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Faculty Professional Development

Faculty Professional Development

The Digital Learning Department encourages innovation and quality in education. The highly experienced Instructional Designers and Instructional Technologists facilitate numerous professional development programs on a variety of teaching, course design, and technology use topics for all faculty and adjuncts teaching online, hybrid/blended, flex, and technology enhanced modalities. 

In an effort to offer the greatest participation flexibility, we have transitioned most of our professional development programming to a facilitated asynchronous model with rolling enrollment.

Individual sessions/consultations are also available.

View all opportunities.

Individual Sessions 

Available Topics:

  • Canvas Overview (Canvas 1 & 2)
  • Canvas - Analytics
  • Canvas - BigBlueButton
  • Canvas - Course Organization
  • Canvas - Grades and Feedback
  • Canvas - Groups and Collaboration
  • Canvas - Quizzes and Surveys
  • Canvas - Rubrics
  • Canvas - Speedgrader
  • Kaltura Overview
  • Lecture Capture

Dates: Always available
Participation Type: Individual Session
Location: Varies

Register for an Individual Session

Canvas Introduction Workshop

The Introduction to Canvas Workshop is a facilitated self-paced asynchronous workshop where you will explore and master the fundamentals of Canvas:

  • Navigation
  • Notifications
  • Course Customization
  • Syllabi
  • Calender and Course Events
  • Importing Content
  • Adding Colleagues
  • Course Publishing
  • Access Canvas Guides and Help
  • Announcements
  • Discussions
  • Quizzes
  • Content Organization
  • Rubrics
  • Grading

Dates: Open-Enrollment year round
Participation Type: Individual
Location: Online

Register for Canvas Introduction Workshop

Canvas Intermediate Workshop

The Canvas Intermediate Workshop is a facilitated self-paced asynchronous course for instructors who are experienced Canvas users. Participants will learn how to successfully use intermediate and advanced Canvas features for remote, on-campus, and online instruction. Helpful tips and tricks will be included, as well as pedagogical examples where applicable.

Dates: Open-Enrollment year round
Participation Type: Individual
Location: Online

Register for Canvas Intermediate Workshop

Kaltura Online Workshop

The Kaltura Online Workshop is a self-paced asynchronous training workshop in Canvas designed to have you explore how to upload media to Kaltura, create and edit video lectures using the Kaltura Capture desktop recording App, share media with students and colleagues, and experience Kaltura's accessibility capabilities.

Dates: Open Enrollment Until 05/13/2023 11:59 PM
Participation Type: Individual
Location: Online

Register for Kaltura Online Workshop

Asynchronous Teaching Academy

Teaching remotely is more than just transferring content to Canvas and grading student submissions. Just like in the traditional classroom, creating a safe and engaging community for learners to interact with the instructor, each other, and course content is critical to learner success. The academy includes 3 modules that explore three major topics: the Community of Inquiry framework for online learning, online active learning techniques and strategies, and online assessment methods. The focus of this academy is not the technology, but the use of effective instructional techniques in the online, asynchronous learning environment.

Dates: Open-Enrollment year round
Participation Type: Individual
Location: Online

Register for Asynchronous Teaching Academy

Hybrid Teaching Academy

The purpose of a hybrid course is to take advantage of the best features of both face-to-face and online learning. In a Hybrid course, some traditional face-to-face 'seat time' has been replaced by online learning activities. This academy includes 3 modules that explore three major topics: fundamentals of hybrid teaching and learning, designing and facilitating effective hybrid learning activities, and assessment and feedback in the hybrid learning environment. The focus of this academy is not the technology, but the use of effective instructional techniques in the hybrid learning environment.

Dates: Open-Enrollment year round
Participation Type: Individual
Location: Online

Register for Hybrid Teaching Academy

Synchronous Teaching Academy

This academy was originally designed to meet the needs of our remote emergency learners as well as comply with "social distancing" guidelines. However. FGCU will continue to have some synchronous online course as one of many options for course delivery, as well as courses with an online synchronous component. The purpose of a synchronous course is to take advantage of the best features of face-to-face learning while learning at a distance.

Dates: Open-Enrollment year round
Participation Type: Individual 
Location: Online

Register for Synchronous Teaching Academy

Introduction to Online Teaching Academy (IOTA) (Formerly Online Learning Academy I)

This academy seeks to meet faculty where they are in their experience and understanding of online instruction. From these individual starting points, participants will explore elements of the Community of Inquiry (teaching presence, social presence, and cognitive presence) as they engage in active learning experiences in a supportive learning community.

Dates: TBA
Delivery Mode: Facilitated (6 weeks)
Location: Online

Registration coming soon

Advanced Online Teaching Academy (AOTA) (Formerly Online Learning Academy II)

This academy is designed for experienced online instructors who are comfortable with Canvas. Participants will explore ideas of agency, autonomy, and authentic learning to promote persistence and motivation in the online learning environment. 

Dates: TBA
Delivery Mode: Self-paced
Location: Online

Register for Advanced Online Teaching Academy (AOTA)

Technology-enhanced Course Design Academy (TECDA)

This academy is designed for faculty teaching face-to-face courses who want to extend student learning and course resources beyond the classroom. Participants will explore the following: how to design a robust Canvas course that includes using Canvas to streamline your teaching and grading efforts, support an inclusive community of learners, provide resources online to scaffold student learning, and use technology to create self-regulated learners. 
Dates: Open-Enrollment year round
Delivery Mode: Self-paced
Location: Online

Register for Technology-enhanced Course Design Academy (TECDA)

FGCU Online Teaching Internal Self-Review (OTIS) Academy

Course design and course delivery must be examined separately. In the FGCU Online Teaching Internal Self-Review Academy (OTIS), faculty members will work with instructional designers and peers to complete a structured review for evidence of highly effective online course delivery practices.

Dates: Open-Enrollment (9/1/2022 - 8/31/2023)
Participation Type: Individual
Location: Online

Register for OTIS

Online Teaching Certificate

The FGCU Online Teaching Certificate prepares FGCU faculty to teach and improve online courses using the FGCU Department of Digital Learning pillars of quality in online education - Technology, Course Design, and Teaching.

Faculty who acquire the FGCU Online Teaching Certificate will receive a certificate and a letter confirming their successful completion of the program. These could be used for promotional purposes. The Department of Digital Learning's website, blog, and social media platforms may also feature faculty that earned the certificate.

Certificate Requirements

FGCU faculty participating in the Online Teaching Certificate will complete a variety of activities including: Workshops, Academies, Online Course Design Review, and an Online Teaching Self-Review. There is no time limit for completing the Online Teaching Certificate. Any requirements completed prior to enrollment will be accepted toward the certificate.

  • Technology Requirements

  • Design Requirements

  • Teaching Requirements

Upcoming Offerings

Some of the requirements above include the completion of workshops or academies offered by the Department of Digital Learning or the Lucas Center for Faculty Development.

Certificate Enrollment

Any requirements completed prior to enrollment will be accepted toward the certificate.

If you have questions about the FGCU Online Teaching Certificate, contact your Instructional Designer.

Book Clubs

The Digital Learning Virtual Book Club Series highlights topics that are related to technology integration, online teaching and learning, and DEI in the online space. The books are selected to meet those teaching in all delivery formats (F2F, Hybrid, and Online). The book club general meets each summer (consider this for your summer reading list) and is delivered 100% online (yes, you can still go on vacation and join our book club). The Book Club is a great place to meet with other FGCU faculty members to explore innovative ideas that will help students succeed in your class. 

The Digital Learning Department also has a vlog called Book Bytes that features a video blog of book reviews. Visit our blog page to get a better understanding of what the Digital Learning Book Club Series has to offer.

Dates: Summer (TBD)
Modality: Asynchronous Discussions & Synchronous Meetings
Location: Online

Registration coming soon

The Digital Learning Department and FGCU Library have purchased unlimited electronic book access for several titles. Faculty can view the following e-Books online using the FGCU library access links provided (log-in required). These books were selected by the Digital Learning Department for faculty teaching in the various modalities.