Page 34 - Campus Technology, January/February 2020

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CAMPUS TECHNOLOGY | Jan/Feb 2020
2019
Torigoe. But eventually the message came through from those who hadn’t participated: Faculty needed more time in their schedules to accommodate the training.
During the regular academic year TOPP lasts eight weeks; in the summer, when people can
idea of granting three teaching equivalencies (TEs) for TOPP participants. Instructors in TOPP training could effectively remove one course from their schedules. Passed by the faculty senate and approved by the administration, the TEs have been in effect for full-time faculty since
TOPP training gives instructors an understanding of best practices for online course development, a better grasp of instructional design principles, access to peers, and actual course content.
devote more time each week to their course development efforts, it goes for six weeks. The time requirement is six to 15 hours per week, a hefty commitment for faculty who often have other administrative duties on top of their teaching.
Recognizing the success of TOPP, Leigh Dooley, distance education coordinator, promoted the
Project leads Youxin Zhang, Helen Torigoe and Jamie Sickel
2018. As a result, interest in TOPP exploded. Nakamura called it the “no teacher left behind”
movement. The older faculty, “with incredible experience and knowledge,” who may not be digital natives, now have the support of the administration to learn how “to share that in an online environment.”
Such training has also become mandatory for anybody teaching online for the first time. Those people who were already teaching online or who have taught online in the past were “grandfathered in,” said Torigoe.
As it is, Torigoe’s team has struggled to keep up with campus demand. While TOPP is taught in fall, spring and summer, the school may add a second summer session. And because there’s now an expense affiliated with granting those TEs, the number of faculty has been limited to 10 per cohort, which the instructional designers are happy about. “We’re not just teaching a class, but we’re working one-on-one individually with them, giving them feedback, meeting with them and suggesting design changes and whatnot. So, there’s a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes as well,” Torigoe said.
On top of those activities, the design team has