Photography By Ali Fortin
After submitting an online/hybrid course, "Teaching English Language Learners" for consideration to the CSU Chancellor’s Office, Cinzia Forasiepi has been honored as a 2014-2015 Quality Online Learning and Teaching (QOLT) Program Award Recipient for her work developing this exemplary course. Along with this recognition for seamless integration of technology into the course, Forasiepi has been offered a bevy of opportunities to share how she constructed her course with colleagues across the California State University system, including an invitation to speak at the Innovation and Collaboration Expo for Teaching and Learning at San Jose State University, a public expo hosted by the San Jose State with keynote speakers and sessions covering the value of technology and collaboration in the classroom. The hybrid course will also be featured on the QOLT, CSU Course Redesign and Technology website along with related publications, and will be featured in a webinar this Fall.
The Quality Online Learning and Teaching (QOLT) program was developed to assist CSU faculty, faculty developers, and instructional designers to more effectively redesign hybrid and online courses. The QOLT evaluation instrument, containing 9 sections with 54 objectives, provides guidance and feedback to instructors. In addition, QOLT now includes an optional section on Mobile Platform Readiness (4 objectives). Each of the sections has a built-in rubric that provides feedback based on the instructor’s formative score. In addition, the QOLT program was developed to recognize and share exemplary practices in CSU hybrid/online courses.
Forasiepi's hybrid/online course in second language acquisition was honored both for its accessibile design and how well it supports student interaction. The course is built in Moodle, the learning-management platform used by Sonoma State and other campuses statewide. Her use of online collaborative tools such as Livetext, Padlet, Voicethread, Weebly and a in-site glossary tool, integrates a variety of ways for students to communicate and collaborate. Her students are expected to design and author their own blog reflecting on their learning experiences and journey as part of the course. These blogs are then shared with classmates in Moodle, and integrated into their program portfolios. The Moodle interface she built offers easy navigation for students, with easily accessible links that redirect to syllabi, directions, examples, prompts and video material. These elements on the site come together to offer an all-encompassing learning experience utilized through Moodle. Most specifically, the Program Managers for QOLT, Brett Christie, Ashley Skylar and Cherie Vinopal applauded Forasiepi's course on the following attributes and features:
- "Excellent use of intro videos to explain course navigation and welcome students"
- "Feedback, goals, assignments and rubrics are all within the Live Text Program"
- "Mid-semester surveys to help both students and instructor know how class is going for them"
- "Effective use of TedTalks, PowerPoint, Live Text and Glossary features"
- "Provides and interesting way to contact the professor and give frequent feedback from instructor in Voice Thread and blogs"
Forasiepi has been part of the Sonoma State University School of Education faculty since 2004 after coming on board as a lecturer for the Literacy, Elementary and Early Education Department. Prior to her time at Sonoma State, Forasiepi earned a BA in both Political Science and Translation, a MA in Reading and Language and an Ed. D in Second Language Acquisition/Multicultural. Including her extensive academic credentials, Forasiepi has worked as an Italian instructor at the University of Victoria, Canada as well as a Community Education Language Instructor and Translator.
Across the CSU, the QOLT program has ushered in significant change in terms of how faculty can better create online learning environments. Specifically within the parameters of QOLT’s Course Redesign and Technology Efforts programming, the initiative focuses on five central programs: Proven Course Redesign, Promising Practices, Quality Assurance, Virtual Labs and Course Match. These five programs have tracked a significant increase in the adoption of QOLT programs in just the past year. Learn more about these programs at the CSU Course Redesign and Technology website.
