Course Shell Development (SBI 2006/2007)

At this time, 36 faculty have been selected to develop 15 courses into common course shells in the fall term (Fall, 2006).  No faculty volunteered to develop ACG 2021/ACG 2071 and BSC 1020, so these courses are being placed on the list for future course development.  In place of these three courses, two additional humanities courses will be developed to enhance our offerings for students seeking degrees to transfer to a four year institution.  In addition, a new course titled, “Information Sources in the Online Environment” will be developed by Nuria Curras, Paulette Smith & Suzanne Lynch (Librarians, Winter Park & West Campus).   This course will be a “stand-alone” course for which students can register and earn credit.  In addition, the learning objects created in this course can be used as modules and incorporated into any online/hybrid classroom to introduce information literacy to students. 

The following courses are currently under development:

 One of our primary goals is to have cross-campus teams develop the courses and to have a balance of full time tenure/tenure-track and temporary or part-time faculty.  In situations where we are lacking volunteers from more than one campus or all faculty are part-time or temporary, we will include others as subject matter experts through interviews about content, invitations to participate in brainstorming sessions, and consultation throughout development. 

 All of the faculty selected will receive a stipend for their participation.  The stipend will be paid at the conclusion of the project and upon delivery of the completed course shell.  To receive the full stipend, selected faculty will participate fully in the Online Course Design Studio program, work with the team and assigned instructional designer to create a text-independent, multimedia-rich course shell, and participate in reviewing other courses created through the fall process.

The fall program began with a kick-off meeting held on August 24, 2006.  At this kick-off, Kaye Walter (Executive Vice President, Academic Affairs) welcomed the group and provided a bit about the future direction alternative delivery at Valencia Community College.  The course developers saw a sample common course shell, were presented the Fall Development Timeline, and had the opportunity to begin working with their team members and instructional designer.  In addition, each faculty developer received a copy of The Virtual Student by Palloff and Pratt for reference.

As planned on the Fall Development Timeline, courses will be completed by November 8 and ready for review.  Each faculty member who developed a course in the fall program will be assigned a new course to review.  The reviewers will use the documents provided in the Alternative Delivery Standards Plan to conduct the review and will certify that the course is ready for delivery in the Spring term.  Finally, course developers will share their new common course shell at the Destinations Showcase on December 2.

Faculty and Deans interested in reviewing the newly developed common course shells for use in the Spring term should contact Amy Bosley or Angelique Smith during the fall term for access.

Additional Implementation Plans

• Consultants
  • We are seeking consultants to provide training components for faculty and specifically, for deans.  In the Spring, we will deliver a training program on hiring, evaluating, assessing and retaining online faculty for deans and provosts. 
• Multimedia Specialist
  • We are in the process of hiring the multimedia specialist for a one-year contract (position closed August 25).  This person will assist instructional designers in creating multimedia objects for use in the common course shells.

Authors:  Amy Bosley & Angelique Smith,
Valencia Community College

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