BOLT Sparks Innovation in Online Teaching at U of A

In a few hours online last fall, Carly Franklin learned several new teaching techniques from Global Campus staff and other instructors like her at the University of Arkansas.

Franklin is a clinical associate professor in the School of Social Work in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. She attended her first BOLT (Better Online Learning Together) conference hosted online by Global Campus for instructors last fall.

Global Campus performs services for U of A instructors to help them provide the best learning experience possible for students. It hosts the annual conference to share ideas, techniques and technology information with U of A instructors. Global Campus staff make presentations each year and invite instructors to share their knowledge and experience as well.

“Some of the ideas inspired me to make changes in my courses,” Franklin said.

She made adjustments to empower learning in online group discussions based on information from Camie Wood, a Global Campus instructional designer. She also learned ideas for creating a sense of community in a class from Phil Jones, a College of Engineering instructor, and some creative ways to engage students by "storifying" her courses from Lynn Meade, a teaching assistant professor in the Fulbright College Department of Communication.

Session Recordings Available

All U of A instructors, whether they teach online or in person, use the Blackboard Ultra learning management system. In-person instructors might use Blackboard Ultra a little or a lot, said Ken Muessig, instructional design manager at Global Campus. Those who teach online use Blackboard Ultra as a virtual classroom, he said.

“They host syllabi, announcements, group discussions, readings, videos, assignments, quizzes and tests,” Muessig said. “For online courses, Blackboard Ultra is the classroom where students and instructors come together.”

When the university upgraded from Blackboard to Blackboard Ultra last year, Global Campus staff worked with faculty to migrate more than 1,200 sections of online courses. Global Campus updated over 200 articles on the TIPS (Teaching Innovation and Pedagogical Support) website, created Ultra tutorials, and offered numerous trainings.

You can watch recorded BOLT sessions on the TIPS website. You can also read other stories about BOLT sessions on this blog (see related articles box).

 

Course Evaluation

Instructional designer Amalie Holland described the process of creating an online course in her session, Closing and Continuing the Circle. Global Campus instructional designers work with U of A instructors to build courses from scratch and to make changes to courses at other times when needed.

Evaluating a course can provide information needed to improve it for the next time it’s taught, Holland said. She outlined things instructors can do during the semester such as taking notes, tracking questions from students and creating a checklist to review before teaching the course again.

Lauren Lambert, an instructor in the communication department, joined Holland on the presentation. Lambert described her process of taking notes, often in her email because it was always accessible. She divided her thoughts into categories: Blackboard grading/management, individual assignments, policies/requirements, student engagement/instructor notes. By communicating these observations to Holland, Holland can suggest improvements for the next instructor of the course.

In addition to using information from the standard faculty evaluations that students are asked to complete, Holland said, instructors can create their own surveys to pinpoint areas on which they seek feedback, especially if they want to gauge how well something new worked.

 

Course Analysis

She also went over the statistical information available from Blackboard Ultra, the learning management system all U of A instructors use. Instructors can see the minutes individual students spent in a course compared to other courses in their department or academic college. They can view an activity matrix that compares the time students spent in a course with their grade. They can look at what links and documents an individual student opened and track whether participation changed over time. All this data can help instructors determine what’s working in their courses and what isn’t, Holland said.

“It’s one piece of puzzle,” she said. “This is not to blame students. It lets us look at things we can control. Just because we want students to look at everything in a course and love it all, if they don’t, we can ask ourselves, what can we do on our end to make that better?”

 

Learn More

Other sessions and presenters included:

• Community of Inquiry, Camie Wood, instructional designer. Wood emphasized the integration of social, cognitive and teaching presences to build deep and meaningful learning experiences in online education. She explored ways to create a collaborative learning environment, promote critical thinking and establish a strong instructor presence to guide and support students throughout their degree program.
• Knowledge Checks and Low-Stakes Quizzing in Blackboard Ultra, James Martin, instructional designer. Martin explained how to use quizzes to check students’ knowledge of material without the pressure of high-stakes tests. He showed how to create types of quizzes and integrate them into course content. Martin also described how to use Blackboard Ultra’s analytics to monitor student progress. This approach benefits both students who may find it helpful in learning the content and instructors who receive feedback about whether students are learning the content.
• Building Better PowerPoints, Dylan Craig, visual information architect. He shared practical ways to make PowerPoint slides clearer, more engaging, and easier to follow. He also taught good design choices such as using simple layouts, readable text, and helpful visuals. The session also covered how to structure content in a way that keeps students' attention and supports learning.
• Storify Your Course: Four Stories That You Can Employ to Increase Engagement and Positive Affect in Your Online Course, Lynn Meade, teaching assistant professor, Fulbright College Student Success. Meade focused on how storytelling can make online courses more interesting and relatable. She talked about four stories that all teachers can use: A story that says who I am as a teacher and why it matters to you, a story about how I as a teacher have struggled in some way and overcame and you can, too, a story about how a former student in the class used the content they learned, and a story that helps students remember key content. Stories can help students remember information, feel more connected to the material, and stay engaged. “Stories are your ‘superpower’ because they are ‘sticky’ and easily remembered,” Meade said.
• Combining OER and Library Resources, Christine Rickabaugh, open education librarian. Rickabaugh described how instructors can mix free educational materials with university library resources to create a richer learning experience. She shared tips on finding high-quality free materials, making sure they fit course goals, and blending them with library content. This approach can save students money while still providing reliable and diverse learning materials.

• Assessing Competency in the Online Environment, Hope Ballentine, teaching associate professor, Eleanor Mann School of Nursing. Ballentine explored different ways to check whether students are really learning in an online class. She talked about using projects, portfolios, and smaller assignments to measure understanding instead of relying only on traditional tests. Ballentine also discussed how to give clear instructions, provide useful feedback, and make sure grading is fair and meaningful.

Editor's Note: In the cover image on the blog home page, Camie Wood, left, and Amalie Holland give an in-person presentation for the Teaching and Faculty Support Center on campus, separate from the BOLT conference.