Online Instructors FAQ

Instructors who have taught online for UNCG before January 2020 do not need to complete any of the initial professional development requirements.

Initial professional development for new online instructors should be completed prior to the first semester of teaching online. Instructors who are in transition and/or have a compelling reason for a grace period will be expected to complete one of the initial professional development options in their first online semester.

If instructors do not complete the required professional development they will not be removed from their course. However, instructors will not be allowed to teach online again until they complete the necessary requirements.

New UNCG instructors with prior training, extensive experience teaching online, and other qualifications may take an alternative approach to meeting the initial professional development requirement by completing the Alternative Documentation of Professional Development for Online Instruction form.

To get started with Ready to Teach, visit the login page and select “LOG IN WITH ISPARTAN ID”. Questions about Ready to Teach should be sent to: rtt@uncg.edu. Questions about a Canvas QuickStart (Canvas Learning Management System LMS Training) should be sent to learningtech@uncg.edu or to Audrey Bryk-Lee at albrykle@uncg.edu.

Ready to Teach will take about 30 minutes per module or 2 hours in total. The estimate listed in the Canvas LMS training course (1.5 hours for each of the 5 modules), though significant and broad, is indeed a generalized estimate if participants were to come into the course with limited to no knowledge of an LMS and complete every optional activity. To that end, the course could take as little as a few hours or might require several depending on a participant’s prior Canvas background, course design experience, and desire for depth.

Registration forms for Online Learning Level One are available on the Teaching Innovations Office (TIO) Upcoming Programs webpage. Register for an upcoming session and the TIO will reach out with the next steps.

All professional development opportunities listed on the procedures webpage provide documentation of completion (e.g. badge, certificate, waiver). Instructors (i.e., faculty, adjunct instructors, graduate students, and EHRA non-faculty instructors) will submit documentation materials using the Online Instructor Professional Development Documentation Submission Form.

The requirement for continuing professional development begins in January 2020. UNCG instructors are required to complete one of the continuing education opportunities listed in the procedures document every three years. For example, if an instructor started the professional development process during Fall 2019, three years would expire at the end of Fall 2022. If an instructor starts professional development in Spring 2020, three years would expire at the end of Spring 2023.

Yes. Instructors who would like to submit a continuing professional development option that is not listed above may complete the Alternative Documentation of Professional Development for Online Instruction form. Alternative Documentation submissions will be reviewed by the CPD workgroup, the unit’s Academic ITC and/or the instructor’s Unit Representative (e.g. Department Chair/Program Director). Once the review process is complete, the instructor may be provided with a waiver of the continuing professional development component which they will need to submit to their Unit Representative. If a waiver is not provided, the instructor will need to complete one of the continuing professional development options listed in the procedures.

All professional development opportunities listed on the procedures webpage provide documentation of completion (e.g. badge, certificate, waiver). Instructors (i.e., faculty, adjunct instructors, graduate students, and EHRA non-faculty instructors) will submit documentation materials using the Online Instructor Professional Development Documentation Submission Form.

Professional Development Opportunities are promoted in various locations including ITC websites, workshops.uncg.edu, and the UTLC website and newsletter. When an opportunity counts toward either initial or continuing professional development, the following statement is listed in the description:

This (course/workshop/session, indicate which) counts towards the (initial or continuing, indicate which) professional development requirement for online instructors. A certificate of completion will be provided upon completion.

Please direct your questions to your Unit Representative(s) or email cpdworkgroup@uncg.edu.