Faculty members are invited to submit their online courses in a contest for the best teaching this spring.
During a recent meeting of the Faculty Senate, a committee known as The Academic and Technology Resource Center (ATRCC), chaired by Lillian Payn, was advising the Senate. One particular item is of special interest for the staff at Palomar College. It enables students to recognize all the planning and implementation efforts that instructors put into their courses.
The committee is having its third annual Palomar Teaching with Technology award or the Best of the Best contest. Instructors are given an opportunity to showcase their teachings using technology in the classroom and online.
According to Payn, the contest came about at an ATRCC meeting during a discussion on how they can motivate and encourage instructors to use more technology in the classroom and also share what they’re doing. In the past there were workshops that provided an opportunity for instructors to share, however the committee wanted a way to reach a broader audience.
Today, technology plays a major role in teaching so a contest for all instructors seemed to be a perfect resolution for achieving their goals, which are to facilitate, enhance, and support the technology environment among the staff and students at Palomar
“Education is a triangle,” Payn said. “The students interacting with the instructors, the students interact- ing with each other, and students interacting with the content. The learning management system is a way this can happen.”
Certificates will be awarded to the first, second and third place winners for four categories:
1. Online using Blackboard
2. Online without Blackboard
3. Face-to-face with and without
Blackboard
4. Hybrid (50 percent online, 50 percent face-to-face) with and without Blackboard.
Winners will also be recognized during the annual Faculty Tea at the end of the semester.
A submission criteria can be found at http://www.palomar.edu/ pages/onlineshowcase/ for instructors teaching the Fall 2014 or Spring 2015 semester classes. Those using the Internet to teach their courses are being asked to submit their techniques via slideshow or video presen- tations.
“As the instructors build their presentation they can make sure they’re addressing everything all the judges will be looking for,” Payn said.
Applicants, students or anyone can view the past winners and their submissions by visiting the “gallery” on the website.
The criteria, according to Payn, are based on the “best practices” checklist here at Palomar. This is an extensive and thorough checklist. The committee used suggestions from other universities abroad as well as in the United States to build the checklist and it’s given to all prospective instructors and current online instructors to follow as they build their courses.
“If the instructors are really addressing all those concerns (the criteria) and there is presentation they’ve got all their bases covered. They’re really handling how to deliver a comprehensive course that communicates the content, engages the student, and gets the students communicating with each other regularly throughout the course,” Payn said. The deadline for the submission is April 1.
