Online Teaching Academy
June 24, 2020 9:46 AM

Online Teaching Academy

Dear faculty and graduate teaching assistants,

As we plan for Fall 2020 instruction, we anticipate an expanded need for online and hybrid courses to allow for social distancing in learning spaces (classrooms, laboratories, studios). To accommodate faculty and teaching assistants who may need to teach online and who would like to become familiar with tools and techniques for online instruction, we have created an Online Teaching Academy, which was first announced at the end of May.  The June session is currently underway with nearly 500 faculty participating. I write now to share details about the July and August Online Teaching Academies, which will be open to all interested instructors.

Online Teaching Academy

• The university’s Online Teaching Academy is an opportunity for faculty and teaching assistants to review good practices and discuss different pedagogical approaches as well as to receive hands-on training on technical tools for online teaching and learning.
• During the Academy, faculty will design their online and hybrid fall courses in a community of fellow instructors with the support of campus experts from CITL, Tech Services and college-level educational technology units. Teaching assistants will learn to support the instructional activities of the online classroom.
• Sample topics for the Academy include: designing effective video lectures, providing feedback online, creating meaningful student engagement online, designing meaningful online assessments and utilizing online group work.
• The July Academy will begin on July 13 and run through July 31. There will be an optional live session once a week on Wednesday from 10am to 11am, which will be recorded. All other sessions will be asynchronous, allowing participants to review at their own pace over the course of the week.
• The August Academy will take place from August 3 through August 21. There will be no live sessions for the August Academy, making it completely asynchronous.
• The July and August offerings will be open enrollment with no compensation for participation.

To sign up for the July or August Academies, please follow this link: https://forms.illinois.edu/sec/1647465. The deadline to sign up, for either the July or August sessions, is Friday, July 3, 2020.

Thank you for considering this opportunity to receive expert support in your fall course preparations.

Sincerely,

Andreas C. Cangellaris
Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost