The spring of 2020 brought unprecedented changes to the Ithaca College learning environment. Faculty, staff, and students made the heroic leap to an all-online curriculum in a very short period of time. This shift brought many challenges and unexpected opportunities. To capitalize on lessons learned and to move from a model of emergency remote teaching to effective online learning for Fall 2020, we are offering a Summer Institute for faculty who wish to design their courses to flexibly meet the needs of the times, enhance their pedagogical and technological knowledge and skills, and offer students a cohesive and engaging learning experience.
Flexible by Design, a summer institute for faculty, will run for five weeks starting June 22. The Institute itself will be fully online and is designed as a set of five modules - one per week - that combine synchronous (Zoom) and asynchronous (Sakai) components. Modules will focus on the following:
1. Sustaining Values and Principles through Disruptions (June 22-26)
2. Enhancing Significance by Aligning Course Elements (June 29-July 3)
3. Engaging Learners in Multiple Modalities (July 6-10)
4. Building Learning Communities Across Space and Time (July 13-17)
5. Pulling a Flexible Course Together (July 20-24)
Each module will take 4-5 hours to complete and faculty may choose to complete any or all modules - or discrete topics within modules - that are of most interest and relevance to their courses. Alternatives to synchronous sessions will be offered for those unable to attend.
All modules will address the use of online learning technologies to achieve pedagogical goals and are designed to achieve concrete outcomes that can be directly incorporated into courses. The Summer Institute will be offered a second time in August/September. A complementary set of tool-based workshops with pedagogical grounding will also be offered over the summer.
Details of each module will be announced soon. To help with planning, please indicate your interest in the Institute by registering at this link.
The Summer Institute is a collaboration of the Center for Faculty Excellence, Teaching and Learning with Technology, Student Accessibility Services, and the Library.
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20200609141127977