Due to seasonal flooding and a contingency plan already in place, the University of North Dakota was better prepared than many colleges and universities when COVID-19 forced higher education to resort to rapid remote instruction. However, there is always room for continuous improvement. Using a systems thinking model, UND’s Teaching Transformation and Development Academy aligned online teaching goals with course preparation, migrating over 200 courses online in its first wave. This course preparation operation was highlighted by a new strategic collaboration between Instructional Design and Faculty Development, resulting in new evaluation rubrics for online courses, self-care sessions for faculty, and intercession courses for students. This session will illuminate how a process designed for continuous improvement of online courses and online instructors resulted in reevaluation and strengthening of the academy itself and its best practices in supporting faculty teaching online.
Dr. Elizabeth Becker is the Instructional Design Coordinator in the Teaching Transformation and Development Academy at the University of North Dakota. Her work includes directing a team of instructional designers, supporting faculty with expertise and training in instructional design, and developing innovative ways to evaluate online courses and faculty teaching.
Dr. Khalifa Alshaya is the Director of Learning for the Content Team at Aanaab. His work includes creating interactive rubrics to evaluate online courses, emphasizing learning objectives and backwards course design in the course creation process, and integrating academic technologies into a variety of settings.
Jennifer Reichart is the Faculty Development Specialist and Inclusion Ambassador in the Teaching Transformation and Development Academy at the University of North Dakota. Her work includes supporting faculty in best practices in teaching and learning, developing new frameworks for new teaching models and deliveries, and evaluating faculty teaching performance.