A virtual faculty professional learning community.
Overview
The purpose of the Online Teaching Community is to share creative teaching ideas, best practices and policies, and ideas for research in online teaching. The group is interaction-based and the content we discuss is up to its members — so bring your questions and issues and the tips and tricks you’ve learned along the way.
How We Meet
To honor the fact that this is about “online” teaching and to make this accessible to faculty who are out of state, we offer the meeting online. We use video conferencing and members join by video or audio from wherever they can. It is informal, so eating lunch is encouraged!
Why We Meet
In each meeting, the aim is to discuss any questions and issues group members bring to the table that week (about 75 percent of the time), as well as to provide some information on specific topics of interest to group members raised in prior meetings (about 25 percent of the meeting). We share resources and have a listserv for accessing shared documents.
Schedule
The OTC will resume in September. We’d love your input on topics you’d like to see covered in the upcoming academic year. Please email Dr. Michelle Pearce at michelle.pearce@umaryland.edu with your ideas. Feel free to nominate yourself to present on a topic. The presentations are informal, run for about 25 minutes, and cover topics relevant to online teaching.
| Meetings are held on the first Friday of the month from noon to 1 p.m. via Zoom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date | Topic | Presenter |
| September 5 | AI in the Classroom: Tools, Ethics, and Emerging Practices | Cory Stephens, Scott Riley, and Isabell May |
| October 3 | A Generational Lens on Good Teaching: Adapting to Student and Faculty Perceptions | Susan Bindon and Marleen Thornton |
| November 7 | Self-Care for Educators and Students | Shani Fleming and Kalea Selmon |
| December 5 |
Using Hypothesis for Competency-Based Teaching in Online Classrooms |
Isabell May |
| January 9 | Teaching Innovations: Learning Motivational Interviewing Skills Using Online Dialog Simulations | Marianne Cloeren and Magdi Elghannam |
| February 6 | From Hype to Help: Practical Applications of AI in Health Professions Education | David Bunnell |
| March 6 | New AI Features and Learning Tips for Blackboard Ultra | Brittany Hopkins |
| April 3 | Teaching Innovations: VR Immersive Experiences for PA Students | Cheri Hendrix |
| May 1 | Supporting Students through Self-Regulated Learning Interventions | Alexis Guethler |
Please contact Dr. Michelle Pearce at michelle.pearce@umaryland.edu if you are interested in joining the Online Teaching Community.