Professional Development for CECLs
The Chang School is committed to supporting our Continuing Education Contract Lecturers (CECLs) in the development and enhancement of their teaching skills, particularly as they relate to continuous and online learning. With the input from our CECL Advisory Group and The Chang School Teaching and Learning Committee, The Chang School offers workshops and events on topics that address the needs of our teaching and learning community in addition to events offered by Toronto Metropolitan’s Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching.
Reminders about professional development opportunities will be sent via email to CECLs throughout each term.
EVENTS FOR 2023-2024
TALO - Teaching Adult Learners Online
A 4-week cohort-based professional development course offered in the Winter, Spring, and Fall semesters and facilitated by a fellow CECL.
TALO is designed to support you in your online teaching journey as a CECL. It provides the opportunity to advance skills in assessment design, content design, and facilitation when teaching diverse adult learners online. TALO has a strong focus on three important aspects of online teaching and learning design – authenticity, inclusion, and care – and how these can be actively embedded in the design and facilitation of an online course.
TALO is a fully online learning experience. You will engage through self-paced content and activities, weekly peer sharing on teaching practices and challenges in the discussion board, and a number of live virtual sessions with the TALO facilitator on various online teaching topics. You will have the opportunity to apply your learning in two practical assignments (an assessment plan and a facilitation action plan for an online course you have taught/currently teach/are planning to teach).
If you participate in TALO and complete the two required assignments, you will receive a Recognition of Completion Award from The Chang School.
Upcoming TALO Offering Dates:
Dates: Spring/Summer 2024, April 29 - May 26, 2024
Duration: 4 weeks
Register
If you have any questions, please contact changteach@torontomu.ca
Modules
TALO consists of four modules (one per week) that you work through sequentially.
• Module 1: The Online Teaching and Learning Experience - Focuses on comparing instructor and student views of online educational experiences and exploring key dimensions of care and inclusion in online learning environments.
• Module 2: Assessment in Online Environments - Focuses on recommended practices for assessment design and building a culture of academic integrity | Submission of Required Assignment #1: Assessment Plan
• Module 3: Designing and Developing Online Learning Content for Engagement - Focuses on the components of optimal online learning, the balancing of live virtual and self-paced learning, and recommended practices for online content design
• Module 4: Facilitating an Effective Online Learning Experience - Focuses on instructor and student perspectives on instructor presence, recommended practices for online facilitation of learning, and a deep dive into discussions, group work, and feedback | Submission of Required Assignment #2: Facilitation Action Plan
Each module features active engagement through Google Jamboards, polls, discussion forum activities, independent reflection and analysis activities, collaborative activities, etc. For additional details, you may access the full course outline.
Participant Testimonials
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“Amazing, very hands-on and useful course.”
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"The depth and pace of the content is excellent. It is very well organized and easy to follow."
- "The program presents a fantastic overview of online learning, with access to resources I will continue to reference for years to come!"
- "TALO is a great bootcamp (or refresher) to learn how to build community, presence, and effective teaching practices for online learners."
- "It stimulated my motivation to create a more engaging course—providing research on student engagement, presenting ideas for course content and assessment."
- "It's completely transformative!"
- "Highly recommended course that every online instructor should take more than once"
- “Take it - you'll be a better instructor for it.”
Do you have a professional development topic that you would like us to feature? Email us at changteach@torontomu.ca