Beyond Diversity: The Promise of Critical Social Justice Frames for Higher Education

Emphasizing the value of representation on campus, many leaders in higher education have focused on compositional diversity as a first and final goal for improving campus climate for students from underrepresented backgrounds. While the presence of a critical mass is a significant step towards institutional transformation, its value is diminished without a deeper directive that critiques and dismantles structural practices which maintain domination/subordination scripts in higher education. The purpose of this presentation is to consider the various approaches that have limited purposeful change on college campuses – from assimilation to post-racialism – and encourage scholar-practitioners to embrace the nuanced, challenging perspective of a social justice educator.

The Online Course Development Institute was established to provide faculty at Eastern Illinois University a professional development opportunity to experience best practices in online teaching and guidance in quality online course development. The OCDi is for EIU faculty developing or redesigning an online course and teaching online for the first time at EIU.

GOAL

The goal of the OCDi is to provide faculty with suggested guidelines and training necessary to develop a quality online course which will enhance the online teaching and learning experiences of both faculty and students and encourage effective engagement and collaboration in the online environment.

EIU ONLINE COURSE POLICY

“All instructors of online courses must submit proof of having completed the Online Course Development Institute (OCDI), Illinois Online Network’s “Master Online Teacher" certificate or another documented and equivalent training activity before teaching the courses/sections for the first time.” The EIU Online Course Policy can be found at https://www.eiu.edu/eiucaa/OnlineCoursePolicy.pdf.

OBJECTIVES

1. The participant will be able to develop a course for online delivery using standards presented for effective online course design.
2. The participant will be able incorporate strategies for effective online teaching and learning.
3. The participant will be able to integrate technologies that will engage students in the online environment and align with the course objectives.
4. The participant will be able to meet the university requirement for teaching an online course.

TOPICS

The course contains eight content modules. The topics of each module are listed below.

1. Overview, Introduction, and Learner Support
2. Learning Objectives and Instructional Design
3. Accessibility and Usability
4. Instructional Materials
5. Course Activities and Learner Interaction
6. Assessment and Measurement
7. Course Technology
8. Online Teaching Strategies

FORMAT

The OCDi Training Course is an online, self-directed course. Participants work through the content modules at their own pace. However, the facilitator is always available to answer questions, provide consultation, review assignments, and post grades and feedback. The course includes online activities, online resources, technology tutorials, and an online synchronous discussion scheduled at the participant’s convenience.

TIME REQUIREMENT

I am often asked the time requirement necessary to complete the OCDi training which is a difficult question to answer. The training originated as an 8-week face-to-face course followed by the completion of the online course development. The same course components remain but the course has been developed into a self-directed, online course. Because the course is self-paced, completion time often depends on many factors including the motivation, technology skills, experience, and time demands of the person completing the training.