Page 11 - 2020 OIT Progress Report

in the same type of learning activities offered online and on campus in a live and synchronous format using Zoom, Canvas, and other tools. Focused first on fully online improvement and expanded support, OIT and CTE instructional designers developed a rigorous, high-quality set of online courses for those faculty teaching fully online for Fall 2020. These courses featured an emphasis on both online
environment while doing both simultaneously. The staff of OIT and our Academic Technology Service Director in Simmons have been great resources. They have met with us in person for trial runs, which have helped us gain experience and confidence. Lastly, our students, as digital natives, have been patient and have also assisted from time to time with solutions.”
technology and online pedagogy—combining to help faculty expand the quality and consistency of their new fully online courses. Next, OIT’s
AV teams successfully equipped more than 250 permanent or provisional SMUFlex-enabled classrooms throughout campus. As these new
The staff of OIT and our Academic Technology Service Director in Simmons have been great resources. They have met with us
in person for trial runs, which have helped us gain experience and confidence.
No previous year has featured so many unexpected “earthquakes” which have regularly threatened the continuity of instruction. Fortunately, SMU’s teaching support model has proved resilient and capable in transforming adversity into new opportunity to bring about positive change. Ultimately, the challenges
of 2020 have resulted in a
AV tools came online, the
Academic Technology Service Directors provided socially-distanced group SMUFlex classroom orientations as well as hundreds of one-on-one consultation and coaching sessions to help faculty prepare for instruction in this unique term.
Dr. Ashley Tull shared, “I, like many others, had taught both in-person and online, but not in a Flex
greater number of faculty being experienced in more technology, which is enabling instruction across more modalities than ever before. We will continue to do everything possible to ensure that faculty are ready and equipped with tools to sustain the incredible educational opportunities that attracted students here in the first place.
9