The UHCL Course Development Team is comprised of
professionals with various backgrounds not limited to instructional design. We
have all been teachers, trainers, or technical designers–so call on us to do
the heavy lifting when building or converting a course — or simply need help
with developing engaging delivery methods.
Instructors we work with may be
intimidated transitioning from face-to-face to the online or hybrid course. That’s
absolutely OK and one of our many roles at UHCL is to fill that gap.
When assigned a conversion or start-to-finish course build, we may work with
SMEs (e.g. faculty) willing to incorporate technology into a course but is not
sure how or where to start. This is common — so don’t hesitate to contact the
Course Development Team or your assigned instructional designer to get started.
A simple solution, mentioned in ISTE
today is START SMALL. Maintain and update course content that
students can easily navigate, and make your objections and outcomes clear. (We
can help you with these tasks as well). When you’re ready to add new
technology, contact us. Let’s make the technology used meaningful:
“…It’s one thing to stick technology projects into your
curriculum, but how do you make the technology use meaningful, not just
some gimmick to hypnotize students?”
“Practice using it first. But wait — before you
unveil a new tool for your students, make sure you take a little time to play
with it first. Just have some fun with it — don’t feel like you have to be a
pro.
Remember, students will always learn something you didn’t
know about the tech tool, even if you thought you knew everything. Share
that it will be a learning experience for everyone, and that you’re
excited to learn too! Students will be pumped to discover tricks they can share
with the entire class.”
Source: ISTE, “Start
small when integrating ed tech” by Amy Prosser
