APPENDIX B

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

This appendix contains resources for faculty and those who support them to assist with the development of their online courses. Included are links to and suggestions for these areas:

• Communities of practice
• Mobile technologies and Web 2.0 technologies
• Certificate programs in online teaching
• Online conferences
• Online journals
• Professional organizations
• Course evaluation rubrics

Communities of Practice

These are just a few of the communities of practice devoted to online teaching:

• Learning Times, a host for online communities, training, and conferences on topics in online and distance learning. http://www.learningtimes.net
• Merlot (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching), a repository of learning objects; also produces an online journal and hosts discipline-specific communities of practice. http://www.merlot.org
• Tapped In, a community of practice primarily geared toward K–12 teaching that has been expanding its focus to include higher education faculty. http://tappedin.org/tappedin/

Mobile Applications and Web 2.0 Applications

Mobile applications are too numerous to list. However, there are sites where applications are aggregated, and we include a few that we have used in teaching both face-to-face and online courses:

• Google Mobile, http://www.googlemobile.com
• iTunes and the Apple App Store, http://www.apple.com
• Fresno State University, a site that reviews and features mobile applications that support teaching and learning. Each month a new application is featured; previously reviewed and featured applications are housed on the site. http://www.fresnostate.edu/academics/tilt/toolsforteaching/apps/index.html

Other useful applications follow:

• Polleverywhere, used for polling opinions or answers on any topic and can be used as a substitute for clickers
• Wiffiti, which allows instructors to receive text messages and display them in one place; useful for polling, answering quiz questions, and the like.
• Posterous, for creating private spaces on the Web where students and instructors can post material of any kind
• Google Docs, for document sharing and collaborative editing
• Broadcastr, which turns a smart phone into a multimedia guide by streaming photos and audio based on the location where the user is
• SCVNGR, which builds real-world scavenger hunts

Among the useful Web 2.0 applications are these:

• Glogster, which creates graphic blogs that can include audio and video
• Prezi, an alternative to PowerPoint that allows presentations to pan and zoom
• HootCourse, which provides virtual classroom space using Facebook and Twitter

Certificate Programs in Online Teaching

Numerous certificate programs exist in the area of online teaching. In this sampling of the best known, some offer graduate-level credit along with certification:

• Fielding Graduate University: Interactive Learning Online; Emerging Technologies in the K–12 Classroom; Social Media in Education. This university offers three academic certificate programs that go beyond use of the technological tools to delve into the pedagogy of online teaching and learning and building learning communities. Each program is delivered completely online, and credits can articulate into Fielding's doctoral program in educational leadership and change. The program director and faculty is Rena Palloff, along with other well-known names in online learning. http://www.fielding.edu/programs/elc/
• University of Wisconsin-Stout: E-Learning and Online Teaching Graduate Certificate. Designed to meet professional development goals to be certified as highly qualified in the area of e-learning instruction and online training. Students can take one or two courses per term. The program is five semesters if one course is taken or nine months if two courses are taken per term. Courses can count toward elective credit in three master's degree programs in education. http://www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/elearningcertificate.html
• LERN (Learning Resources Network): Certified Online Instructor (COI) Program. The Certified Online Instructor designation has been created to serve faculty in higher education and others teaching online who want to gain recognition for their knowledge and skills. The COI program involves taking three core one-week intensive courses, teaching two courses online, having a course critiqued, gathering student evaluations of the online courses taught, and taking an exam. http://www.teachingonthenet.org/courses/certified_online_instructor/index.cfm
• University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension Division: Professional Certificate in Online Teaching. Flexible, self-paced certificate program that focuses on helping new online instructors get up to speed quickly or reinforces and advances skills of experienced online instructors. The program provides knowledge and skills, examples, and best practices in online teaching through opportunity to practice and demonstrate what has been learned in a course planning project that uses the instructor's own course materials. http://www.uwex.edu/disted/depd/cert_benefits.cfm
• Illinois Online Network: Master Online Teacher Certificate. The Master Online Teacher certificate is a comprehensive faculty development program based on the MVCR (Making the Virtual Classroom a Reality) series of online faculty development courses. This program recognizes and certifies faculty, staff, and administrators who achieve a measurable level of knowledge related to online course design, online instruction, and other issues related to online teaching and learning. In order to earn the certificate, a student must successfully complete four core courses, one elective course, and the online teaching practicum. http://www.ion.uillinois.edu/courses/students/mot.asp

Online Conferences

Online conferences are growing more popular due to economic constraints associated with travel costs and registration fees and the convenience of participating from home or the office. Some extend over two or three days, while others are brief seminars. The additional benefit of online conferences is their low cost:

• Wiley Learning Institute, http://www.jbfacdev.com
• International Online Conference, http://www.internationalonlineconference.org/
• Smithsonian Conference on Problem Solving, http://www.smithsonianconference.org/expert/
• TCC (Technology, Colleges, and Community) Online Conference, http://tcc.kcc.hawaii.edu/2010/tcc/welcome.html
• Academic Impressions, http://www.academicimpressions.com/
• Magna Online Seminars, http://www.magnapubs.com/calendar/index-cat-type.html

Online Journals About Online Teaching

Numerous journals are now online. This list identifies some that are devoted to the topic of online teaching:

Professional Organizations

Following is a partial list of professional organizations of interest to faculty teaching online and to faculty developers:

• International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE): Dedicated to supporting the use of technology in the teaching and learning of K–12 teachers and students.
• Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE): To advance information technology in education and e-learning research, as well as its development and practical application.
• U.S. Distance Learning Association (USDLA): Promotes the development and application of distance learning for education and training at all levels.
• League for Innovation in the Community College: Supports the work and publications focusing on the integration of technology in teaching.
• American Association of Community Colleges (AACC): Provides resources and research for and about community colleges, although it is not directly focused on the use of technology in education.
• Professional Organizational Development Network (POD Network): Provides resources and support for faculty developers.
• North American Council for Staff, Program, and Organizational Development (NCSPOD): Provides resources and support for faculty developers.
• American Association for Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE): Provides leadership in the field of adult and continuing education through advocacy and research.

Course Evaluation Rubrics

Several institutions and organizations have created rubrics for evaluating quality in an online course. They can be downloaded and used to evaluate one's own course or can be used as part of a course evaluation effort at the department or institutional level. These are the best known:

• Quality Matters, http://www.qualitymatters.org/
• California State University-Chico Rubric for Online Instruction, http://www.csuchico.edu/celt/roi/
• Illinois Online Network, Quality Online Course Initiative Rubric, http://www.ion.uillinois.edu/initiatives/qoci/rubric.asp