Faculty Achievements / Program Testimonials

I decided to pursue the Quality Online Course Certification (QOCC) for ENG 461 Shakespeare in Fall 2020 for two reasons: one, it was the first time that I taught this course and I wanted to build it with a solid online foundation. Two, I wanted to put into practice some of the concepts and practices I had learned to use in TOPP To Go! The certification process of checking if I had all the elements listed in the QOCC guidelines helped me envision the course much better. I appreciated the review of my QOCC progress offered by the UH Hilo DL Team. Their feedback helped me identify some weak spots in my syllabus and lesson plan. I was able to fix these problems before class started, and the course design worked very well throughout the semester for both my students and myself.

The Quality Online Course Certification was the cherry on top of the sundae after taking TOPP. I worked hard on getting my course set up, but going through the review of my course for Quality Online Course Certification was well worth the additional effort. I was so pleased to have the feedback and assistance to get all the little things tweaked. It is something that anyone teaching online would benefit from, no matter what your level of expertise currently is.

Camp Pedagogy is how I think of TOPP! The goal is to acquire new tools for teaching and using Laulima but in doing so, we have great conversations with folks across the UH system and disciplines in HOW we teach and what we think is important. The TOPP [facilitators] are so nurturing and available, they are absolutely indispensable in guiding these critical discussions. I learnt so much from my colleagues and transferred a number of approaches and assignments into my upcoming classes. It cleared some cobwebs of exhaustion and left me refreshed and excited!!

The TOPP course was a delight to take. What a beautiful and fun course! I had a great time learning with the other faculty from across the campuses. The instructors were so supportive and positive, it made it easy to keep going. TOPP is a great example of how to conduct an effective online course! I would highly recommend this course to ANY instructor, as even if one knows the bells and whistles of web 2.0 apps and Laulima, getting a refresher on solid course design, federal rules and regs, and increasing student engagement from highly skilled instructors was invaluable!

TOPP. is. a. Game Changer. The Teaching Online Prep Program was much more than I expected. I learned how to take my courses to the next level, beyond anything that I could have imagined. One of the strongest components of the program was having a supportive and encouraging cohort of facilitators and faculty. We shared ideas on curriculum, site organization, ideas on how to make our course content fun and easy to learn. Then we learned how to take those concepts and ideas and create an online environment that is intuitive, easy to navigate, engaging, and visually beautiful. I definitely recommend anyone thinking about improving their online courses to take this course. You will learn SO MUCH!

There are different ways to teach and different ways to learn, and yet the goal is to always provide our students with opportunities to successfully pursue their goals. One way that my teaching approach has evolved is to provide online, asynchronous courses. The ability to share ideas and learning without unnecessary limitations of time and space provides students with the chance to chase and achieve their educational goals. Through the University of Hawaii Preparing To Teach Online program I learned about good ways to organize my online courses and ways for students to share their experiences through social media-oriented activities. I learned more about how to make the online learning environment both more welcoming and engaging for my students, and how to facilitate their success and joy in learning.

The UH Preparing to Teach Online (PTTO) course was very useful. I took this course (in addition to attending all of the excellent offerings from the UH Hilo Distance Learning team) to prepare for possibly teaching the Oceanography lab class either partially or totally online in fall 2020, pending COVID restrictions preventing in-person instruction. The [PTTO] is asynchronous and self-paced, and covers the basics of teaching online, as well as solid instruction on writing objectives and designing course/curriculum maps, and includes exercises to try out a variety of tools useful for teaching online. The course was logically laid out, with a good mix of written content, short videos, and useful links. The self-paced structure really worked for me, with no specific deadlines, so I could “binge” work on it when I had time, but still had final goals to work towards, which kept me moving forward. Going through the course also gave me a feel for what I like in an online course. It allowed me to work on all sections a bit at once, revisiting sections and adding onto and revising the assignments before submitting. I liked having all the resources available all at one time and being able to skip ahead to preview what was coming up, and I incorporated some of that structure into the assignments for my synchronous online courses. Overall, it was a worthwhile course and added to my tool box for teaching online.