AHEAD OF THE GAME INVESTMENT IN TECHNOLOGY PREPARED AUGUSTANA FOR
ONLINE INSTRUCTION
BEFORE COVID-19
| BY JILL WILSON
W
ith Augustana’s strategic plan — Viking Bold: The Journey to 2030 — the university affirmed its commitment to providing innovative and significant learning experiences for students. To achieve this, faculty members need access to technology that enhances learning and
opportunities to engage their colleagues in meaningful conversations about best practices. In the fall of 2019, the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Scholarship (CTS) was established to take advantage of these opportunities — partnering with various components of the university and engaging experts
A screenshot from a video recorded in Explain Everything, which is a program that allows uploading and annotating files while recording voice and annotations. In this picture, Assoc. Professor Lindsay Erickson shows the basics of Graph Theory in a section of Math 320: Discrete Structures. 6
THE AUGUSTANA | FALL 2020
across the field of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). Before the university even looked at adopting its Viking Flex Plan — which incorporates both face-to-face learning as well as an integrated virtual learning component in many classes this fall — the CTS was already moving forward with plans that would prove to be beneficial in dealing with the challenges that come with a global pandemic. A new learning management system, known as Canvas, was about to be rolled out to the campus community, as well as a curriculum development program, the Curriculum Design Fellowship (CDF), that would provide a theory and practical foundations for faculty as they created or revised classes for the fall semester. Director of CTS Jay Kahl, said, “One of the things we are sure of, is that the academy is fantastic at developing teachers who are experts in their specific discipline. In regards to providing them with training or support on how to teach that material, you need broad understanding about cognitive development, teaching, learning, and curriculum development.” But in light of COVID-19, the CTS had to modify its original plan. Originally intended for a dozen people in an intimate seminar setting, the overwhelming response for the fellowship ballooned to 80-plus faculty members across all divisions and departments. The CDF also had to include discussions about the Viking Flex Plan so faculty could talk through what the HyFlex classes would look like. This included how the course could be structured to make for natural “pivot points.” Lastly, the CDF was moved to a workshop-style of student-centered design, enlisting the help of a renowned expert in the field, L. Dee Fink, guiding faculty members through the process of crafting significant learning experiences, planning with the end of the course in mind. “We have been able to merge the important work of Dr. Fink with CONTINUED ON PAGE 23
