Example page for an online or blended class

This example page, used with permission, was used for a fully online session of a course. The content probably not applicable, but the organizational concepts and ideas are. It could be a model of how to set up course pages for online or blended learning. This example includes an introduction to online learning.

About online learning (5-7 minutes):

You've heard me talk about my "other job" on campus but you might not understand what I do. In fact, some days I don't either. It has a lot of variety. But one concrete aspect of my job is helping faculty use our digital spaces, like Canvas, to provide learning opportunities online. A class that uses online activities or even replaces some face to face classes with online activities is called Blended. A course that is totally offered online is called Fully Online (yep, creative name...I know.)

What is it? Well, even if you didn't use a learning management system like Moodle or Edmoto or even Canvas in high school you have most likely been engaging in online learning your whole life.

On a campus like ours there are many reasons for going to more digital spaces. First, it's flexible. For you as the learner and me as the teacher. We're not necessarily tied down to a time or space. And I can add a lot of different materials for you. It can help our university scale classes, or offer more class "seats" to courses that become bottlenecks. And it can really help folks who don't live or work on or near a campus. For example, our Rural Doctors Specialists rely a lot on Blended learning.

How to be successful at it: So, one of the major issues with online learning is that students think it is going to be faster or easier. In fact, it is often the opposite for a number of reasons:

1. Did you notice there is a lot more reading? Don't worry, there will be more. I can't stand up and talk at you and add details as I go. As you teacher I need to add as many details as I can through writing or video.

When an online lesson takes the place of lecture I have to follow some expectations.

The content and activities will equal about 75 minutes of work.
In addition, the rule of thumb is that for each credit you should be averaging about three hours of outside preparation or homework.
NOW, I'm not going to give you four hours and fifteen minutes worth of content and activities for this class. But, for other classes that are offered online or blended, be prepared for this level of commitment.

2. I add the details, but you have to pay attention to them.There are going to more and different tasks for you to do to demonstrate that you have engaged and thought about the materials.

3. So, give yourself enough time! Spread it out, you'll get the whole week to do all these activities. And anticipate how long you might need to help you get through it. I'll help you by adding how long I think each task is supposed to take.

4. Follow the Clues: Not every professor knows how to design courses for online learning. But, since I do it for a living, I know that using signposts, or clues can really help. For this week the sign posts will be:

About this week (3-4 minutes):

Majors: This week is going to be a transition week. For the first part of our course we focused on ourselves and how we can think about our hopes and dreams as individuals. We will be wrapping that part of our course up. And oddly enough, although we are considering majors in the first half of this session, that frame will help us put ourselves in the right open mindset for the next section of this session, and the rest of the course.

Me to We: As many of you noted in your reflections, part of your hopes and dreams are to meet new people. Our campus is both a group culture with its own traditions and histories like you've been learning about these past few weeks and a place that is made up of heterogeneous individuals, each with their own perspective and narrative that emerge from their identities.

So, we'll begin to explore how we recognize identity, challenge ourselves to view identity through a lens of inclusion rather than exclusion, how we interact with one another, and how we don't take our experiences and our perspectives for granted. In this way, we'll begin to see our campus as WE.

Part 1- Explore: Career Exploration Center Major Match (20-25 minutes)

Activity 1: Interest, inspiration, motivation, fun

Instructions:

For this activity you will start by doing a mindmap, chart, or Venn Diagram (examples below). On your chart you need to include four main areas: Interests, inspirations, motivation, and fun.For each area you need to include 3 or more examples or details that are related to each area. You may add more or add more details to the examples if you wish.
You may do this on paper, or online as a digital artifact. If you have a favorite mind mapping or diagramming tool, feel free to use it. Two free and easy applications are listed below. There will be an example of each in the example area. NOTE: You will need to be able to share whatever you create in an online discussion post (later in the activity.

Popplet Links to an external site.(Mindmapping. Sizes for phone.Embeddable)
Use Google drive App, Lucid Chart (lots of different mindmaps.)

Examples:

Venn Diagram using Lucid Chart
Handwritten hierarchical Chart
Popplet Mindmap

Activity 2: Major Match

Instructions: Keep your diagram handy. Also, pull up the Major Exploration Website from the Career Center.

Start analyzing by analyzing your diagram for patterns or areas you might value or want to pursue or explore more about.
Take a look at the Major exploration site.
Do a deep dive into the majors that match up to some of your Interests, Inspirations, Fun, or Motivations
Choose 2 majors that match with each of the 4 areas on your chart. OR if you see overlap or connection, feel free to choose 2 majors that match that overlap (Less work for making a connection on your diagram.)

Part 1 - Knowledge Check: Post to Discussion (10-15 minutes, worth 10 points)

Go to this Discussion Assignment to complete the Knowledge Check.

Watch: Why some of us don't have one true calling: OR The Awkwardly Graceful Transition from thinking about Majors (ME) to the Concept of group and individual Identities (WE) (15 Minutes)

Now, stick with me here everyone. Somehow we have to transition this class from thinking about our academic careers to how we socialize on campus and how we create campus community. I thought I might just have to do a hard stop, and just to transition. An, "Okay, we're done with that, on to the next thing."

But, Joelle found this really interesting TED talk. It seems like it is about jobs or figuring out what you want to do. And, it is. But it is also more than that. Emily, the speaker, talks about the intersection of interests and how that is the point where innovation takes place. But, she's really talking about a mindset that doesn't just take things for granted or say, well, that's just the way it is. t's about seeing things differently. It's about challenging yourself to be openminded, challenging yourself to see beyond what considered "normal" or "right" or "correct." t's about how what we value should be on equal footing with what others or social constructs say we should value. And it will be this mindset that will carry us into the section of our course.Hold on tightly to that open mindset!

Part 2- Read: An Introduction to Identity as an academic conversation and basis for the "Narrative of Normal." (45 minutes).

First, a story that broke open my mindset:

This is my friend Marcus Fuller. Marcus is the head writer for the Gophers in Minnesota's lead paper, the Minneapolis Star Tribune. And, he is married to one of my friends that I met FRESHMAN YEAR in the dorms. Holly, Rick, and I are all 39, Marcus is 37. They have two kids that are similar ages to my kids. My husband and Marcus love to get together because, frankly, Holly and I think they might be the same person.

About five years back, my family was visiting the Fullers. The kids were outside playing and we were munching on pizza, relaxing with glass of wine or mug of beer, and talking.

We weren't in any deep conversation about race. I honestly don't know how this came up (I suspect we had ventured into one of Marcus's favorite topics, Marvel superhero movies) but Marcus told us a story about his dad and his childhood in Hawaii. I mentioned this story to Marcus before I asked if I could tell it to you. He said, he didn't even remember it, but sure, share it. I think it was just an offhand story set in a different context, but it was a story that impacted the way I saw the world.

Marcus told us that his dad often came home with books. Regular books, new used, same books Holly, Rick, and I probably had at our homes as children. Just kid books. But, before his father gave the books to Marcus and his brother he would color the characters in with crayons; different shades of brown that made up the different shades of Marcus's family. Their background is Black and Japanese, and his father was simply frustrated that he couldn't find books with characters that looked like his children.

At that time, I was working in an elementary school library. I knew in both an academic and ethical way how important it was to develop a collection that was representative of many races, ethnicities, cultures, and even languages. I was intentional in my books selections. I wanted to do the "right" thing, but I didn't really get it from the perspective of a child that grew up with books that his father colored in because mainstream publishers didn't publish books featuring characters that looked like Marcus. I realized, I shouldn't have to be "intentional." It shouldn't require extra effort or extra thought to ensure all my children walked into a library that featured books that had characters that looked like them...without having to give it a second thought. Publishers are getting better, but as a librarian I still had to be intentional.

As a white woman, who grew up as a white child in the midwest, my parents never had to be intentional about finding materials that I could easily relate to. They never gave it a second thought. I never gave it a second thought. The kids in the books they brought home almost always looked like me, talked like me, had a suburban life like me. Not having to give it a second thought is what is an example of "privilege."

The moment passed, the story melded into the rest of the conversation, pizza, and beverages. But suddenly I saw my privilege in an undeniable way. And it forever changed the way I try (try is important, because I'm still unable to see it many times to see the world.

What we'll be exploring in the next few weeks is what privilege is through the concept of narrative: Whose narratives are being told, how are they being told, why are those narratives being told, what narratives are "normalized" so much that we no longer see them. Then we'll think about what we do with that information with a focus on our campus.

But before we do, we need to learn some of the language we can use to talk about identity, narrative, and normalization.For your HOMEWORK today, I'm going to ask you to read the first chapter of the book Whistling Vivaldi, by Professor Claude M. Steele. In addition, SIFTR is back!

As Professor Steele says, this isn't a Political with a big P issue, even though it might feel prescient up against the Political rhetoric that is being tossed around in this election season. These are words and concepts that help us approach the privilege and identity with academic and openmindedness.

Homework for Next Week, October 20:

SIFTR: https://siftr.org/assumptions/
So, for this SIFTR you are going to take a picture that shows an assumption being made. Maybe people tend to assume something about you and you'd like to share. Maybe you notice that a local restaurant only has high tables and stools, forgetting that persons using a mobility device might not be able to actively participate with others they are dining with. Maybe you notice that the most recent add for People magazine juxtaposes only white actors against images of "America."

We don't know how you'll interpret this assignment, but we're excited to find out.
Read for Next Week: Chapter 1, Whistling Vivaldi. Make sure to pay attention to key concepts and language.