 2pm
An overview of new and existing tools integrated into BeachBoard.Focusing on existing and new tools that will be deployed to the LMS

When will registration for this program close?
June 18 at 11:59pm for the first offering and July 25 for the second offering @11:59pm.

How do I know if I need to opt-out of the stipend for this program?
Please contact your College/Department’s Administrative Services Manager (ASM). 

What are the prerequisites for this program?
None

What is the duration of this course?
The course will be offered in two different cohorts and each cohort will run for 3 weeks, plus an additional week for you to submit the required deliverables. The start dates for each cohort are:

  • June 14-July 2
  • July 26-August 13

Please note: After July 2 and August 13, the Instructional Design team will not be actively checking the discussion board posts or students' progress in the Instructional Technology Foundation course.

What are the estimated hours to complete this program?
30-35 hours

How is this program different than the previous ATS Online Learning Studio program offered in the past?
The Instructional Technology Foundation program combines both the design and pedagogy delivery to an alternative mode of instruction. In this course, you will be exposed to new content modules and live course enhancement sessions that focus on teaching strategies and pedagogy.

If I completed the Online Learning Studio (OLS) professional development program in the past, could I enroll in this new program instead of moving forward to the Quality Essentials I professional development program?
If you completed the OLS program and would like to participate in this new program, you can be enrolled in this program and audit the Instructional Technology Foundation course. However, if you submitted the required deliverables for the OLS program you will not qualify for the stipend. To qualify for a new stipend, we recommend that you enroll in the Quality Essentials I program.

Is orientation required?
Orientation is not mandatory but strongly encouraged to attend.

 

How many modules and quizzes are in this course?
There are a total of 5 modules in this course and there will be a short quiz at the end of each module, starting with the Getting Started module.

 

When are the deliverables due for this program?
The due date to submit your deliverables are:

  • July 9 (Session 1)
  • August 20 (Session 2)

Where do I submit the program deliverables?
You will upload and submit your document files inside BeachBoard using the Dropbox feature on or before the due date.

After I participate in this program, will I be able to access the content of the Instructional Technology Foundation BeachBoard course after the course has ended?
Yes, absolutely! Although the course will end it will always be active, therefore you can always access the information at your convenience.

Can I enroll in more than one ATS professional development program?
You will not be able to take more than one program this Summer as the dates of the programs overlap.

Who can I contact for assistance with the Quality Essentials I program?
Please send your email inquiries to ATS-InstructionalDesign@csulb.edu.