Blackboard Exemplary Course ProgramReviewer Training

MARCH 1, 2012

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Submission window: December 1, 2011 – March 2, 2012

2012 ECP Submission Timeline

Reviews Conducted March19 –

April 6

Review Deadline: April 6th

Directors Meet to Discuss Reviews:

April 10-11

Winners Notified: April 23

Anonymous Reviews Sent: Mid

May

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Overview of the ECP Rubric

THE ECP RUBRIC ADDRESSES FOUR AREAS THAT ARE CONSIDERED BY THIS PROGRAM TO BE ESSENTIAL IN EFFECTIVE, HIGH-QUALITY ONLINE INSTRUCTION:

COURSE DESIGNINTERACTION & COLLABORATIONASSESSMENTLEARNER SUPPORT

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1. Course Design

Course design addresses instructional design, and the guidelinesfor this program reference the elements of:

• Goals and objectives• Content presentation• Learner engagement• Technology use

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2. Interaction and Collaboration

Interaction denotes communication between and among learners and instructors, synchronously or asynchronously.

Collaboration is a subset of interaction and refers specifically to those activities in which groups of students are working toward a shared result.

Special Note to Reviewers

Please be sure to look for evidence of interaction and collaboration in special files or supplemental resources. Submitters may have provided special files and resources in order to hide the identity of students for privacy purposes.

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3. Assessment

Assessment focuses on instructional activities designed to measure progresstowards learning outcomes, provide feedback to students and instructor, and/orenable the assigning of a grade.

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4. Learner Support

Learner Support addresses the support resources made available to students taking the course. Such resources may be accessible within or external to the course environment.

Learner support resources should address the variety of topics that are appropriate for learner success in the course. The topics will vary depending on resources that are available and the uniqueness of each course.

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Rubric Layout

1. Course Design

Exemplary Accomplished Promising Incomplete

Goals andObjectives

ContentPresentation

LearnerEngagement

TechnologyUse

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What’s the difference between Exemplary and Accomplished?

Exemplary Accomplished

Goals andObjectives

Goals and objectives are easily located within the course at all appropriate places such as syllabus and Individual learning units;

are clearly written at the appropriate level and reflect desired outcomes;

are written in measureable outcomes (students know what they are expected to be able to do),

Goals and objectives are located within the course syllabus or the individual learning units;

objectives are written to reflect desired learning outcomes,

although not all are written as measureable outcomes;

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A Note on Visual Appeal of Courses

THERE IS NO AREA OF THE RUBRIC FOCUSED ON COURSE LOOK-AND-FEEL OR ON HOW “PRETTY” THE COURSE DESIGN IS

VISUAL APPEAL IS VERY PERSONAL

PROVIDE CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK ON THE COURSE LOOK-AND-FEEL AS YOU WISH

DO NOT LET VISUAL APPEAL CLOUD YOUR JUDGMENT OR INTERFERE WITH YOUR REVIEW

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What Makes a Review Successful?COMPLETENESS:

THOROUGHLY COMPLETE PARTS 1 AND 2 OF THE REVIEWER FORM.

VALIDATION:CAREFULLY REVIEW THE COMMENTS AND EXAMPLES OF EXEMPLARY PRACTICES PRESENTED IN THE NARRATIVE COMPONENTS ON THE SUBMITTER’S FORM TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT YOU AGREE. BASE YOUR REVIEW ON THE DETAILED CRITERIA OF THE ECP RUBRIC.

CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK:THE ECP PROGRAM IS BASED ON A PREMISE THAT PARTICIPATION IN THE PROGRAM AS A REVIEWER OR A SUBMITTER WILL ENABLE INDIVIDUALS IN BOTH GROUPS TO GET BETTER AT CREATING AND DELIVERING EFFECTIVE ONLINE INSTRUCTION.THIS POSITIVE THEME SHOULD BE FOREMOST IN THE MINDS OF REVIEWERS AND SHOULD BE EVIDENT IN THE FEEDBACK YOU PREPARE FOR COURSE SUBMITTERS.

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Examples of Feedback

FEEDBACK THAT ISN’T VERY CONSTRUCTIVE:

TOO MUCH TEXT ON THE PAGE. I DIDN’T LIKE TO SCROLL.

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Examples of Feedback

POSITIVE, CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK: IT IS GREAT THAT YOU PROVIDE SUPPLEMENTARY READING

MATERIALS WITHIN THE COURSE ITSELF! THIS IS A REAL TIME-SAVER FOR STUDENTS.

THE MATERIALS MAY BE EASIER FOR STUDENTS TO READ AND RECALL IF THE ITEMS WERE ORGANIZED BY THEME OR IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER AND PLACED INTO DEDICATED FOLDERS OR SUBFOLDERS RATHER THAN LISTED ON ONE PAGE. WHILE HAVING ALL OF THE INFORMATION ON ONE PAGE MAKES IT EASY FOR PEOPLE TO PRINT OUT, IT MAKES FOR AN AWFULLY LONG PAGE TO SCROLL THROUGH. IN ADDITION, BECAUSE OF SOME OF THE LARGE IMAGES, THE PAGE TAKES A LONG TIME TO LOAD. THIS MIGHT BE A PROBLEM FOR STUDENTS WITH SLOW INTERNET/DIAL-UP CONNECTIONS.

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Examples of Feedback

FEEDBACK THAT ISN’T VERY CONSTRUCTIVE:

LEARNING OBJECTIVES ARE NOT PLACED IN APPROPRIATE

PLACES.

YOUR LEARNING OBJECTIVES ARE NOT GOOD.

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Examples of Feedback

POSITIVE, CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK:

ALTHOUGH YOUR LEARNING OBJECTIVES (LO’S) ARE INCLUDED IN THE COURSE SYLLABUS, IT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO STUDENTS TO RELATE SPECIFIC LO’S TO COURSE ACTIVITIES AND ASSIGNMENTS.

THE LEARNING OBJECTIVES (LO’S) COULD BE IMPROVED IF WRITTEN IN MEASUREABLE TERMS. FOR EXAMPLE, IN THE LO’S BELOW, THE WORD “KNOW” IS VAGUE AND ISN’T MEASUREABLE. HOWEVER, THE ACTION VERB “WRITE” IS MEASUREABLE.

NOT MEASUREABLE: THE STUDENT WILL KNOW THE SPANISH ALPHABET.MEASUREABLE: THE STUDENT WILL BE ABLE TO WRITE THE SPANISH ALPHABET.

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The Reviewer’s Responsibilities – Part 1ON THE REVIEWER FORM:

RATE EACH OF THE RUBRIC COMPONENTS BY SELECTING FROM THE DROP-DOWN

PROVIDE FEEDBACK ON EACH OF THE FOLLOWING FOUR SECTIONS:

• COURSE DESIGN• INTERACTION AND COLLABORATION• ASSESSMENT• LEARNER SUPPORT

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The Reviewer’s Responsibilities – Part 2

ON THE REVIEWER FORM ENTER:

YOUR OVERALL RATING FOR THE COURSE (PULL-DOWN)

YOUR SUMMARY TO DESCRIBE YOUR OVERALL IMPRESSIONS OF THE COURSE.

YOUR SUGGESTIONS FOR COURSE IMPROVEMENTS.

A DESCRIPTION OF THE TOP THREE “STAND-OUT PRACTICES” IN THE COURSE.

THESE PRACTICES ARE THOSE THAT YOU THINK ARE WORTHY OF BEING SHARED WITH THE BROADER EDUCATIONAL COMMUNITY.

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Reviewer Checklist

SKIM THE ENTIRE SUBMISSION. NOTE INITIAL “GUT” REACTIONS

READ THE SUBMISSION. REVIEW YOUR INITIAL REACTIONS AND PREPARE A RESPONSE

INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING IN YOUR RESPONSE: COMPLETE SENTENCES BEGIN AND END WITH A POSITIVE STATEMENT INCLUDE SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING OR ENHANCING THE

COURSE

Questions?

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Agenda

STEPS FOR REVIEWING AND RATING COURSES

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Overview of the ECP Submission Form

THERE IS AN ONLINE ECP SUBMISSION FORM FOR EACH COURSE

THIS FORM IS A KEY RESOURCE REVIEWERS USE IN THEIR EVALUATION OF THE COURSE.

THE SUBMISSION FORM:SETS CONTEXT FOR THE COURSEPROVIDES EVIDENCE AS TO HOW THE COURSE MEETS EACH REQUIREMENT IN THE ECP RUBRICCONTAINS COURSE LOGIN INFORMATION

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New ECP Reviewer Form

EACH COURSE REVIEWED MUST HAVE A COMPLETED REVIEWER FORM

IF YOU ARE REVIEWING AS A TEAM PLEASE SUBMIT ONE REVIEW WITH ALL YOUR NOTES CONSOLIDATED IN IT

THE NEW ONLINE FORM CONTAINS:THE ECP SUBMISSION FORMREVIEWER INFORMATIONPART 1: FEEDBACK USING THE RUBRIC:

COURSE DESIGN INTERACTION & COLLABORATION ASSESSMENT LEARNER SUPPORT

PART 2: OVERALL FEEDBACK

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Ready to Review?

1. ON MARCH 19TH YOU WILL RECEIVE YOUR COURSE ASSIGNMENTS FROM SHERYN ANTHES. BE ON THE LOOKOUT AND CHECK YOUR SPAM FILTER

2. CREATE A LOGIN AND FIND YOUR ASSIGNED COURSES. ACCESS THE ONLINE REVIEWER FORM AND REVIEW THE INSTRUCTIONS

3. EVALUATE YOUR ASSIGNED COURSE (IF YOU HAVE TROUBLE LOGGING IN, PLEASE EMAIL US ASAP)

4. SAVE YOUR FEEDBACK, CONSTRUCTIVE COMMENTS, AND EVALUATION INFORMATION IN THE REVIEWER FORM

5. DEADLINE TO COMPLETE REVIEWS: APRIL 6TH

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Create an Account and Log In

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Select the Name

Review Their Submission Form and then Select Add Review

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Access the Course

Details to access the course can be found on the “Reviewer Form”.

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Reviewer Form Instructions

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Overall Comments

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Help – I’ve got questions!

I CAN’T LOGIN TO THE COURSE! EMAIL US AT COMMUNITY@BLACKBOARD.COM IMMEDIATELY.

ANY OTHER QUESTIONS - EMAIL US AT COMMUNITY@BLACKBOARD.COM

Thank you!