College’s response to teaching during pandemic improves teacher effectiveness

January 10, 2023

“The pandemic forced us to look at alternative ways to teach and impact students,” said Timothy Newby, professor of Learning Design and Technology in the College’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction. “With what we have learned from that common experience, we have created this resource hub that will allow teachers to be more effective whether we live in a time of a pandemic or not.”

(l to r) Timothy Newby, Adrie Koehler, and Luke Bennett

The College of Education’s free Online and Blended Teaching Badge Repository (GEER 2023) hub is a set of digital resources including badges that have been developed to allow teachers and other users to demonstrate their skills, knowledge, and competency in teaching within blended and online environments. The badges are closely aligned with the Online and Blended Teaching Hub topics and resources that were created to meet Indiana’s educator standards for teaching in blended and online environments. Users can access the site starting in January 2023 to complete the badges in their own time. There is no fee.

Individual badges include:

  • Information Literacy: Accessing, Evaluating, & Using Online Resources
  • Safety in the Online Environment
  • Professional Digital Online Communication and Collaboration
  • Identifying, Accessing, and Effectively Integrating Critical Emerging Technologies
  • Instructional Video Production for Teaching and Learning

For each successfully completed digital badge, teachers will receive a certificate which will include the certified number of hours that can be counted toward Personal Growth Plan (PGP) points. 

Instructors are Timothy Newby, professor; Adrie Koehler, associate professor; and Luke Bennett, clinical assistant professor; all in the Learning Design and Technology program area within the Department of Curriculum and Instruction.

“The pandemic brought about a common experience for all teachers because of the disturbance it caused for their normal way of teaching,” said Newby. “This was a very challenging time, but for many it became a time for trying new ways and learning new methods, strategies, and tools. We worked with many Indiana teachers to explore and identify what their primary challenges were, how they addressed those challenges, as well as what resources, when available, they found to be most helpful. These discussions became the basis for our hub of online and blended teaching resources.”

Access and register: https://onlineteachinghub.education.purdue.edu/