At Villanova, our educational experience is rooted in passionate, collaborative pursuit of knowledge and service to others. Villanova University is committed to quality distance education and supporting students' satisfactory and successful online learning experience.
Teaching Online Resources
Teaching online can be daunting to start with, but it will make you a better teacher in any setting and benefit your future teaching because of the explicitness of online instructions and efforts to build learning community for online teaching.
1. Communicate your course modality to students early. Reach out to inform students who may feel apprehensive about how your courses will be conducted. Communicate (syllabus, announcements) how the course has been structured and how student participation has been organized based on the teaching modality.
2. Seek to foster community among your learners. Achieving a balance between various types of activities asynchronously and synchronously within your core class structure will help ensure that students have varied opportunities for engaged learning, interaction, and reflection to support their learning experience. VITAL and UNIT team members can provide guidance regarding fostering community. Refer to Building Online Community of Inquiry and Building Community in the Zoom Classroom.
3. Select two to three online tools/activities in your course that align with your learning goals and assignments and support engaged student learning and continue to use them throughout the semester. Students need time and practice to become comfortable/confident using specific online tools.
4. Introduce students to resources for taking online classes (e.g., syllabus, as questions emerge), such as Learning Remotely, and How to Contribute to Online Discussion Boards. Highlight opportunities for academic coaching.
Consultations and Trainings
VITAL: Team members are available via email at vitalinfo@villanova.edu to schedule a date/time for a consultation. Consultations will focus on designing learning activities and assessments based on the selected modality in support of student learning.
UNIT’s Instructional Technologies Division: Team members are available for individual consultation and training. Please email support@villanova.edu or visit this website for the contact for your college. Individuals can assist with translating your course ideas into the Learning Management System (LMS), building specific activities in the LMS (e.g., assessments) and providing application-specific training. Please note that Blackboard course templates are also available for use as a foundation in building your course – email support@villanova.edu to have one copied into your course shell.
Training Sessions: We continue to offer helpful programs, including general workshops on teaching online and using online technology as well as workshops on specific topics such as creating and conducting exams in an online environment. We encourage you to attend.
Instructional Resources
Please find below specific resources to guide your course design, including course design, online community, student engagement, assessment, and accessibility considerations.
- Converting Face-to-Face Co%20in%20Hybrid%20andor%20Simulcast%urse to Online Teaching (05/01/20): slides & followup materials, recording
- Creating Effective Instructional Videos (05/18/20): slides & recording
- Engaging Students Synchronously and Asynchronously (05/20/20): slides & recording
- Assessing Students’ Learning Online (05/22/20): slides & recording
- Engaging Students in Hybrid and/or Simulcast Classes (08/06/20): recording
- Engaging Students via Zoom - Breakout Rooms (09/15/20): recording and slides
- Engaging Students via Zoom - Screen Sharing, Chat, Polling, Whiteboard, Annotation, and More (09/16/20): slides
- Creating Effective Online Assessment (09/22/20): recording & slides
- Academic Integrity and Accessibility Consideration in Assessment (09/23/20): recording
- Testing Accommodations and Online Exam Proctoring (03/04/21): recording
- Effective Online Assessment (3/10/21): recording
- Embedding Video Components in Your Course (03/25/21): recording
- Engaging Students via VoiceThread(03/30/21): recording & slides
- Online Discussion Boards – A Relic of the Past? (04/07/21): recording
- Purposeful Integration of Guest Speakers into the Course Curriculum with Dr. Jill Gonzalez, RLL (04/09/21): recording
“Help! I’m Moving My Course Online!”-- Practical Advice for New Online Instructors Final Transcript and Video
(The on-demand video with captioning is also now available for viewing through the on-demand seminar recording link)
- Below are instructional lectures by Dr. Stefan Perun, Assistant Professor of Public Administration and Dr. Gabriele Bauer, Director of VITAL
- "How Students Learn." Dr. Perun discusses what we know about how students learn and implications for course development.
- "Working with the Online Student: Student Expectations & the Online Learning Environment." Dr. Bauer highlights expectations of online learners given the characteristics of the online learning environment.
- "Applying the Flipped Classroom Model to Online Learning." Dr. Bauer talks about the flipped learning model as a way of thinking about sequencing online learning activities.
- "Promoting Meaningful Engagement in Synchronous Sessions." Dr. Perun discusses opportunities and challenges for facilitating live class sessions.
- "Promoting Meaningful Engagement in an Asynchronous Setting." Dr. Perun discusses how to promote meaningful engagement with discussion boards in an asynchronous setting.
- "Rubrics: Tools for Learning, Teaching & Assessment." Dr. Bauer outlines the process of rubric creation and implementation and shares sample rubrics.
- "Grading Synchronous Discussions & Discussion Boards." Dr. Perun discusses giving feedback and grading discussion boards and live class sessions.
- Working with the Online Student: Student Expectations & the Online Learning Environment (video)
Dr. Gabriele Bauer, highlights expectations of online learners given the characteristics of the online learning environment. - Applying the Flipped Classroom Model to Online Learning (video)
Gabriele Bauer talks about the flipped learning model as a way of thinking about sequencing online learning activities. The flipped learning approach also applies to sequencing hybrid courses.
- Building Online Community of Inquiry (Social, Teaching, and Cognitive Presence): Rational and Examples
- What is the Value of Social Presence in Online Learning?
This brief video highlights the elements and benefits of community-based online learning. Dr. Michelle Pacansky-Brock is a noted leader in online education with expertise in online faculty development, course design, and facilitation. - Promoting Meaningful Engagement in Synchronous Sessions (video)
Dr. Stefan Perun, Associate Teaching Professor, Public Administration, discusses opportunities and challenges for facilitating live class sessions. - Promoting Meaningful Engagement in an Asynchronous Setting (video)
Dr. Perun discusses how to promote meaningful engagement with discussion boards in an asynchronous setting. - Building Community in the Zoom Classroom
- Virtual Meeting Etiquette for productive, professional virtual meetings (Zoom)
- Rubrics: Tools for Learning, Teaching & Assessment (video)
Gabriele Bauer outlines the process of rubric creation and implementation. - Grading Synchronous Discussions & Discussion Boards (video)
Dr. Perun discusses feedback and grading discussion boards and live sessions
- Inclusive, Learning-Centered Syllabus (Part 1 - video and transcript)
- Inclusive, Learning-Centered Syllabus (Part 2 - video and transcript)
- Course Syllabi: Communication of Villanova Learning Resources and Services (You may copy and paste these statements directly into your syllabus).
- Online Course Syllabus Development Guide
- Making Your Course Accessible in LMS (self-paced course)
- 20 Tips for Teaching an Accessible Online Course. Practical guidelines to consider accessibility issues in online courses.
- Captions for Asynchronous Videos and Synchronous Sessions
- Web Accessibility/Blackboard Accessibility
- The University of Rhode Island University Libraries provide a comprehensive look at copyrights concerns regarding online instruction and offer guidance in applying fair use with examples in using textual materials, images, video, sound recordings, etc.
- University of Texas Fair Use Resources
- Showing Videos in Class and on Campus - What You Need to Know
- "Friendly Advice for Teaching Online," video of Villanova faculty who share recommendations for teaching online.
- "Promoting Social Presence in Online Courses," video of Villanova faculty sharing best practices for enhancing online social presence.
- What We Know About Excellence in Online Teaching (5/14/19)
Lawrence Ragan, Co-Director, Center for Online Innovation in Learning and Institute for Emerging Leadership in Online Learning, Penn State
Moving Your Course Online for Academic Continuity
Please find this link to guidelines that help you successfully transition from in-person to online instruction.