Digital Learning Unit
Digital Learning is responsible for Quality Assurance (QA) efforts and reporting to OCS. Our Unit is led by the Digital Learning Director and reports to the AVP for Digital Learning who is also the Dean of Extended University. While TLi remains focused on incubating innovative approaches to teaching with technology, TLi Digital Learning’s scope includes TLi, management of and faculty training and support in uses of academic technology, and research and development of resources and programming that prepare and support faculty in the design, development and facilitation of high quality QLT aligned multimodal courses supporting all faculty and staff in the pedagogical application of academic technology and the design of learning spaces to positively impact student success outcomes.
Who We Are
Teaching and Learning Innovations (TLi) is a team of professionals with diverse skill sets that encompass academic technology, learning design, academic media, and inclusive design.
- Academic Technology supports and maintains a critical, digital learning infrastructure, enabling new designs for teaching, learning, and academic work.
- Learning Design bridges the divide between existing practices and emerging sciences of teaching and learning, leveraging the transformative potential of technology.
- Academic Media provides creative support and education for academic communication across modalities.
- Accessibility and Inclusive Design facilitate our dedicated effort to recognize that learners experience their environments differently.
Goals:
- Optimize TLi’s organizational structure and support mechanism for staff.
- Strengthen academic technology infrastructure
- Evaluate and improve inclusive faculty teaching and learning programs
- Incorporate equity-minded practices across the unit
This Mission, Vision, and Goals position TLi to support University Strategic Initiatives, GI 2025 Priorities, and in support of WASC Accreditation, support flexible campus stakeholder participation in the Thematic Pathways for Reaffirmation (TPR) Process. Our OCS Project Plan focused on making progress toward Goal 3 which includes the following Initiatives:
- 3.1 Promote equity & inclusive excellence in teaching and learning.
- 3.2 Expand opportunities for innovation in teaching and learning
- 3.3 Develop a strategy for program and school outreach to redefine TLi organizational expectations for partnership projects
OCS 2022-2023 Goal Status
Unanticipated Developments & Agile Adaptation
CSUCI has been challenged by declining enrollment and retention, losing ten years of FTE growth in just two academic years (Yao, 2023). In the wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic, in particular, Freshmen appear to be struggling academically with approximately 25% receiving at least one DFWI during the Fall 2022 term and 31% receiving a DFWI when taking online courses. Student survey results and registration trends continue to express a preference for more online course options over more in-person classes. While recruitment efforts seek to increase enrollment, retaining students is mission critical, and the focus of multiple campus activities and initiatives.
Campus policy leaves faculty preparation for online teaching and learning and quality assurance processes and instruments to the discretion of the program Chair. To support campus leaders, TLi, which is responsible for supporting multimodal teaching and learning, continues to strategically align its unit’s goals to support campus success initiatives by providing support to faculty and staff, professional learning opportunities, and resources specific to quality digital learning. However, while we had hoped to reimagine and launch pre-COVID programming such as OTPP, with so many competing demands to immediately address declining enrollment, faculty participation was limited. TLi sought to be agile, adapting its offerings to focus on “small teaching” moves, inspired by the work of James Lang, that afforded faculty agency with a minimal time commitment through personalized learning pathways. A summary of what we had proposed in our 2022-2023 RFP is detailed below with what we achieved on the next page, Agile Adaptations.
Goal 1
Develop a Digital Learning Website/Platform That: 1. Defines Digital Learning as flexible, scholarly, and values based. 2. Defines Untethered Teaching as a design approach grounded in quality teaching and learning research regardless of modality, 3. Identifies and explains the intentional design and development of an asynchronous ‘Course Backbone’ as the core of untethered teaching that also ensures Academic Continuity. 4. Includes Guides linked to additional resources and self-paced mini-modules that support faculty in the self-evaluation, design, organization, development, and communication of their course backbone. Goal 1 is currently a work in progress and will take the collaborative efforts of all of Digital Learning.
Status: Met – Fall 2022 TLi launched its redesigned website.
Goal 2
Tiered QLT Instruments: Develop a series of Tiered QLT 3rd Edition Rubrics informed by the following community of inquiry (CoI) presences: 1) Teaching Presence (Anderson et al., 2001), 2) Social Presence (Rourke et al., 2001), 3) Cognitive Presence (Garrison et al., 2001), 4) Cultural Presence (Plotts, 2018)
Status: On Hold
With a campus in transition and campus goals focused on enrollment and retention, we placed this goal on hold. What will be needed regarding course feedback required waiting to see how different projects evolved, many of which are summarized below. We hope to resume differentiating rubrics; however, this will need to wait until pending campus initiatives, degree programs, and restructuring are finalized.
Goal 3
Update Online Teaching & Course Feedback Programming: Reanimate core programming to support well-designed, inclusive, culturally responsive, and accessible online and mixed-modality courses by: 1) Developing and piloting a program to prepare faculty for online teaching and learning, 2) Developing and piloting a program for informal peer and self course review.
Goal 3 Part 1: Develop and pilot a revised Online Teaching Preparation Program (OTPP)
During Fall 2022 we did offer a revised Online Teaching Preparation Program (OTPP) Institute which included a 12 week program that prepared faculty to design, develop, and facilitate an asynchronous online course. With so many campus initiatives targeting first and second year courses, specifically quantitative reasoning and composition gateway courses with high DFWI rates, faculty interest and capacity to participate in additional training opportunities was low. We were fortunate to partner with the Spanish Program Chair, who completed OTPP along with three Spanish Faculty. While all have remained engaged with TLi and further professional learning for online teaching and learning, the time needed for outreach, development, facilitation, feedback, and individualized faculty support, in addition to other responsibilities is not sustainable when compared to the program outcomes.
Outcome:
- 4 Spanish Faculty Completed OTPP Fall 2022
Status: Met but Suspended
Upon evaluating the impact of OTPP, we have decided to suspend offering in-house programming to prepare faculty to teach online, opting instead to leverage the OCS training, and focus our efforts on complimentary professional learning opportunities and targeted program and individual support efforts. Which will be described in the sections that follow. OTPP (and similar approaches) are suspended until campus need/demand suggests otherwise
Goal 3 Part 2: Develop and pilot a program for informal peer and self course feedback (i.e. informal review).
Status: In Progress but Not yet Met
During Fall 2023, the OCS Lead and Learning Design Lead will develop an QLT aligned instrument and a process that can be facilitated by TLi Course Consultants. Spring 2024 we will develop a process and training for academic programs interested in managing their own peer-to-peer feedback cycles.
Looking for Specifics?
For details about programs and progress around each of these goals, please explore the rest of our ePortfolio.
