Badge Evidence | Completed Courses (4 Hours Each)
CM102Raising the Bar - Compliant Communications with Students
This course is designed for employees of all roles and levels at institutions that participate in federal financial aid programs. The course provides an awareness of prohibited acts which could adversely impact operations, and covers the requirements which must be adhered to in order to maintain good standing with state* and federal regulations as outlined in the Program Integrity rules. Emphasis is on areas of misrepresentation related to advertising and recruitment activities, interactions with prospective students and appropriate communication of disclosures and other publications.
*This course currently covers the regulations for the following states: AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, IL, IN, KS, LA, MA, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NM, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WA. Course participants can select specific state(s) at the beginning of the course to customize the training content to their state.
CM107Sustaining a Culture of Compliance: The Role of Faculty and Staff
This course is designed for either an institution’s full or part time staff and faculty members. The course focuses on building and sustaining a campus-wide culture of compliance as opposed to simply providing a multitude of standards and regulations. In short, CM107 hopes to provide the information staff and faculty need to say or do the right things when interacting with both prospective and enrolled students about their education - online or face-to-face - as well as the consequences of saying or doing the wrong things whether by mistake or with intent. Components on ethics, customer service and fostering a culture of compliance in the new normal of educational delivery are also included.
CM140Title IX and VAWA Training: Building Safer Campuses
This course is designed to assist personnel at all levels of an educational institution in the understanding of the provisions of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 ("Title IX") as amended on August 1, 2024, and the Clery Act as amended in the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 ("VAWA"). These laws require that all individuals in an educational institution understand and comply with the laws in terms of what is prohibited behavior in relation to sex-based harassment and/or sexual violence, and what steps are to be followed when such prohibited conduct occurs. This course gives the participants information about the laws, as well as procedures to follow, to provide for the rights of all individuals under the laws. It also provides additional resources to assist educational institutions in continuing to build and strengthen their Title IX and VAWA policies, procedures and training throughout the year.
CM141FERPA and Privacy: A Practical Approach
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA or the Buckley Amendment) is a federal law in the United States designed to provide students with access to, and the privacy of, their educational records. The law applies to students in higher education and educational institutions that receive funding under a program administered by the U.S. Department of Education. This course is designed to provide participants with a working knowledge of FERPA guidelines to ensure proper handling of educational records and other institutional requirements.
CM142Understanding Title IX, VAWA, and the Clery Act
This course will review Title IX, the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, and the Violence Against Women Act. In addition to the background of each topic, victim rights, support system implementation, and grievance policies will also be explored.
The goal of this course is to help develop a better understanding of the topic and produce tangible resources to help implement plans, strategies, and ideas at your school.
In addition to lecture videos, links to resources, and assessments, you will be able to utilize the Journal and Learning Activities. Take advantage of a method that works best for you.
CM251Students with Disabilities: Legal Obligations and Opportunities
This course provides faculty, staff, and administrators with an understanding of the legal mandates regarding equal access for students with disability. More importantly, it provides a practical framework to help institutional personnel know what to say and do in the context of their defined role and interactions with students with disabilities. Topics include the civil rights nature of applicable Federal law, definitional issues, the impact of disability on traditional education activities and pursuits, reasonable accommodations, and the unique responsibilities of faculty, staff, and administrators as prescribed by their position.
ED101Effective Teaching Strategies
This introductory course covers the essential roles of a teacher and the competencies required to be a successful instructor in an educational institution. Proven techniques and strategies for planning and preparation are presented and discussed. In addition, the course offers effective methods for conducting the first class meeting and delivering course content. This course provides a solid foundation for new instructors and serves as an excellent refresher for more experienced instructors.
ED102Student Retention Methods
The instructor is the real key to student retention at any educational institution. Instructors must keep focused on student motivation and retention each and every day of class. Developing strategies for retaining students throughout the entire training sequence is both complex and rewarding. All instructors should have the goal of seeing all of their students successfully complete their class. This course helps you reach that goal by helping you to understand your students and use proven motivation and retention techniques to keep them enrolled and engaged in the learning process.
ED103Student Learning and Assessment
Educators work with students who want to learn specific skills that will lead to fulfilling careers. As educational instructors it is our job to help each student to achieve this goal. Just as you may have a particular style of teaching that you prefer, your students have preferred ways of learning. This course will help you to identify the different learning styles of your students so that you can adjust your instruction to better accommodate them. Good teachers also regularly monitor the effectiveness of their instruction by assessing their students’ learning. This course will examine several aspects of assessment including how to create good tests, how to ask effective questions and how to get your students to actively participate in their learning by asking questions themselves.
ED104Class Management Strategies
This course provides methods and techniques for managing students and class activities. We start by reviewing the steps instructors need to follow as they introduce a class to new students. We then discuss strategies to effectively deal with unfocused and challenging students. The course ends by describing common mistakes made by instructors and ways to avoid them.
ED105Instructional Planning for Student Success
This course shows instructors how to develop a comprehensive approach to effective and efficient instruction. From preparation for the classroom to selection of instructional delivery methods, the course provides effective ways of planning instruction to help instructors keep the content focused and the students engaged. We also cover the steps to set up a complete evaluation system that will work in all settings.
ED106Enhancing Student Learning
This course provides methodologies and examples to help instructors increase content retention and application by students in need of support. The course starts by covering the skills needed by instructors to be clear communicators. We then discuss ways instructors can become effective in monitoring students and using student groups as learning tools. The course concludes by covering techniques and strategies to instruct diverse learners, including learners with disabilities.
ED107Creating an Accelerated Learning Environment
Retention is an issue, and what happens in the classroom is a critical factor influencing a student's decision to stay or go. The classroom environment may be hurting your students' view of the quality of your programs. In this course, you will learn tips and techniques to deal with environmental influences such as your role as the instructor, the classroom, the interactive activities, the support materials, and the sequence of instruction as well as other subtle influences. You will learn to view the environment from the student's perspective to increase your teaching effectiveness and student retention.
ED108Learning Theory and Practice
This course covers the different ways individuals learn and apply new knowledge. We start by covering the steps the brain goes through as it processes new information, and how knowledge is stored and retrieved. We then discuss how intelligence is measured and how learners process information through the use of multiple intelligences. Moving from theory to practice, the course shows instructors how to use the learning needs of students to increase knowledge acquisition and retention. The course includes a number of easy to implement strategies to help students retain and use new content.
ED109Preparing and Creating Lesson Plans
This course will inform you of how careful lesson planning can help to ensure increased student engagement. Proper lesson planning will enable you to teach effectively and efficiently, and ultimately help students meet learning objectives. The information in this course will provide the framework for instructional development enabling you to properly structure a detailed, well thought-out lesson plan.
ED110Time and Stress Management for Instructors
Outstanding teachers serve their students by guiding them through their coursework and motivating them to complete program requirements. Instructors at educational institutions are often faced with high stress resulting from heavy teaching loads and limited time. When teachers cannot manage their own time and stress, they cannot fully serve the needs of their students. This course will show instructors how to manage time and stress in their lives and teach some of these skills to their students.
ED111Active Learning Methods
This course provides an introduction to the concept and philosophy of active learning, and describes a variety of methods to help instructors "activ-ate" their class. The course includes active learning examples that utilize both critical and analytical thinking skills. We also identify the risks that may discourage instructors from using active learning strategies and offer suggestions for managing them. A three-step method is suggested for developing an active lesson, and a comprehensive model is offered as a guide for creative active learning strategies.
ED112Influencing Student Motivation
This course begins by identifying the two most significant issues that influence the motivation of adult students: security and autonomy. The course explains how increasing students' sense of security can enhance their motivation during instruction, questioning, activities, and evaluations. This is followed by a discussion of how motivation can be improved by enhancing students' sense of autonomy when making assignments, selecting instructional methods, implementing classroom procedures, and developing and planning evaluations. The course concludes by comparing and contrasting extrinsic and intrinsic motivators and by suggesting a variety of "miscellaneous motivators" for instructors to consider.
ED113Managing the Adult Classroom
This course compares and contrasts four styles of classroom management. The course includes "virtual visits" to animated classrooms where participants observe four instructors who exhibit different management styles. The style that is preferred by most students is identified and described, and suggestions are offered on how instructors can modify their personal style to increase their effectiveness. A four-step model for developing successful classroom management strategies is presented and is followed by a discussion of a practical, behavioral approach to classroom management. Characteristics that foster good discipline in the educational institution and in the classroom are listed and explained, and tips are offered that can improve both institution-wide and classroom discipline. Finally, a number of scenarios involving common discipline problems are described.
ED114Questioning in the Classroom
Questioning can be one of the most effective classroom teaching strategies. However, many instructors are not familiar with the techniques and research findings associated with good questioning. This course begins by comparing and contrasting the major types of questions and their most appropriate uses. Some relevant statistics and research findings are presented, followed by a discussion of four effective questioning practices. The course concludes by offering a few tips and suggestions for instructors to consider.
ED115Soft Skills for Instructors
The purpose of this course is to provide instructors with a very basic introduction to the concepts of soft skills and emotional intelligence (EQ). It is designed especially for new instructors in career schools who have little or no training in educational techniques and who are unfamiliar with the basics of emotional intelligence. The course provides a comparison of hard and soft skills, including people skills and workplace behaviors. Ten important soft skills are discussed in detail and the relationship between EQ and soft skills is explained. The course concludes with tips and suggestions to help instructors enhance their soft skills and EQ.
ED116Critical Thinking Processes and Applications
The majority of careers require the ability to think critically and problem solve at one level or another. Employers seek individuals who can think independently, propose solutions, and solve problems. The content in this course provides the foundation for critical thinking and demonstrates how people with different interests, abilities, and aptitudes approach problem solving. The course covers the different kinds of intelligence and how they impact critical thinking, for a broader understanding of how people process solutions to problems. It concludes with step-by-step instructions for helping students develop and refine their own critical thinking skills.
ED119Using Technology to Engage and Educate
This course is an overview of a variety of ways in which educators can infuse technology and web resources into every day curriculum, to engage learners and promote collaborative learning. A variety of resources and suggestions are contained within this course, allowing everyone from the novice to the technology expert to take away what is appropriate for them, their students, and the course, in order to integrate 21st century teaching resources and practices in a practical and beneficial manner.
ED125Effective and Efficient Instructional Strategies
Planning Effective and Efficient Instruction provides new and experienced instructors with practical ways to design and deliver learning experiences that establish an environment that facilitates learning. The course summarizes important academic concepts while providing specific strategies for planning lessons, reaching learners, asking questions and assessing student mastery of the course and program objectives.
ED206Teaching in the Lab and Shop Environment
The classroom in an educational institution is often more than just chairs, books, and a white board. Frequently the learning takes place in a lab or shop environment, where the traditional rules of classroom management and teaching may not always apply. This course covers the instructional techniques necessary for the non-traditional classroom, including strategies for teaching to each student's individual learning style. In addition, this course describes strategies for assessing student progress. Safety guidelines and considerations for specific lab and shop environments are identified.
ED400Coping with Stress and Burnout
Stress is something that is present throughout all workplaces in the world. It is often something that cannot be avoided, but instead, must be properly managed. Burnout on the other hand, is something that is less frequent, but far too prevalent. Burnout can cause even the best worker to slow down in productivity and quality (often dramatically). Throughout this course, we will discuss stress, burnout, and many of the causes that you may notice on even a daily basis. We will discuss how to appropriately handle and mitigate stressors, and how to lessen the risk of burnout occurring.
ED401Basics of Crisis Management
Crisis management begins with creating and implementing a plan of action that can be executed efficiently and quickly. As an educator, it will be important to recognize signs of crisis in yourself, fellow coworkers, and even students on campus. If you are an administrator, it not only takes a keen eye to recognize signs of crisis in yourself, but this also applies to recognizing crisis in others around you. In this course, you will explore the various aspects of a crisis, how to identify individuals in crisis, and how to appropriately respond to those individuals to improve the overall situation.
ED402Fostering Soft Skills in the Classroom I
This class will review communication, collaboration, and time management soft skills that can be instilled to help a student excel not only in the classroom, but also on the job. A variety of ideas and methods to implement the growth of those soft skills will also be shared in the course. Learning content is only part of the goal to empower students and graduates to be attractive to potential employers. The human side of the business world – the people – is what makes a company great, so it is imperative to foster the learning of both content and soft skills as students travel on their educational path to a job and career.
ED403Fostering Soft Skills in the Classroom II
This class will review adaptability, problem solving, conflict resolution, self-motivation, and feedback soft skills that can be instilled to help a student excel not only in the classroom, but also on the job. A variety of ideas and methods to implement the growth of those soft skills will also be shared in the course. Learning the content is only part of the goal to empower the students and graduates to be attractive to potential employers. The human side of the business world – the people – is what makes a company great, so it is imperative to foster the learning of both content and soft skills as students travel on their educational path to a job and career.
ED405Essential Teaching Strategies
This course emphasizes teaching strategies that can be implemented within different types of lessons to promote teacher proficiency, student motivation, and achievable outcomes. Topics relating to teaching methods include direct, indirect, interactive, and independent instruction. By utilizing various teaching strategies and methods, an instructor can approach teaching topics in a variety of ways. The goal of this course is to help develop a better understanding of essential teaching strategies, and produce tangible resources to help implement plans, strategies, and ideas at your institution. In addition to lecture videos, resource links, and assessments, you will be able to utilize Journal and Learning Activities, which will continue to be useful after successful completion of the course.
ED406Motivating Others
Motivation can be the difference between success and failure. In this course, the idea of how motivation impacts people will be discussed. Activities will focus on improving motivation in students, and other people you interact with, as well as yourself. The goal of this course is to help develop a better understanding of the topic, and produce tangible resources to help implement plans, strategies, and ideas at your institution. In addition to lecture videos, resource links, and assessments, you will be able to utilize Learning Activities, which will continue to be useful after successful completion of the course.
EL101Designing and Developing Online Courses
This introductory course will provide you with the knowledge and skills to create successful online courses, whether for faculty-supported distance education delivery or as a supplement to classroom instruction. You will learn to design and develop online courses that have structural integrity and navigational simplicity with a focus on student-centered learning and intellectual interaction. The course covers various learning activities that are supported in an e-learning environment and describes the typical components of an online course. We will provide you with the media strategies and course design methodologies that will allow you to develop online courses in an effective and efficient manner.
EL102Online Teaching Techniques
Your degree of success as an online instructor relies heavily on several factors, among which are your level of preparedness before the date on which the course is launched; your ability to make a smooth transition into the roles and responsibilities associated with teaching in an online environment; and the effectiveness and efficiency with which you manage learners, instructional transactions embedded in the course as well as the learning environment. In this course, you will learn how to project your authority and presence into the e-learning environment, build a relationship with each learner, promote and nurture learner participation, provide informative and constructive feedback in a timely manner, minimize attrition, manage communications, manage unacceptable behavior and resolve disagreements.
EL103Teaching Online: A Student-Centered Approach
This course will provide you with the knowledge and skills to author, teach, assess, and revise successful online courses. You will learn to develop a course framework with consistent modules. Constructing an online community and a dynamic syllabus are important in helping you communicate with students. You will also learn how to develop an assessment plan including self- and peer-assessment as you progress through the course. No online course is complete without a comprehensive revision cycle. This course will walk you through the process of "closing the loop" to create a complete revision and improvement plan for your online course. We will provide you with ideas for student-centered learning, with activities and intellectual interactions using a variety of technology tools.
EL104Teaching and Organizing a Virtual Learning Environment
This course will provide you with basic information to teach in a virtual learning environment and understand the importance of organizing course content. You will learn about the important role technology tools play in teaching and organizing an online course. You will also learn the difference between synchronous and asynchronous learning. As the components of each are discussed, you will further identify appropriate methods, develop guidelines, organize content, and establish a pattern of teaching for each method.
EL105Online Language: Communicating with Students
This course will provide you with information to help you effectively communicate with students and encourage communication among students in an online environment. You will learn the importance of facilitating instructor-to-student (I2S), student-to-instructor (S2I), and student-to-student (S2S) communication. Technology tools play a vital role in the communication process and several are discussed in this course. In addition, discussion is also provided to help you further understand how to manage and measure communication in an online course and help students communicate effectively.
EL108Preparing Students to Become Good Online Learners
This course will provide you with strategies and techniques to help prepare students for the online environment. To do so, you must also assess your strengths and weaknesses as an online instructor. As you help students assess their readiness for online learning, you are also preparing them for the expectations and realities of the online environment. By identifying students' strengths and weaknesses, you can provide guidance to help them achieve the learning outcomes. This course not only notes the necessary technical skills, it also discusses non-technical skills as well as techniques for successful learning and helping students develop their online persona.
EL110Effective Use of Social Media in Online Courses
This course will provide you with strategies and techniques to help use social networking in the online environment. It provides an overview of social networking, media hosting and sharing, microblogging and blogging. An introduction to each will be provided, and content development, policy, facilitation and assessment will all be discussed. Suggested activities will also be provided.
EL113Active Learning in an Online Environment
This course will provide you with a basic overview of the background and history of the popular instructional method called active learning. This method differs from traditional educational methods such as the lecture model. Active learning has a definite place in education especially in the online learning environments. It is used to support teaching outcomes like critical thinking skills, interpersonal skills and knowledge acquisition that all instructors wish for their students. However, active learning it calls for a change of attitude on the part of students and the instructor in order to be successful. But the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages as it can make students enthusiastic about learning. Learn about this brave new world of teaching and learning for the next generation.
EL116The Asynchronous, Self-Directed Learning Model
This course will provide you with a basic overview of designing and implementing asynchronous, self-directed online courses effectively. It will review the differences between synchronous and asynchronous online courses. Traditional components of face-to-face courses such as readings, written assignments, and discussions work well in the asynchronous online class environment, but what happens to laboratory assignments and applications? Can they fit into the online course model? Courses which need a lab component, especially the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) courses, may seem impossible to complete in the online environment. Practical examples of effective online lab situations will be provided in this module. This will assist in promoting student engagement and increasing the student’s learning potential.
EL117Understanding Personality Traits of Online Instructors and Learners
This course will provide you with an overview of online instructors’ and learners’ personality traits. Participants will be provided with information about the traits themselves, as well as how to identify such traits, utilize them, and develop lessons to reach all students.
EL118Using Various Realities in Online Courses
This course will provide you with an overview of Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR). With the advancements that have been made in providing reality-based instruction, this course will help instructors to stay current with the latest developments in the different types of realities that are available as instructional supports. This course will provide working definitions for each of the realities, and information pertaining to various components of teaching online using these realities. Benefits, challenges, and best practices will also be discussed. Real-life applications of VR, AR, and MR, along with various equipment that may be utilized, are provided.
EL141Engaging Online Learners
This course will explore the online learning landscape and how to ensure learner engagement remains high, even when working virtually. The course discusses various aspects of online education, as well as discussing techniques for both social and motivational forms of engagement and how to apply them appropriately in courses.
The goal of this course is to help develop a better understanding of the topic and produce tangible resources to help implement plans, strategies, and ideas at your school. In addition to lecture videos, links to possible resources, and assessments, you will be able to utilize the Journal and Learning Activities. Take advantage of a method that best works for you.
RT101Improving Retention through Timely Intervention
How many times have we said “if we’d only known” as a student walks out the door? No one starts classes planning to fail, but unfortunately problems do arise that present barriers to success. Students are good at identifying these problems blocking their path to success, but they frequently don’t have adequate problem solving and communication skills needed to overcome these problems. This course looks at the effect of stress on attrition, the use of tools to identify and help students at risk, and how to develop an institutional culture that shares responsibility for student success across the entire organization.
RT102Orientation and First Week Activities to Increase Retention
Building a program to ensure a smooth "hand off" from Admissions to Faculty is a critical component of student retention. Applicants often develop a strong bond with their admissions representative that ends (from the institution's standpoint) once they begin classes. This online course provides practical ideas on designing an orientation program, first-week-of-class and other retention activities that connect the student with faculty, the college and each other that will help you retain and graduate more students.
RT105RRaising the Bar to 'First-Class' Customer Service
This course uncovers the secrets of today's successful businesses and their strategies of first-class customer service. You will learn the components of first impressions that can help you increase and keep your enrollments. This course will also help you to locate the specific areas of your operations where you can implement an improved customer service plan for your institution – whether it is admissions, student services or academics.