Week One: Orientation & Adaptability
Resources & Opportunities
- Drop-in Hours: Monday – Friday, 8:30-9:30 AM EDT in the PSU Workshop VidSpace
(Note: Monday morning’s hour will always be an orientation session for the week and will be recorded and shared on this Web site. Other days will be less formal and not recorded.) - Something Fun: Join the CoLab for a live Twitter chat from 7-8pm on July 13th; we will be discussing an article called “We are not okay. And you shouldn’t be either.” (Not necessarily a “fun” topic, but timely and important– all welcome!)
- Get Outta Town: REMOTE: the connected faculty summit (hosted by ASU) runs virtually on July 13 & 14 and includes lots of great sessions to help planning for fall courses. In addition Campus Compact is offering a session on July 16 on Engaging Online: Promising Practices in E-Service Learning and Digital Civic Engagement.
This Week in Tech
Join PSU’s Academic Technology Coordinator, Jason Neenos, on Tuesday, July 14th at 1PM for a Webinar on Microsoft Teams and Moodle, two key platforms that can help you organize an online/remote/hyrbid/hiflex course. A recording of the webinar will be available in this space after it concludes.
This Week in Learning Cohorts
Make sure your cohort (led by your mentor) has a scheduled 1-hour synchronous check-in this week. During your meeting, discuss and consider the following questions:
- What was hardest to adapt about your course(s) this past Spring when COVID hit?
- Would your students call you a “flexible” instructor– why or why not?
- Do you think the future of higher education is going to feature more “adaptable” kinds of courses, and if so, what do you think the possibilities or pitfalls are?
This Week's Schedule
ORIENTATION DAY
Watch
Join us in the VidSpace from 8:30-9:30 EST for our Course Orientation in which we’ll talk about how this entire course will run and what we’ll be tackling this week.
Review
- Spend some time on the Four Models for HiFlex Course Design page; in your Workbook, think about how they relate to your fall planning.
- Look over the Week One Checklist (below) and make a note of the specific items on it you want to try and tackle this week. Record these and make space to add notes about them in your Workbook.
Reflect
In the appropriate space in the Discussion Forum, reflect on one or both of the following prompts:
- Of the three ACE Values, which are you most excited to focus on in your planning for this particular fall?
- When you browse the HiFlex Models, how do they seem helpful to your fall planning? How might you consider revising one or more of them to make them fit your needs?
“reflect icon” made by Kiranshastry from www.flaticon.com
TOPIC DAY: HYFLEX DESIGN & MODULE-BASED SCHEDULE
Review
Spend time looking through the Learn sections on the HiFlex Design and Module-Based Schedule pages.
Read
Explore (Optional)
In addition to the readings above, feel free to review the other resources in the Explore sections of the HiFlex Design and Module-Based ACE Practice pages.
Choose One
- “Design a Hy-Flex Unit” (on the HiFlex Design page)
- “Create a Module.” (on the Module-Based Schedule page)
Share your work in your Workbook.
If you are not ready to create an entire unit or module, write a paragraph or a bullet list of notes explaining how you plan to modify or create your unit or module.
TOPIC DAY: FLEXIBLE DEADLINES & STUDENT DESIGN AND CHOICE
Review
Spend time looking through the Learn sections on the Flexible Deadlines and Student Design and Choice pages.
Read
Explore (Optional)
In addition to the readings above, feel free to review the other resources in the Explore sections of the Flexible Deadlines and Student Design and Choice pages..
Choose One
- “Syllabus Rewrite” on the Flexible Deadlines page
- “Rework an Assignment” on the Student Design and Choice page.
Share your work in your Workbook.
ENGAGEMENT DAY
Choose Two
- In the appropriate space in the Discussion Forum, reflect on what you have done so far in your Workbook. What are your key breakthrough ideas so far on how your course can benefit from a focus on adaptability?
- If you teach a course that relies on experiential or project-based learning, a course with a large enrollment, an exam-heavy course, or a course aimed at first-year students, read the corresponding materials on the “Complicating the Conversation” page and, in the appropriate space in the Discussion Forum, discuss your ideas for adapting your course for a possible remote modality.
- On Twitter (using the #ACEframework hashtag) create a thread explaining how your ideas about adaptability will inform your teaching practice this fall.
- On the ACE-Informed Practice pages for this week (Flexible Deadlines, Student Design & Choice, HiFlex Design, Module Based Schedule), share one idea, reflection, example, artifact, or question to the page using SUBMIT SOMETHING (in the Engage section on each page).
DESIGN DAY
Review
Read over the Week One Checklist (below).
Reflect
- In your Workbook, list any elements from the Week One Checklist that you need to work on, and add a sentence to each item that you list to explain how you plan to address it.
- Revisit postings by other participants in the Discussion Forum this week, and respond to several (even though we also assume you have been doing this all along the way).
- Work for 30 minutes on your course design in your Workbook, in whatever way makes sense to your process.
Week 1 Checklist
Workshop Curriculum: covered in this week’s work
- I’ve developed a course course model plan.
- I’ve planned my course with some contingencies baked in, either by considering HiFlex or modular approaches to my course design.
- In the case of a modality change, I’m prepared to explain to students how the course has changed from the original format and what they need to do to continue their work.
- I’ve considered and established how I can be flexible with my students with regards to deadlines.
- If I teach courses with experiential components (labs, field trips, clinicals, performances, etc.), I’ve researched and prepared for alternative assignment ideas.
- Regardless of whether we are coming back f2f, hybrid, or remote, I have a Moodle course, Microsoft Team, or course Web site for each of my courses with current course information, and I’ve organized this online course environment to make it easy for students to find what they are looking for.
- I have communicated clearly with my students what is expected of them with regards to class interaction and communication, and how they can use the tools chosen for the class to achieve this.
Don’t Forget: three basic planning elements that we expect you have covered outside of this workshop
- I’ve thought intentionally and deliberately about how I want to teach my class.
- I know my objectives and how I want my students to reach those goals, whether through careful, deliberate planning or a more organic and emergent process.
- I know how to share any media files I use (images, audio, video) with my students.
