Developments in digital technologies over the past decades have produced profound changes in the structure, design, and delivery of teaching and learning especially in education. There is a need to enhance the existing skill sets of educators to ensure their expertise in delivery of their expert content knowledge stay relevant.
More and more school learners are competent in the use of technology and they expect their teachers to be on top of the technological realm. As such, education institutions need to adapt to the rapid growth in emerging technologies and utilize online learning to deal with the new digitally oriented learners. Educators need to understand those technologies and their impact on learners and their learning experiences.
To this end, the Certified Online Educator program has been developed by Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University to assist educators to acquire the latest techno-pedagogical skills and knowledge needed to ensure a successful and satisfying teaching and learning experience in an online/smart learning environment. The certificate is aimed at empowering teachers to comprehend the basics of online and distance learning as well as analyze situational scenarios to design, develop, and deliver online learning which will eventually enable them to be more competent online educators in their respective fields
This faculty development certificate is composed of four modules that cover the essential building blocks for effective online instruction:
- Module 1: Introduction to Smart/Online Learning
- Module 2: Technologies for online learning
- Module 3: Learning Design for Online Learning
- Module 4: Development and Delivery of Online learning
The first module covers the fundamentals of online teaching including challenges to both learners and instructors as well as the required skills to overcome these challenges. This will be followed by an exploration of the current educational technologies and the international standards that guide content development.
The third and fourth modules will help faculty to design and develop their courses using appropriate learning designs and pedagogies for online learning.
Each module will include the following resources: module introductory video- this will include amongst others the overview and learning outcomes; challenge quizzes; a 5-10 minutes video on each topic lesson, supplemental visual content (HBMSU learning objects, and a selected variety of OERs, activities, pop-quizzes and other relevant additional resources).
Prerequisite
- Basics of ICT basics
- Basics of teaching skills
- Has previously taught one course or training unit that is to be used as an example throughout the program for smart/online development and delivery.