Educator Cohorts

The goal of our Digital Flagship Educators programming is to enable excellent teaching that incorporates active learning, student-centered course design and digital literacy development. Digital Flagship Educators cohorts are a professional development opportunity for instructors and graduate students to receive the same technology kit as students, along with training around best practices and technology integration. 
 
  • Autumn 2018 Cohort- Week of October 15 through November 16
  • Spring 2019 Cohort- Week of February 4 through March 8

Applications for the 2019/2020 academic year will open in Summer 2019. Don't miss a beat, sign up to receive email notifications when new educator opportunities are announced.

Cohort Learning Objectives

Device Fluency

  • Develop foundational knowledge of key digital terminology and use cases.
  • Demonstrate ability to move content around between applications, onto other devices, and into web or cloud storage.
  • Confidently identify of one or more methods to complete desired tasks; make informed, clear recommendation. 

Digital Literacy

  • Differentiate between device fluency and digital literacy.
  • Understand components of digital literacy and merits of incorporating active learning strategies into subject area teaching.
  • Identify key opportunities for course learning objectives to be met and measured via active learning strategies. 

Course Design

  • Evaluate a variety of learning and assessment integrations, determining each option's appropriateness for their curriculum. 
  • Strategize course setup choices based on student needs.
  • Recognize the importance of core course info being centralized in Carmen and exemplify through instructional practices. 

Cohort Structure 

Schedule

Our cohorts will run for five weeks, with each group meeting for two hours weekly at the same time. Availability is indicated on the application and accepted participants will be assigned to groups that work with their schedules.

For example, of the participants in a given cohort, three or four sub-groups may be created- each meeting on a different day and time of the week.

Format

Our cohorts operate in a flipped format, meaning that passive learning occurs outside of meetings and in-person "class" time is used for activities, discussion, and hands-on support. Participants will be enrolled in a Carmen section and assigned content each week that must be completed before attending class, with this out of class time totaling roughly 60 minutes of work per week. 

iPad-only Course Sections

Each instructor participating in a cohort can elect to have one of their course sections designated as "iPad-Required" in the following academic year.  This designation allows instructors to plan activities and assignments with an established knowledge of student tools and centralized resources to support their skill development.
 
When each student in the class has the same device, the instructor can better navigate how to incorporate active learning strategies. Students then are able to make greater strides in developing their own digital literacy and workforce readiness. 
 
For each iPad section, there must be sufficient alternative sections without the device requirement in order to meet the educational needs of all students. Courses without sufficient alternative sections will not be labeled "iPad-Required".
 

How does it work?  

 
  1. Instructor Designation: Instructors will complete an iPad Section Designation form the semester prior to teaching their iPad-enhanced course. This initiates the process and requires the instructor to confirm that they have met the criteria.
  2. Departmental Approval: Departmental schedulers and unit supervisors (usually departmental chairs or, on some regional campuses, deans) are contacted for approval and confirmation of other section alternatives. Schedulers will also need to provide the unique 4-5 digital class number (not section number).
  3. Registrar Submission: Final section list is provided to the registrar, one month before registration for the spring term begins.
  4. Attribute Assignment: The Registrar's office then assigns each section with the attribute, "iPad-required." Students looking for these courses can search them by selecting that attribute in their search criteria. Students see this course criteria displayed with some variation depending on device and system.    
  5. Student Eligibility: Within the systems, students receiving iPads from Digital Flagship are tagged as having that technology. A technical requisite (just like other requisites advisors may be familiar with) is then placed which requires students registering for the iPad-required course sections to have the Digital Flagship tag associated with them. In other words, students who do not have a university device will receive an error message that they are ineligible and be unable to register for those sections.

Departmental Approval and Support

It is vital that instructors' home departments approve of their participation. This will be asked on the application and confirmed through the acceptance process.  Please touch base with your department before applying. 

Questions? Email digitalflagship@osu.edu