Online Learning

Group of students looking at a laptop

High-quality learning in digital spaces

Warner has been at the forefront of online education, both in delivering online courses and in preparing educators to teach online and in digitally-rich classrooms.
 

Thrive online as students and teachers

 

Student learning via laptop
For Our Students… Quality Online Instruction 

All of our classes were delivered online from March 2020 through spring 2021 to ensure the safety of students, faculty and staff, as well as the surrounding communities. Forty of our classes were already offered online when we switched to complete online instruction in March. Our faculty have been prepared to leverage online technology for optimal learning experiences.

Teacher with young students teaching on an ipad
For Educators… Learn to Teach Online and in Digitally-Rich Classrooms

Whether you are teaching entirely online or in a digitally-rich classroom, let Warner help you create engaging and educationally appropriate instruction, Our courses, programs, and professional development offerings will prepare you to better deal with the new realities of pandemic teaching and anticipate the ways education may be forever changed.

adult student working on a laptop

Our approach

  • Leverage the best of both worlds
    Face-to-face and online teaching each have advantages and limitations. As an educator you want to know what they are, so you can leverage both to create optimal learning experiences for your students.
  • A course is a course
    Online and face-to-face versions of the same course need to accomplish the same learning goals, although they will be designed differently to achieve the same outcomes.
  • Good online teaching is first and foremost good teaching
    Fundamental learning and teaching principles – such as the value of choice, building on each student’s prior knowledge, collaborative learning, and “backward” instructional design, just to mention a few – apply in both modalities, so teachers can and should leverage their prior experience and current expertise when teaching online.
  • “Less is more” with technology
    You do not need to learn a lot of technology to design and facilitate quality online learning experiences. Learning to use the key functions of a learning management system by itself is enough to produce high-quality online courses, as long as your instructional design is sound.
  • Community and engagement are key
    Consistent with the “Community of Inquiry” framework, we aim for online courses that create an online community and include opportunities for:
    • Cognitive presence (e.g., students engaging meaningfully with the content of the course).
    • Social presence (e.g., students engaging meaningfully with each other); and
    • Teaching presence (e.g., instructor engaging with students, both directly and indirectly through the way the course is designed).
  • Online courses require thoughtful planning
    Quality online courses require time careful planning and facilitation. Whenever possible, collaborating in the design of online courses will save time and lead to better teaching and learning.

What to expect

  • High-quality online learning experiences
    All Warner courses have been redesigned to ensure that they employ best practices for teaching online. We have not simply moved to Zoom what was previously done in face-to-face class sessions.
  • Prepared faculty
    All Warner instructors have received training in teaching online and continue to be supported by online experts.
  • Access to FAQs and online support tools
    Visit this website for support.
  • Dedicated support staff
    To address technology issues, we have dedicated staff ready to support Warner students and faculty with technical problems they may encounter. Email our IT staff.
Student working on a laptop

Learn about online and digitally-rich teaching

Recognizing the importance for educators to be better prepared to leverage technology – both during this pandemic and beyond – we offer the following learning opportunities:

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Workshops on Online Teaching

Free for University of Rochester faculty and students, these “how-to” workshops on specific aspects of online teaching (held via Zoom) provide an introduction to topics such as how to pre-record lectures, orchestrate asynchronous discussion boards, facilitate discussions in synchronous sessions, etc.

University online learning workshops
 

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Signature Courses

We offer popular courses that prepare instructors to design and deliver innovative and effective online courses.

EDE484A Digitally-Rich Teaching and Learning in K-12 Schools
EDE484 Online Teaching and Learning
EDE486 Designing Online Courses

two women discussing work on a laptop
 

Certificate and Special Programs

The options below may be completed as standalone programs or by adding an advanced certificate to other master’s or doctoral programs; a strategic choice of electives in both programs will add as few as three credits.

Advanced Certificate in Digitally-Rich Teaching for K-12 Schools (12 credits)
Advanced Certificate in Online Teaching (15 credits)
Special Online Teaching Sequence for UR Faculty (6 credits)

Note: Advanced certificate programs do not lead to licensure or prepare students for the practice of any profession in New York State. They are designed to give professionals additional specialized insight and tools.

two young students in a lab

Center for Learning in the Digital Age 

LiDA conducts and disseminates research on using technology in education, supporting technology-empowered innovations in education. LiDA serves as a catalyst for networking and collaboration on digitally-rich education and provides educators with high-quality learning opportunities to capitalize on digital technologies.

We encourage K-12 schools, colleges and other institutions looking for support with remote instruction during the pandemic to reach out to LiDA for relevant professional development offerings, consulting and other customized services. LiDA collaborates with the Center for Professional Development and Education Reform, the Center for Urban Education Success and the Center for Disability and Education to leverage the best personnel and resources to support institutions looking for support on online teaching and digitally-rich instruction.

Learn more about LiDA