Curriculum: Certificate Blended Online Learning and Teaching (BOLT)

Data is at the core of educational reform and should be used to inform teaching practice. The purpose of this course is to design assessments that allow instructors to make data-driven decisions to improve their instruction. It will include the evaluation and comparison of currently employed measures of assessment in online environments for their effectiveness in evaluating learner progress and underlying instructional methods. The course will cover the continuous improvement cycle of online assessments. Beginning with backward design, students will learn how to align learning outcomes, learning activities, and online assessments. Based on intended learning outcomes, students will design a variety of formative and summative assessments and learn how to use technology to improve the quality of those assessments. Finally, students will analyze the data generated from these assessments to create an instructional plan to improve student learning, enhance their instructional activities, and make adjustments to the assessments.

This course covers the essential skills and techniques needed to create powerful multimedia products. Students will learn fundamental design principles and adopt a wide range of innovative technologies to generate new solutions for visual communication and multimedia representation. The course provides a dynamic interactive design space where students actively collaborate with peers, gain valuable hands-on experience, and exchange constructive feedback.

This course provides an overview of the increasingly complex array of digital media and technology-based resources available for use in blended and online environments. Students will apply theory to practice to truly redefine lessons to enhance learning through technology. Students will also learn practical skills, ranging from facilitation skills needed to manage a technology-based class to troubleshooting technology problems.  The course also explores burning issues surrounding educational technology such as inequalities and accessibility issues, technology distractions, internet safety, and other ethical issues. It also examines the disruptive innovation of Generative AI on teaching and learning.

This course guides students through the process of designing and developing successful online learning. Students will explore a variety of learning environments, learn how to incorporate instructional models, instructional strategies, and digital media effectively into the design process, and create a complete instructional unit that promotes learner engagement and motivation.

This course provides an overview of how the principles of Universal Design for Learning can be used to design online and blended learning experiences that meet the needs of diverse learners including those who are accelerated and those who are struggling for a variety of reasons. Special attention will be given to integrating technologies, such as Generative AI, multimedia, and other digital tools, that support student engagement, authentic learning, and general accessibility supports.