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
| Meetings are held on the first Friday of the month from noon to 1 p.m. via Zoom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date | Topic | Presenter |
| Sept. 6, 2024 | Drafting a Proposed AI Philosophy and/or Policy for Faculty and Students at UMB: Working Group Meeting | Cory Stephens |
| Oct. 4, 2024 | Exploring Educational Research in Online Teaching and Learning | Scott Riley and Eric Belt |
| Nov. 1, 2024 | Learning Tips and Tricks for Blackboard Ultra | FCTL Staff |
| Dec. 6, 2024 | Open Access and Predatory Publishing: Tips for Safe Navigation | Susan Bindon |
| Jan. 10, 2025 |
Trauma and Impact on Learning - OTC Version |
Karen Gordes |
| Feb. 7, 2025 |
Tips, Tools and Library Resources for Copyright and Accessibility in Online Teaching Environments |
Emily Hurst |
| Mar. 7, 2025 | Strategies for Inclusive Teaching in Online Spaces | Diane Forbes Berthoud |
| Apr. 4, 2025 | Writing Assignments and Assessment in the Age of Generative AI | Isabell May and Scott Riley |
| May 2, 2025 | Best Practices for Assessment in Online Learning: Foundation to Application | Christina Cestone and Erin Hagar |
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.
Please contact Dr. Michelle Pearce at michelle.pearce@umaryland.edu if you are interested in joining the Online Teaching Community.
Session Recordings
Navigate to Recordings to locate additional resources for each session recording.