My eConcordia course

Karen Herland
Part-time faculty member, Simone de Beauvoir Institute
Friday, March 7, 2014
10 - 10:30 a.m.
EV 12.163

About this session

Taking on an existing course and molding it to fit your approach is always a challenge. But how do you take on a virtual course based on someone else's video lessons? This session will allow you to discuss strategies for making existing material your own.

Penny Ellison
Part-Time Instructor, Finance
Friday, March 7, 2014
10 - 10:30 a.m.
EV 6.735

About this session

Taking a course on-line can offer wonderful flexibility, but can also leave students feeling isolated. One way to breakdown this barrier is to offer regular on-line tutorials using the Adobe Connect software. The tutorial can be designed to provide guidance and instruction, but also to elicit student participation and questions. It's an important tool in creating a classroom-type experience for on-line courses.

Bill Reimer
Professor Emeritus, Sociology and Anthropology
Friday, March 7, 2014
11 - 11:30 a.m.
EV 12.163

About this session

The role of TAs is dramatically altered in the day-to-day activities of an on-line course. Instead of supporting the instructor in the classroom, TAs provide the primary points of contact with students. A greater proportion of the instructor load shifts to TA support. In this session we will explore some of the implications of this change: from techniques to manage the changing demands and the reorganization of pedagogy required to the re-evaluation of contract demands.

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Robert Hopp
Senior Lecturer, Applied Human Sciences
Friday, March 7, 2014
11 - 11:30 a.m.
EV 6.735

About this session

An informal discussion on how a course evolves from concept to product, this session will highlight successes and challenges, as well as the support offered in the design process. The session will also include suggestions for professors considering the opportunity of putting their courses online, including effective use of class discussion boards.

Nancy Acemian
Lecturer, ENCS
Friday, March 7, 2014
12 - 12:30 p.m.
EV 12.163

About this session

One of the challenges I faced when designing an online introductory computer programming course was finding a way for students to interact with the more challenging concepts in the course. My solution was via interactive Java applets where computer program segments where specified in the conventional, textual manner, and graphics where used to visualize the execution of the segment via interactive simulations. The tool was designed to allow students to control the activation of the scaffolding feature at will to best meet their individual learning needs. During this 30 minute session, I will demonstrate how a student would interact with one of the applets and explain the pedagogical rationale behind its design.

Frances Shaver
Professor, Sociology and Anthropology
Friday, March 7, 2014
12  - 12:30 p.m.
EV 6.735

About this session

This presentation focuses on two key challenges when teaching Sex Work and Society, a course is grounded, in part, in current and controversial public debates. Because the debates are current, new knowledge/evidence is emerging; because they are controversial, student engagement should include an awareness of their colleagues’ opinions. I partially address the challenge of student engagement by using weekly opinion polls linked to the lectures and the discussion boards. However, I am looking for suggestions on how to incorporate current and ongoing debates into the lectures, videos, and assignments while minimizing updates to the site, especially those that involve members of the eConcordia production team.