Faculty Training and Guides
Research-driven. Standards-based.
We provide targeted workshops and events to provide online faculty with opportunities to learn new skills and technologies. Our practical training addresses best practices in online course development and effective online teaching strategies.
Self-Paced Courses for Faculty
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Learn how to quickly prepare your online course for the new term through tutorials, resources, and documentation in this self-paced course.
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Prepare to teach online with this self-paced, asynchronous course. You will be equipped with the knowledge, skills, and tools for online teaching.
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Dive into the basics, impacts, and ethical dimensions of teaching and learning with AI while promoting safe and effective usage. Login required
Upcoming Events
The Division of Digital Learning holds numerous faculty training events throughout the year.
Find more events
Center for Faculty Development
The Center for Faculty Development (CFD) provides comprehensive professional development opportunities for ODU instructional faculty at all levels and stages of their careers.
Canvas Guides
New to Canvas? We have two resources to help you get started:
- Digital Innovation Presents: Self-Paced Canvas Workshops (enroll after login)
- Digital Innovation Canvas Video Playlist in Kaltura
The Instructure Community provides a wide variety of useful Canvas resources including step-by-step instructor guides and videos.
ODU instructors also have access to Instructure's Canvas Training Services Portal for self-paced workshops and tutorials.
New Semester Preparation
Before making the course available to your students at the beginning of the semester, it is important to set up and manage your course in Canvas.
- Our New Semester Course Preparation Checklist provides you with a succinct list of to-do items with relevant support documentation in order to get your course set up in Canvas.
- Consult our Quick Guide to Facilitate and Manage Your Course for steps to take before the first week of class and throughout the semester.
Review our room technology guides if you are using a Digital Learning supported classroom on campus. These guides will help familiarize you with the equipment prior to your first meeting.
Course Development Guides and Resources
Learning Objectives
Learning objectives are the foundation of online course design and should be the driving force when considering your assessments, learning activities, and instructional materials. The goal is not for students to know something just for the sake of knowing it. Rather, we want student learning to be relevant to overall course goals and future pursuits.
Accessibility and Inclusion
Accessible course materials help all students learn and are required by the university. Don’t wait to check for accessibility at the end of course development – plan for it at the very beginning!
Beyond legal accessibility requirements, your online course should be welcoming for all learners. Incorporate diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies into your course preparation.
Copyright and Online Teaching
Copyright law as it relates to digital works can be complex, and the issues around it continue to evolve. We've created a guide to help faculty as they seek to uphold copyright laws in their online course content.
Creating Presentations
When creating presentations for your course, ensure that the content is easy to read and consistent throughout each presentation.
Audio and Video Production
Complex topics are sometimes easier to communicate in a different medium. Video can be useful for visual demonstrations, simulations, case studies, or scenarios. Audio recordings can be a good medium to share narrations, interviews, or podcasts.
Quality Assurance
Use a quality assurance checklist to ensure that all essential elements in your course are thoroughly evaluated to ensure a high-quality learning experience. This includes content accuracy, instructional design, interactivity, and technical functionality.
Canvas provides a multi-level Course Evaluation Checklist to support Canvas course creators and elevate the quality of their online courses.
Course Planning Templates
Course Outline and Timeline Template
To assist in prepping for a course, template guides can be helpful tools to structure, align, and deliver information.
A Course Outline and Timeline is a planning tool used to identify the major topics and subtopics of a course. This template will help visualize the best way to group and organize your course content that can later be structured directly into your course in Canvas.
For example, modules can be organized based on concepts, skills, time periods, geography, or sequences.
Course Map Template
A Course Map is used to visually outline the sequence of topics, learning objectives, and assessments throughout a course to ensure alignment and coherence.
Our Course Map Template also connects instructional materials, learning activities, and course tools to the learning objectives and assessments.
The template below has an example filled in the first row.
Syllabus Template
A Syllabus is used to provide a standardized format for organizing course information, expectations, policies, and schedules, ensuring clarity and consistency for both instructors and students throughout the course.