DU Teaching Tool Kit

The content throughout this site is contributed by Office of Teaching and Learning staff members;
Leslie Cramblet Alvarez, Amelia Gentile-Mathews, Christine Hood, Terri Johnson, Alex Martinez, Virginia Pitts, Lexi Schlosser, Jeff Schwartz, and Vince Tango. 
To connect with us, please visit our staff page for bios and contact information.

Infographic containing the following instructions for using the toolkit: 1. Just getting started, and looking for quick steps? Yes. Start here: Read through the handouts in the Canvas Core and Methods sections of this guide. Download the Canvas Course set-up worksheet. Use the worksheet and additional resources to start building an online component for your course. 2. New to online, and ready to spend some time learning? Yes. Start here: Read through the handouts in all 4 sections of this guide. Download the worksheets for all 4 sections of this guide. Use the worksheets and any of the additional resources you find helpful to start developing your face-to-face, hybrid, HyFlex, or online course. 3. Experienced, and looking to develop new strategies? Yes. Start here: read through the handouts in the Planning, Development, and Methods sections of this guide. Determine which method you will be using for your course. Use the worksheets available in each section that are the most useful for your methods. 4. Experienced, and looking for worksheets or tools? Yes. Start here: Review the handouts and resources in the Development and Methods sections of this guide. Use any of the worksheets from all 4 sections of this guide that would be useful to your process/methods.

Use the menu below to navigate between each of the sections of this tool kit.

Sections

1. Canvas Core

Canvas, and getting started online.

2. Planning

Beginning with the end in mind.

3. Development

Selecting appropriate tools, and effective creating content.

4. Methods

Aligning content with delivery methods.

1. Canvas Core

We now know that all classes, even if there is a face-to-face component, will require a robust online presence moving forward. While the resources in this section mainly focus on the fully online delivery of courses, we recommend faculty start with them to effectively prepare and structure course content for Canvas, DU’s primary learning management system. Even if you’re unsure of the format that you’ll be teaching with, it is a good idea to start with Canvas as the core for all of your courses. The resources in the Methods section provide guidance for faculty ready to learn more about delivering courses in a hybrid, HyFlex, or face-to-face format.

Online courses that take place entirely in an online environment using tools such as Canvas (DU’s primary learning management system), Zoom (A web-conferencing tool that allows people to meet virtually for a class or working session), and Kaltura (A video creation and management tool).

Handout: Online Learning

Resource: OTL Educational Technology Knowledge Base

Resource: Online Teaching and Learning Glossary

Optional Resources:

Critical to the success of online courses is clear course organization that allows students to easily navigate the online environment. Use the resources below to build your Canvas course. The Canvas Commons has templates that can be imported into your course to reduce your workload for organizing and creating structure in the online format. We’ve also provided a checklist to help with ensuring that all of the important pieces of a well-designed Canvas course are included.

Handout: Creating an Online Course

Handout: CANVAS TEMPLATES

Worksheet: Canvas Checklist

Worksheet: Course Checklist

Optional Resources:

What we experienced in Spring 2020 was emergency remote teaching. In advance of Fall 2021, we’re preparing for a new educational landscape. It’s clear that we will need to intentionally design a flexible infrastructure that allows us to take our courses back to online should the need arise. The resources provided below will help you design a flexible infrastructure. Fall 2021 has new requirements for all teaching modalities, including the required use of Canvas. 

Handout: Emergency Remote Learning

Optional Resources:

After completing this section, consider moving to the Methods section and selecting an alignment table to complete.

All Canvas Core Worksheets

2. Planning

The content in this section includes information about how to structure your course. We encourage you to keep your focus on learning outcomes and beginning with the end in mind. Explore resources for planning that focus on inclusion, effective assessment, and developing learning outcomes that align with what you really want students to get out of the class.

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) are statements that articulate what a student will know, think, value, or be able to do as a result of an event, activity, class, or in this case, as a result of graduating from your program. In the handout below, we share three frameworks that classify the types of statements about what educators expect or aspire for students to learn. We encourage you to craft SLOs from any combination of these to enact what you hope students from your newly proposed program will learn, value, think, and do by the time they graduate.

Worksheet: Student Learning Outcomes

Optional Resources:
The following method-specific tools can support you in designing and organizing your course so that all of your components (assessments, assignments, learning activities, and materials) align with each other to support student learning outcomes.  Note that there are two tools for online courses; the Online Alignment Table can support you in the early stages of overall course design, but if you already have a pretty clear vision for how the quarter will flow, you may find the Online Vision Map more helpful for organizing each week.

Worksheet: Pivot-Ready Alignment Table

Worksheet: Hybrid Alignment Table

Worksheet: HyFlex Alignment Table

Worksheet: Online Alignment Table

Worksheet: Online Vision Map

Worksheet: Course Alignment Brainstorming Document (all modalities) 

Optional Resources:

In the current environment, it is important to create clear and flexible blueprints for you and your students. As you build your course to be face to face (F2F) or online be sure to consider the amount of time each activity takes and to determine what is the best way to achieve the learning outcomes for the course. The resources below are provided to assist you with that process.

Handout: How to Plan Your Course Time

Worksheet: Course Time Planning

Optional Resources:

Inclusive teaching practices are student-centered approaches to teaching that engage the wealth of intersecting social identities and positionalities that all students bring to the classroom. Use the following resources to intentionally incorporate inclusive practices into your  course design, classroom management, and assessment strategies.

Worksheet: Inclusive Teaching Checklist

Worksheet: Pre-Reading Questions Checklist

Worksheet: Designing an Accessibility Survey

Worksheet: Equity-Minded Worksheet

(created by the University of Winsconsin, Greenbay)

Optional Resources:

Just as doctors deliver treatments in consultation with medical data about patients, educators deliver meaningful learning experiences in consultation with assessment data about students. Below are assessment resources that we invite you to consider for your courses.

Worksheet: Individual Assessment

Optional Resources:

After completing this section, consider moving to the Methods section and selecting an alignment table to complete.

All Planning Worksheets

3. Development

We invite you to consider available tools for enhancing the student experience, while keeping an eye on student engagement. Explore the resources in this section to aid with selecting appropriate tools for creating effective and engaging course content.​

Instructional videos are pre-recorded videos that students can access and replay on their own time. Below are some best practices and resources for creating instructional videos.

Handout: Creating Instructional Videos

Worksheet: Lecture Video Checklist

Optional Resources:

Presentations are also an effective method for transferring lecture content. Information is part of nearly every college class, and some form of lecture or presentation is typically expected to convey that information to students. Use the resources below to explore effective strategies for designing engaging presentations.

Handout: Visual Presentations Design Guide

Worksheet: Presentation Storyboard

Optional Resources:

After completing this section, consider moving to the Methods section and selecting an alignment table to complete.

All Development Worksheets

4. Methods

To meet student needs, university needs, and our needs in this ever-evolving public health context, many of us will be teaching in unfamiliar modalities as we begin the next quarter, or we may be asked at any point to change to a different modality.  Explore step-by-step guides that walk you through the process of creating courses in the HyFlex, hybrid, and online learning environments, and learn more about some of the key success factors and unique considerations that you should keep in mind when using these particular methods.

Pivot ready courses are face-to-face or mostly face-to-face courses that, if the need arises, can be moved online at any point during the quarter with as-little-as-possible disruption in learning for students, and as-little-as-possible burden on the instructor.

Handout: Pivot-Ready Course Design Guide

Worksheet: Pivot-Ready Alignment Table

Optional Resources:

Hybrid learning occurs when online instruction is combined with face-to-face instruction, and where a substantial portion of face-to-face instruction is replaced by online instruction.

Handout: Hybrid Course Design Guide

Worksheet: Hybrid Alignment Table

Optional Resources:

HyFlex learning allows for both online and face-to-face participation. Online participation can be entirely asynchronous, meaning that students do not have to participate in “live” class. Instead, students choose their mode of participation.

Handout: HyFlex Course Design Guide

Worksheet: HyFlex Alignment Table

Optional Resources:

Online courses that take place entirely in an online environment using tools such as Canvas (DU’s primary learning management system), Zoom (A web-conferencing tool that allows people to meet virtually for a class or working session), and Kaltura (A video creation and management tool).

Handout: Online Course Design Guide

Worksheet: Online Alignment Table

Optional Resources:
All Methods Worksheets