emblemMiraCosta Online Teaching Certificate
Program for Online Teaching

 

Learn - Work - Contribute

In coordination with MiraCosta College's Professional Development Program, the Program for Online Teaching announces its first certificate in online teaching. Certification is based on learning pedagogical techniques, working on your classes, and contributing to MiraCosta's online community. The certificate program begins Fall 2008. Due to uncertaintly about possible changes to this pilot project, faculty who have begun should plan to complete in June 2010.

Our in-house program differs considerably from other certification programs in that it emphasizes pedagogy over tool use. Our philosophy is that technology tools should always be at the command of the instructor's pedagogy, and not the other way around. It is similar to other programs in that it requires significant time spent working in the online environment itself.

NEW: Checklist for certificate requirements!

LEARN

A certain number of workshops/classes must be taken from each category. While the workshops on this list may change, any previous workshop taken in the category will count toward the certificate (including those taken before Fall 2008) -- we are completely backward compatible! Workshop experiences should be blogged (see below).

Online workshop requirement
At least two of the workshops must be taken in an online environment. Attending two Third Thursday meetups is the equivalent of one online workshop.

teaching academyOT100 Online Pedagogy (2 workshops)
Emphasizes the development of pedagogies suitable for an online environment.

OT200 Course Design Elements (2 workshops)
Emphasizes elements of course design, including navigation and multimedia.

OT300 Technology Applications (1 workshop)
Faculty-led or AIS technology "how to" workshops

teaching academyOT400 Experiential Workshops (2 workshops)
Focus on experiencing and experimenting in the development of pedagogy through web technologies

OT500 Current Trends and Theory (1 workshop)
Critical exposure to current work in online learning

OT600 Final Project

Electives (optional) these provide the opportunity to learn, and a starting point for commentary in documentation

WORK

The participant will have a fully developed online class in a format that can be shared with others. This is the product of OT600.

Facilitating a workshop will count the same as taking that workshop for the purpose of the certificate.

CONTRIBUTE

All participants must:

  1. Document their reflections and progress toward the certificate using a blog, linked from the Program for Online Teaching website. This is where the learning is shared.
    What you create should be an ongoing written discussion of what you're learning, how it's affecting your teaching, how you're applying your pedagogy online, which technologies you're exploring, how you're applying what you're learning, how students are responding, and what resources you're discovering along the way. It is not merely a list or record of what you've done, nor an end-product report.
  2. Make their OT600 final project sample class in a format that can be accessed by guests (or invited guests) OR host your class at a POT Showcase.
    This sample class must be complete, but need not be the class you'll actually teach. It should contain all the elements you plan to use in an online class on that subject -- it is a full class, not an outline. If you want access limited, it can be built or placed inside a course management system. Hosting your class at a Showcase involves giving a maximum 10-minute overview of your class, then sitting at a computer to show attendees how your class works.
  3. Participate in ONE of the following community-building activities:
    1. Attend several online Third Thursday evening meet-ups or other online synchronous meeting or workshops.
      The evenings may change each semester, to give as many people as possible an opportunity to join in. In some semesters, these meet-ups may not be available. Participation in two online meetups is equivalent to one online workshop. If you are a member of an online community that meets sychronously, you may count those meetings the same way.
    2. Participate in an asynchronous discussion board or wiki with other online instructors.
      This need not be with MCC instructors. It might be most useful to you to join a Ning (such as Classroom 2.0 or College 2.0), a listserv (such as H-Net's EdTech or DEOS, the Distance Education Online Symposium) or an online discussion group in your discipline. You can even form your own network via social networks Twitter or Facebook, so long as you're talking about online teaching and can blog about your discussions.
    3. Present a hour-long flex workshop, or for an hour in a combined workshop, for MCC faculty.
      Offer a workshop demonstrating what you have learned by doing the certificate. This would include specific techniques, overall pedagogy, and any changes to your teaching that resulted from participation in the program. The purpose is to demonstrate in person what changes you have made to your teaching as a result of participation in certificate-earning activities. Please contact Lisa to schedule; it is preferred that the workshops take place during the flex week mini-conferences if at all possible.

Flex time

Both full-time and associate faculty are welcome in this program. Each year, possible participation may total the full 50 hours of the flex contract. The "Contribute" requirement may be expanded by the participant to assure adequate hours.

Certificate

At the conclusion of the program, each participant will be given a Program for Online Teaching certificate and a virtual mini-certificate, which can be displayed on the instructor's online classes and websites.

 

For more information, log into the POT website at http://miracosta.mrooms.net/course/view.php?id=13 (create a New Account if necessary) or contact Lisa M. Lane. Sign up for flex workshops at http://www.miracosta.edu/flex .

Last updated 21 July 2009.