800-426-8315
online@nau.eduFaculty course offerings
Our instructional designers work collaboratively to develop online instruction courses, deliver workshops, and host webinars to support the tools and teaching practices that help faculty continue to develop high-quality teaching and learning opportunities.
NAU Online and Innovative Educational Initiatives is pleased to announce two micro-credential series.
Foundations in Effective Online Teaching: micro-certificate series
Teaching Online @NAU
This asynchronous self-paced course (two to three hour expected completion time) is designed to help get you started teaching online for Northern Arizona University, and to serve as a refresher (and perhaps provide some new ideas) for those who have been teaching online for some time. It is divided into five modules, and you may choose to “test out” of any module by taking the pre-test for that module. Those who complete the entire course will receive a Certificate of Completion which has been a requirement to teach online at NAU since fall 2019. All faculty have this course automatically in their Bb Learn non-credit course list; alternatively, you can self-enroll.
Teaching Online @NAU: Building in Bb Learn
This asynchronous facilitated online workshop (five to seven days, 15-hour expected commitment) introduces why and how to implement the tools most often used in Bb Learn tools (and provides guidance on where you can get support for Bb Learn tools not covered in the course). It highlights three forms of student engagement: student-to-student, student-to-instructor, and student-to-content. The course uses two Bb Learn shells: one is the course shell for accessing course content and interacting with other members of the cohort; the other is a sandbox shell where participants practice using the Bb Learn tools covered in the content shell. The workshop will focus on Bb learn basics and the NAU course shell and communication tools in Bb learn, as well as tools for equity and accessibility, assessment, and grading.
Teaching Online @NAU: Best Practices
This asynchronous facilitated online workshop (five to seven days, 15-hour expected commitment) provides an overview of key frameworks for effective online instruction and introduces Community of Inquiry (CoI) and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). The course also includes online teaching advice and strategies from experienced online instructors on effective ways to build this CoI in your own classes. This class is part of a sequence of three foundational courses for online instructors at NAU that lead to a micro-credential in effective online teaching.
Current Trends in Engagement Strategies: intermediate micro-certificate series
Fundamentals in Leveraging Google Workspace for Education & Microsoft 365: MS Teams for Student Engagement
This asynchronous self-paced online-facilitated workshop (five to seven days, approximately 15-hour expected commitment) will explore engagement strategies in Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, with an emphasis on Microsoft Teams. Each of these collaborative technologies are powerful tool sets that can be leveraged for educational purposes. The workshop includes an implementation plan as part of the assessment, and is offered throughout the academic year.
Collaboration for Learning in Online Environments: an Experiential Workshop
This facilitated asynchronous online workshop (five to seven days, approximately 15-hour expected commitment) will focus on organizing effective and engaging collaboration activities in an online environment. Topics include benefits, best practices, and pedagogical considerations for active collaboration; establishing communication channels and group expectations; collaborative technology; peer review; and collaborative grading. This workshop is offered throughout the academic year.
Alternative Assessments to Promote Engagement
This facilitated asynchronous self-paced online workshop (five to seven days, approximately 15-hour expected commitment) will assist you in designing and evaluating alternative assessments. Participants will have the opportunity to learn using authentic example assessments from NAU courses. Topics include universal and inclusive assessment design; alignment of course objectives, activities, and assessments; scoring guides for feedback and grading; and implementation of technologies. The workshop includes an implementation plan as part of the assessment, and is offered throughout the academic year.
NAU Online Facilitated Course Build workshop
An online-facilitated workshop to assist faculty in the process of building or updating an online course. Faculty are provided with mentoring, technical support, and research-supported design recommendations.