Overview

Online teaching requires a different set of pedagogies and skills to teach and engage students at a distance.  The Center offers faculty support and training for teaching online through the Teaching Online Program (TOP). This program is for faculty with limited online teaching experience and who are teaching online in an upcoming semester. Faculty who teach 100% online or who teach partially online will find this program of value in helping to increase student success.

TOP Options 

There are three options for the program:  

  • Basic Option 1: Content + Readiness Quiz 
  • Basic Option 2: Content + Online Course Build with Feedback 
  • Advanced Option offered periodically 

Basic Option 2 has the same content as Basic Option 1 but also includes the opportunity for faculty to simultaneously apply what is being learned to a practice or actual online course.   

NOTE: One does not have to complete Option 1 to enroll in Option 2, they have the same content.

Faculty make the decision if they want to take Basic Option 1 or Basic Option 2 at the time of enrollment.  Basic Option 1 is for faculty who have less time and want to complete the training without creating a practice online course.

Basic Option 1 and Basic Option 2 Content:  

There are five modules:

  • Teaching in an Online Environment
  • Online Course Organization
  • Teaching Presence and Communicating with Students in Online Learning Environments 
    Building a Community of Online Learners
  • Building a Community of Online Learners
  • Implementing Accessibility and Basic Principles of Universal Design for Learning 

Basic Option 1 takes approximately 4-6 hours to complete with a 22 question readiness quiz at the end with multiple attempts to achieve the 80% needed to pass the course. 

Basic Option 2 takes approximately 12-15 hours to complete. The benefit of taking Basic Option 2 is that faculty can begin the process of building the essential components of an online course under the guidance and feedback of an instructional designer.  Basic Option 2 may be especially useful for faculty who are in the process of developing an online course for an upcoming semester.   Faculty who have completed Basic Option 1 will earn 2 credits towards the Certificate of Teaching Enhancement. Faculty who have completed Basic Option 2 will earn 3 credits due to its increased time commitment. 

Advanced Option

The Advanced Option course is for more experienced online instructors or those that have completed either of the TOP Basic Options. This course will cover the following: 

  • Presenting content online in engaging ways that fit with how the brain processes and learns new information
  • Creating engaging online learning experiences that use Bloom’s Taxonomy to move students to deeper learning and the development of critical and higher order thinking skills 
  • Faculty who have completed the Advanced Option will earn 3 credits towards the Certificate of Teaching Enhancement.

Questions and Enrollment 

For more information or to enroll, contact Ken Silvestri at kenneth.silvestri@montana.edu or 406.994.7835.