University of Michigan-Flint

Experience Online Learning as Your Students Do!

Available to all faculty across the nation, this series of fully online courses will show you how to design and deliver a quality course via the Internet – free for UM-Flint faculty, competitively priced for others!

To earn the online instructor certificate, participants must complete the required courses in Section 1 plus one option from Section 2. UM-Flint faculty should e-mail olhelp@umflint.edu to get the promotional code. Others may pay via credit card or purchase order.

Blackboard Basics for Faculty (self-paced, instructor-facilitated)
This is an online, self-paced course for faculty interested in the online classroom.  Faculty will have their own Blackboard course shell in which to practice.  

Faculty Introduction to Online Teaching (self-paced)
This course introduces instructional design theory and the basics of what it takes to develop and teach an online course.  Includes pedagogical concepts, trends and mechanics of online teaching and learning.  Participants will be able to recognize the types of learning tools and resources available online and assess their abilities and interest in teaching online.

Intensive Course Development (structured, instructor-led)
In this eight-week, instructor-led course, participants experience first-hand what it is like to be an online learner.  Participants walk through the development process and create the core of an online course, including learning objectives, syllabus and course material for at least two complete weeks of instruction.

Prerequisites: Blackboard Basics for Faculty (or waiver) and Faculty Intro to Online Teaching (or waiver)

Copyright Issues in Online Teaching (self-paced)
This course provides both an overview for educators of copyright issues and specific information related to the online environment.  Topics include instructors’ responsibilities regarding student work, graphic sources and rules for Web-based course content, fair use, database and digital rights protection, and such legislation as The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the Public Domain Enhancement Act and the TEACH Act.

Course Quality Assessment (self-paced)
Using an Excel-based tool, instructors can assess the quality of their courses according to 60 standards and sub standards related to technology usability and instructional design. This tool provides measurement criteria, benchmarks, ratings and a weighting system to provide an overview that is as objective as possible.

Option 1: (You will need to take both sections.)

• Intro to Captivate (self-paced, instructor-facilitated)
  Learn to create Flash-based demonstrations and simulations using Adobe Captivate.  Using a task-based approach, learners will create their own demonstrations and simulations while learning key features and best practices.


• Advanced Captivate (self-paced, instructor-facilitated)
  This session continues with lessons that build on the Intro course, adding special features such as animation and interactivity to audiovideo files.

Option 2: (You will need to take all four sections.)

• Blogs in Education (self-paced, instructor-facilitated)
  This course explores the power of blogging—a simple yet effective way for enhancing teaching and learning. It focuses on the implications of blogging in educational settings. Participants will study how other educators are using blogs to deepen learning and increase student achievements, explore Web-based tools for finding and subscribing to educational blogs, and create their own Weblogs.


• Audio in the Online Classroom (self-paced, instructor-facilitated)
  Research shows that learning is more thorough and knowledge retention greater when feedback is provided orally.  Faculty also report that that it is faster and easier to create an audio file than to type lengthy notes.  In this course, participants learn how to deliver lecture material and provide feedback using audio files, and how to improve student engagement using audioblogs.


• Grab-n-Go Graphics (self-paced, instructor-facilitated)
  This fun, easy module provides tips and tricks for finding, modifying, resizing and creating new graphics and photos, as well as how to use them in Blackboard.


• Screencasting:  Creating Mini-multimedia Lessons for Teaching and Learning (self-paced, instructor-facilitated)
  Participants create and share short multimedia files via screencasting.  This class uses Jing, a free screencasting program, and introduces ways of using screencasts in educational or training settings.

UM-Flint faculty can earn a stipend for developing a new online course that has not been previously offered (contingent upon availability of funds). Contact Theresa Stevens at (810) 237-6600 if you would like to start on a new course