Online Teaching Showcase

Conference Overview

The Online Teaching Showcase (OTS) provides a forum for the scholarly exchange of the best practices in virtual education. Designed to foster instructional effectiveness, OTS features experienced online faculty sharing strategies that optimize learning and engagement in the online classroom. Unique to OTS is the online, time-limited, asynchronous nature of interactions that provide a forum for professional exchange not limited by the traditional conference confines of time, location or funding. As such, OTS attendees and presenters have the flexibility to login to the conference showcase at their own convenience, download or archive select presentations, and view presentations with respect to specific interests.

The goals of the Online Teaching Showcase are:

1. To enhance the quality of online instruction through the dissemination of effective teaching strategies.
2. To encourage scholarly dialogue about best practices in online instruction and assessment among faculty teaching online.
3. To increase awareness of the range and diversity of innovative instructional and assessment strategies available in the online classroom.

2013 Online Teaching Showcase

Each OTS will focus on a different topic relevant to effective online instruction; the theme for the 2013 OTS is CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT TECHNIQUES (CATS). As such, presentations will all focus on issues relevant to the utilization of classroom assessment techniques in the online classroom. For example, topics might include:

• Specific classroom activities and/or instructional behaviors that benefit from CATS
• Integrating CATS to enhance discussions
• Using technology to implement CATS
• Integrating CATS that promote enhanced learning
• Utilizing CATS feedback to enhance critical thinking and content knowledge
• Theories underlying CATS and their role in the online classroom
• Unique perspectives on CATS for specific student populations (i.e., adult, international, military, transfer, non-traditional, etc.)
• The role of CATS in online education
• Literature reviews of CATS in specific disciplines

Submissions

Proposal submissions will be accepted on a continuous, ongoing basis. For inclusion in the 2013 OTS, proposals must be received by March 1, 2013.

Eligibility

All faculty (fulltime, part-time, campus-based and online) at Grand Canyon University are eligible to present at OTS. OTS is an opportunity for GCU faculty to share best practices in online instruction with other GCU faculty. Presenting OTS resources is limited to members of the GCU community.

Presentation Guidelines

OTS presentations must include both an audio and visual component; there are no formal requirements concerning the technical format or the media utilized to create the presentation. As such, presentations may be: videos, audio-narrated PowerPoints, video-supplemented PowerPoints, PDF with embedded audio/video supplements, Voicethreads, or any other format that allows for a combination of visual and auditory communicative strategies. The OTS coordinator is available for consultations to determine an appropriate presentation format. (Ted Cross: [email protected])

Each presentation is allowed 10 minutes. Presenters must also provide a 1-page handout for download by conference attendees, 150-word presentation abstract, 100-word author bio, and .jpg author photo. Conference attendees will be able to view all presentations, comment, and download handouts via the Internet.

All presentations and supplemental material must be professional and align with GCU standards. All presentations must be approved by the OTS coordinator prior to posting to the conference website.  

Proposal Materials

All proposal materials (title of the presentation, 500-word abstract, 100-word author biography) must be submitted via the online submission form at:

http://cirt.gcu.edu/teaching/ots/submissions/submissionform

Notification concerning acceptance will be made within 3-days of the receipt of the proposal.

Presenter Requirements

During the month of the active OTS conference (June 2013), presenters are required to monitor comments at a minimum of two times per week to respond to questions and comments generated from the presentation.

Location

OTS is held in a completely online, asynchronous format. There is no physical location for the OTS conference. OTS is held annually in the spring; active OTS conferences will last one month in duration.

Questions or Assistance

For questions or assistance concerning the Online Teaching Showcase, please contact:

Ted Cross

Manager of Research and Assessment College of Doctoral Studies

Manager, Center for Innovation in Research and Teaching

Grand Canyon University

ted.cross@gcu.edu

602-639-7285

http://cirt.gcu.edu/teaching/ots