Hybrid Course Development – What’s New! | Academic Newsletter | Seneca Polytechnic

by Karen Spiers, the Teaching & Learning Centre

in the March 2019 issue

Introduction to Teaching Hybrid and Online
The new Introduction to Teaching Hybrid and Online course was piloted from October 2018 to January 2019 and received positive feedback from participants. Participants were invited to a kick-off session with course facilitator Carol Carruthers who provided an introduction to the course and led participants through initial hybrid course mapping activities. Throughout the course, participants explored hybrid learning theory, what hybrid means at Seneca, and how the hybrid course development initiative aligns to Seneca’s Digital Learning Strategy. Step-by-step activities allowed participants to map their courses, build assessments, and create engaging learner-centred hybrid activities to implement in their teaching practice.

Facilitator and learner feedback was reviewed and the course materials were enhanced for the next session of the course.

Hybrid Course Design
Fifty (50) faculty from full- and part-time academic areas across Seneca enrolled in the Teaching & Learning Centre’s Hybrid Course Design course which began on March 4. The course includes new interactive modules which provide learners with the knowledge and skills to design a hybrid module from start to finish. Topics include mixed mode lesson planning as well as learning strategies geared to both face-to-face and online delivery. Participants will explore and apply best practices in assessment creation and alignment. The course runs fully-online for 5 weeks and upon successful completion of assigned activities and tasks, participants will be prepared with the knowledge and skills to offer their course in hybrid format in the next semester. They will also be eligible to claim a Hybrid Teaching badge.

The next section of this course starts on May 6, 2019 and is open for registration in MyPD.

Hybrid Stream at the Teaching & Learning Day
More than 40 faculty signed up for Teaching and Learning Day’s Hybrid Course Design stream on February 26. The stream, led by Karen Spiers and Mariam Daoud, began with a review of Seneca’s definition of hybrid course design followed by an overview of the process and stages of hybrid course design. Topics included elements of course design, development of course content and instructional strategies, assessment strategies, alignment and quality assurance.

In the afternoon session, Mariam Daoud led the group through an exploration of various online tools that can be used to create engaging interactive learning experiences. The group looked at Padlet, Screencastomatic, Annimaker, Edpuzzle, and Blackboard Collaborate Ultra and examples of how they can be leveraged to produce learning objects for interactive face-to-face and online courses.

Faculty were then given time to design their own learning object using a tool of their choice and claim a badge for completing the workshop and attending Teaching and Learning Day Winter 2019. Twenty faculty have since completed the activity and claimed their badge!

View the March 2019 issue of the Academic Newsletter.