Preparing Teachers to Teach in Online and Blended Learning Environments DR. PAUL RESTA, U. OF TEXAS, AUSTIN JARL JONAS, BLACKBOARD INC WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 2011

2 Welcome and Introductions Jarl Jonas Sr. Program Manager CourseSites My Lifelong Learning Journey -K12 Teacher, FL & NJ -Faculty Dev. Coord., NYU -Dir. Virtual College & Corp. Learning, NYU -Consulting Manager, Bb -Program Manger, CourseSites by Bb

3 CourseSites is a fully hosted, online course creation and facilitation service for high school teachers and higher education instructors. A Call to Action The Need to Keep Up What is CourseSites? CourseSites Demonstration Create an Account Create a Course Invite Students Set-up Home Page Resources Questions Agenda

4 Prepare teachers to teach in online and blended learning environments. Virtual schools, online courses, and blended learning environments (face-to- face and online) have grown exponentially across the country in recent years and this trend will continue well into the future. Few, however, are learning to teach online classes. Twenty-first Century educators must get training and experience in online and blended learning environments as part of their educator development programs so that they master the skills to teach in such environments. A Call to Action

5 Supplemental or full-time online learning opportunities are available to at least some students in 48 of the 50 states plus Washington, DC. „27 states, as well as Washington, DC, have statewide full-time online schools. „38 states have state virtual schools or state-led online initiatives, and Alaska is planning to open a statewide online learning network in „Many virtual schools show annual growth rates between 20% and 45%„. 75% of school districts had one or more students enrolled in an online or blended learning course. „72% of school districts with distance education programs planned to expand online offerings in the coming year. Source: The Need to Keep Up

6 Need for Free Resources “School budgets are under pressure—and many teachers are opening their own wallets as well as turning to free resources.” Source: Deepening Connections: Teachers Increasingly Rely on Media and Technology PBS and GRUNWALD ASSOCIATES LLC, 2011

7 What is CourseSites? Presentation Tools Content-Based Tools Distribution Tools Communication Tools Productivity Tools CourseSites is a free, fully hosted online course creation and facilitation service, specifically designed for individual instructors. Text & Voice Discussions Text Chat VoIP/Whiteboard Journals 24/7 Access Social Sharing Virtual Classroom Blogs Lesson Planning Efficient Grading Progress Reports Performance Dashboard Online Environment Text Chat VoIP/Whiteboard WSYWIG Editor Mash-ups (YouTube) Wikis VoIP/Whiteboard Podcasts

8 What’s In It For Me? Interactive course websites at no cost for: Teacher Education Faculty Pre-service Teachers In-service Teachers

9 Creating an Account

10 Quick, Easy Registration Instructors can sign up using popular web service credentials to lessen # of online accounts and reduce login errors

11 SETTING UP COURSES How do we make sure students do not feel like this?

12 Course Structures Choice of 32 pedagogically-driven course structures w/ sample content helps expedite the course building process

13 Course Themes Choice of 50 themes creates aesthetic learning environment and enhances student engagement

14 Initial Guidance

15 Instructor Home Page

16 Getting Started with CourseSites

17 Student Orientation

18 Accessibility & Universal Design Request enrollment at accessible.coursesites.com

19 Instructor Community

20 Lesson Planning

21 Learning Modules

22 Notifications

23 Wikis, Blogs, Journals

24 CourseSites Live Participant Window Text chat Audio controls Tools Activity Window (optional) Whiteboard tools

25 CourseSites IM

26 CourseSites Voice

27 Images (course banners) course banners) (Library of Congress) (royalty free) (now from w/in CourseSites) Video (now from w/in CourseSites) Web Content (now from w/in CourseSites) (Advanced K12, HE) (K12) Programs (create recorded overviews) (Creates Flash-based resources from PPT ) Multi-media Resources

28 Partner Capabilities Partner Capabilities – also at no cost! Respondus Assessment Creation LockDown Browser StudyMate Class Free versions for use on CourseSites only SoftChalk Free version for use on CourseSites only

29 Testimonials and Showcases

30 Get Started Today!

31 CourseSites Blog (Coming Soon) community.coursesites.com community.coursesites.com YouTube Facebook Stay Connected!