Supporting teaching excellence, cultivating lifelong learners.
The Faculty Instructional Resources and Support Team (FIRST) is part of the CALS Teaching and Learning Collaborative, a hub of support from CALS for UF/IFAS faculty to enhance their teaching and mentoring efficacy, scholarship, and leadership. Learn how we can support you in teaching academic and Extension courses.
FIRST (formerly known as the CALS Center for Online Learning and Technology), continues to offer assistance to UF/IFAS faculty for course design, course building in Canvas, and course delivery challenges when teaching online, hybrid and flipped courses in UF eLearning and UF/IFAS Extension Online Learning.
FIRST offers Course Design and Course Delivery Communities of Practice, as well as consultations and faculty development opportunities. Reserve facilitated or self-service video studios to record lectures, or work with our video team to produce engaging field/lab videos and interactive materials.
We partner with UF/IFAS CALS and Extension faculty to create meaningful, high-quality, outcome-based learner experiences through accessible, engaging, transformative content and learning environments. Our relationships with faculty help to actualize their instructional goals by leveraging technology and pedagogy for continuous improvement of teaching and learning.
Our vision is to be a collaborative hub for innovative, student-centered teaching and learning. Enriched by these connections, CALS and IFAS faculty lead in meeting evolving student needs and developing lifelong learners prepared to face the world’s critical challenges.
FIRST@ifas.ufl.edu (general questions and those related to academic courses)
ExtensionOnline@ifas.ufl.edu (questions related to UF/IFAS Extension Online Learning courses)
352-392-3893
Our offices and recording studios are located in Building 162 on the main UF campus, close to McCarty Hall.
PO Box 110270
Gainesville, FL 32611-0270
1740 McCarty Dr., Building 162
Gainesville, FL 32611
General FIRST Questions:
Barbra Larson
Assistant Director, Education/Training Programs
bcl@ufl.edu
352-392-3895
Keith Cinami
Program Assistant
kcinami@ufl.edu
352-392-3893
Dr. Katrina Alford (Trini)
Education/Training Specialist II
trini@ufl.edu
352-294-0858
Distance education consultations and instructional design
Academic courses:
Kathryn Rush
Instructional Designer III
krush@ufl.edu
352-273-3565
Aaron Sotala
Instructional Designer II
asotala@ufl.edu
352-392-3894
Extension courses:
Peter Disabb
Instructional Designer I
pdisabb@ufl.edu
352-294-0855
Misti Rucks
Instructional Designer I
misti.rucks@ifas.ufl.edu
352-273-3468
Video Production and Distance Education Classroom Support
Rob Bailey
Production Manager
robbailey@ufl.edu
352-846-0144
Kaelyn Nelson
Communications and Video Production Assistant
kaelyn.nelson@ufl.edu
352-392-3893
FIRST Assistants:
Assistants:
Video Assistants:
Spanish translation
Instructional Design Interns/Assistants:
We can assist CALS faculty with course design, course building in Canvas, course delivery challenges when teaching online, and hybrid and flipped courses in UF eLearning and UF/IFAS Extension Online Learning. We offer Course Design Communities of Practice, as well as consultations and faculty development opportunities. Reserve our facilitated or self-service video studios to record lectures, or work with our video team to produce engaging field/lab videos and interactive materials.
Join the Spring 2025 CALS Course Design Community of Practice by filling out the registration form. Complete the form by December 6th, 2024 to have your input considered in the scheduling of weekly session times.
To request course assistance or video services, please complete the online services request form. For questions, email FIRST@ifas.ufl.edu.
To support CALS faculty in designing and delivering student-centered courses infused with authentic learning activities, and to help online courses achieve the required UF Quality designation, each semester we offer a cohort-based activity designed as a Community of Practice (CoP).
During the semester, you’ll meet as a group for weekly Zoom sessions plus related asynchronous activities, and you’ll have opportunities for additional optional time with the instructional design and video teams. Specific synchronous meeting times will be determined by participant schedules shared in the response survey.
During the hands-on and discussion sessions, you’ll work directly with your course plan and materials while honing best practices for developing and teaching high-quality, learner-centered courses ready for the UF Quality standards review. You’ll have broader support by meeting with a cohort of faculty across CALS - guided by our instructional design and production teams - with opportunities to share ideas, learn from your colleagues and plan course revisions strategically with our support team.
Join the Spring 2025 CALS Course Design Community of Practice by filling out the registration form. Complete the form by December 6th, 2024 to have your input considered in the scheduling of session times.
This cohort based offering is designed to help you prepare and submit your course for the UF Quality standards review, while streamlining the planning time to shift the focus from course builds in Canvas to teaching strategies for authentic learning and assessment.
All undergraduate courses that are at least 80% online must meet UF Quality standards for online course quality by the end of 2025. Under the UF Quality review process timeline, you’ll need to teach any revised or new course at least once before submitting it for review.
Our CoP is designed to guide you through course development or course improvements and the UF Quality standards submission process. We support both undergraduate and graduate courses through this CoP, although the UF Quality review is recommended but not required for graduate-level courses.
As always, you can use instructional design services from your own department or other UF sources (CITT, COIP) instead of or in collaboration with our team. Additionally, beyond our cohort offerings, our team continues to offer consultations, recording studio appointments, and course design templates and resources.
Expectations of participating in this cohort offering:
The CALS Course Design Resource Repository can be accessed via Gatorlink and contains resources for course builds in Canvas including:
Content recording
Content development and accessibility
Join us for a series of four virtual workshops to practice writing UF Quality Online Course Review evidence in the ProposalSpace platform. Each session focuses on a group of online course quality standards, with all standards covered across the series. You may attend all or just one of the workshops, depending on your needs. Before attending, we recommended you complete the Course Reviews for Excellence Workshop (CREW) to familiarize yourself with the UF Quality Online Course Rubric and review process.
Workshop schedule:
UF/IFAS Extension Online Learning is a central source for online training and professional development opportunities related to agriculture, natural resources, youth and families, and communities. The continuing education and non-credit courses and educational modules offered on the site are developed and facilitated by UF/IFAS experts using Canvas Catalog as the course hosting and registration system.
The CALS FIRST team supports Extension faculty to design, build, and deliver online and hybrid courses through UF/IFAS Extension Online Learning. Navigate to one of the sections below for more information or email ExtensionOnline@ifas.ufl.edu to get in touch with a team member.
New to Extension Online Learning and ready to get started? Fill out our Services Request Form and select “New instructor account”.
For additional services: (forms require Gatorlink login)
FIRST provides support for instructional design and for development of educational materials for online academic and Extension courses.
Our video production team helps you create engaging course materials. You can schedule a recording in the video studio on campus that includes options for green screen backgrounds, a laboratory setup for demonstrations, compound and dissecting microscopes, and a lightboard. You can also reserve the self-service recording rooms that are available by appointment 24/7 for recording audio or video. To make an appointment for a recording studio reservation, fill out our Services Request Form.
Our team of instructional designers and media specialists is available for consultations and assistance on the following topics:
To make an appointment for a consultation or course support, fill out our Services Request Form.
UF/IFAS Extension personnel interested in delivering non-credit online courses or modules for Extension education can request an account in Canvas Catalog. You will manage your course(s) in Canvas and course registration listings in Catalog, and you will be given an orientation to using both Canvas and Catalog as an account administrator. If your unit already has an account that others are managing and you only need access to specific courses, your orientation will be simpler.
IFAS Extension’s instance of Canvas is separate from UF’s instance of Canvas that is used to deliver academic courses (UF eLearning). The IFAS Extension instance of Canvas is connected to the Catalog course registration platform to allow public registration of non-credit courses with online payment of registration fees. You will create a user account that is not associated with your Gatorlink log in.
If you have used UF eLearning Canvas, you are already familiar with the Canvas course delivery used in Extension Online Learning. If you have taught courses in UF eLearning and want to use some of those materials in an Extension course, your course content can be exported and then imported into Extension Online Learning Canvas courses.
Instructure is the company that developed both Canvas and Catalog. The Instructure Guides for Canvas and Catalog give instructions with screen shots on using the available features to design and deliver courses and manage course registrations. Written and video guides are available:
We are developing an online training course on teaching in Canvas that is specific to Extension Online Learning.
UF IT Training offers classroom, webinar and on-demand trainings, many of which are related to instructional technology. For learning the basics of Canvas there are two core trainings:
Keep in mind that these are designed for teaching full semester academic courses in UF eLearning, but they can help you learn what features are available in Canvas and how to use them.
We are developing an online training course on teaching in Canvas that is specific to Extension Online Learning.
There are a number of practices you can follow when designing your course and creating the content. See the Canvas blog General Accessibility Design Guidelines for an overview of specific practices. For more in-depth guidance, the Center for Instructional Technology and Training (CITT) has a self-paced online course on Accessibility Fundamentals.
We are developing an online training on accessibility more specific to Extension Online Learning. For help with making your Extension Online Learning course accessible, fill out our Services Request Form.
The UF Center for Instructional Technology and Training (CITT) provides teaching resources and instructional design support for academic courses at UF. Many of the online resources and workshops are also generally applicable to teaching Extension courses online.
The UF Center for Teaching Excellence also provides resources for teaching academic courses, some of which may be applicable to Extension online courses.
Troubleshooting Technical Issues
For questions or issues that are not resolved, please submit our Services Request Form and select "Troubleshooting an issue in a course".
We offer a fully facilitated video studio, self-service audio and video studios, as well as on-site video shoots.
UF/IFAS faculty and staff can reserve the recording facilities to record or develop course or module content for their academic or Extension programs.
To reserve the G001 classroom to record or livestream a course, presentation, workshop or other event, check availability on the G001 calendar and fill out the classroom reservation request form, specifying if technical facilitation is needed for videoconferencing (Zoom), and/or Mediasite recording.
To reserve one of our recording facilities in Building 162, check availability on the associated calendar and fill out the services request form.
Facility Calendars:
Building 162 Express Audio Studio
Building 162 Express Video Studio
The facilitated recording studio in Building 162 is available to faculty in UF/IFAS CALS or Extension to create content for courses or training programs. With green screen technology, you can use PowerPoints, photographs, video or virtual sets in the background as you record a presentation. The room offers the following tools and services:
To request a facilitated recording in the studio, check availability on the studio calendar and fill out the services request form.
McCarty D G001 classroom is designed for hybrid or online courses and is equipped with multiple video cameras and microphones to ensure an immersive viewing experience for those joining remotely. Faculty can choose to record in Zoom, or directly into Mediasite.
To reserve the G001 classroom to record or livestream a course, presentation, workshop or other event, check availability on the G001 calendar and fill out the classroom reservation request form.
To ensure a great experience for you and our video team, here is what you can expect from our team before, during, and after your recording appointment.
If you are planning to record all or most of your lectures (recurring or repeating appointments) with us in our main studio, please schedule a consultation with us, in person or virtual, beforehand.
Before
Before your recording appointment, we request you deliver all necessary files, including any PowerPoints, scripts, and other media such as photos or .mp4 files to Rob Bailey via Outlook or Teams.
Important note: do not wear green or any busy patterns such as fine stripes or plaid. Additionally, avoid clothing with logos if you do not need to wear them as most footage is mirrored for ease of recording.
During
Upon arrival, our recording technician will position you in front of the camera, test audio, and guide you through how to use any tools you may be using during the appointment.
Once we are ready to record, we will give you a signal from our control room over speakers installed in the studio. When the technician says to begin, you may start your presentation. The technician will keep track of any edits needed and will direct you on the best place to re-start any portion of the video.
After
After your appointment, we will begin the editing process based on our studio notes and your vision for the video. The post-production process timeline varies depending on previous and upcoming projects, time sensitivity, the project's lead editor, and the amount/complexity of edits needed for your video.
After initial edits are completed, we will send you a frame.io link – a software we use for clients to review their videos – for you to review. Should you have any other edits, you can easily make comments in the software at the corresponding time stamp.
If there are no further edits needed, we will upload your finalized video into a Mediasite folder you will have access to. Once that is completed, we will send you an email to notify you that your video is ready for you to send to captioning services. Additionally, we will send a survey for you to fill out to better inform us on what we can do better and what we are doing well.
Before
Upon scheduling, we ask that you come prepared with all necessary lecture materials in a USB drive or uploaded into OneDrive. Aside from an initial walk through, our staff will not be responsible for the uploading and display of these materials.
If you are recording in our Express Video Studio, do not wear green and avoid busy patterns such as fine lines or plaid. Additionally, avoid wearing logos as the video is mirrored for ease of presenting.
During
During your initial appointment, a member of our video team will demonstrate how to use the studio you reserved. We will be there for support during regular business hours in case of technical issues.
After
Once the appointment is finished, you are responsible for ensuring all files are stored properly, which may involve transferring the files between storage devices and the computers in either studio.
Unless otherwise communicated, you are also responsible for uploading all videos into Mediasite.
Should you have any edits, please reach out to the video team for support.
Before
All field videos require an in-person or virtual consultation before-hand in order to properly prepare for the project. During this initial meeting, our team will work with you to solidify the project vision, timeline, and other necessary details.
The pre-production process for field videos will vary depending on scope, time-sensitivity, and resources.
Should you have any pre-existing assets, such as photos, graphics, or b-roll, that you wish to include in the video, please provide this to our team using a Teams page or Onedrive.
During
During the recording day(s), our team will arrive early to set up equipment. We ask that any person recording arrive to the location on time, especially if we have limited time to record.
Our team will direct the shoot(s) while following your creative vision, offering our expertise when needed.
After
After recording, our team will edit the footage according to the project vision. The post-production process timeline varies depending on previous and upcoming projects, time sensitivity, the project's lead editor, and the amount/complexity of edits needed for your video.
After initial edits are completed, we will send you a frame.io link – a software we use for clients to review their videos – for you to review. Should you have any other edits, you can easily make comments in the software at the corresponding time stamp.
If there are no further edits needed, we will upload your finalized video into a Mediasite folder you will have access to. Once that is completed, we will send you an email to notify you that your video is ready for you to send to captioning services. Additionally, we will send a survey for you to fill out to better inform us on what we can do better and what we are doing well.
The CALS Teaching Resource Center, a partnership between the CALS Dean's Office and the Department of Agricultural Education and Communication, supports CALS faculty in the scholarship of teaching and learning. Programs include the annual Teacher's College to enhance teaching skills of newer CALS faculty, the Roche Teaching Scholars program, the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning group, and the CALS Teaching Council. The Teaching Resource Center also organizes the annual CALS Teaching Enhancement Symposium and the spring teaching retreat.
CALS Mini Grants support improving the quality of instructional programs in CALS and development of new courses for online delivery or enhancement of current online courses.
Faculty with teaching appointments in CALS and advising/teaching staff in UF/IFAS can submit a proposal for an Instructional Improvement Mini Grant or a Distance Education Mini Grant. Requests for proposals are generally released in December with applications generally due in February.
E-Learning Support (ELS), within UF IT, provides technical support and training for the Canvas course management system and related online services to facilitate teaching and learning over the Internet. In addition to Canvas, supported services include Respondus Quiz Creation and Lockdown Browser, Turnitin, Voicethread, Qualtrics and iThenticate.
E-Learning Support offers walk-in, phone, and email assistance to faculty, staff, and students for these online instructional technologies.
The Center for Teaching Excellence offers teaching consultations for faculty and teaching resources that include:
The Center for Instructional Technology and Training (CITT) provides teaching resources, training, and course production support for academic courses at UF. Their services include:
The UF IT Learning Analytics team is developing the Learning Analytics Dashboard (LeAD) for faculty, which displays course and student data to improve teaching and learning. To access the UF LEAD Dashboard in a Canvas course, click on:
Settings >> Navigation >> Click and hold UF LEAD >> Drag UF LEAD to the top navigation section >> Click Save.
The UF Libraries offer distance learners an array of services similar to those available on campus in Gainesville. These services include:
Faculty can use ARES Course Reserves to link within a course's Canvas site to electronic items placed on the course reserves.
Accessible UF provides information on accessibility services and on guidance for compliance with federal and state laws including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Sections 504 and 508 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act. The Electronic Information Technology Accessibility Policy describes UF's compliance standards for electronic information, including websites and instructional materials.
Faculty with online courses can request captioning services to caption instructional videos by completing the captioning request form. Courses with a distance section, other than those entirely self-funded, are eligible for centrally-funded captioning services. Any course is eligible when there is an on-demand captioning request through the Disability Resource Center.
Accessible UF also provides resources and tutorials for making sure that instructional materials meet accessibility compliance guidelines.
UF support for teaching online includes a variety of face-to-face workshops and online trainings regularly offered by the Office of Teaching Excellence, the Center for Instructional Technology and Training (CITT) and UF IT Training.
If you are new to teaching in Canvas, the best place to start is the UF IT courses "eLearning @ UF: Build and Design" and "eLearning @ UF: Facilitate and Engage", which go through the mechanics of working in Canvas. These hands-on courses are taught by webinar once a semester.
If you are new to teaching online or want to improve your online teaching skills, the Great Online Course Series from the Office of Teaching Excellence is highly recommended for everyone and required for anyone teaching a UF Online course.
When you have questions or problems related to Canvas, check the Canvas Instructor Guide, and if you can't find what you need, contact eLearning Support at the UF Help Desk.
For additional opportunities to learn about more advanced topics related to online teaching, see the opportunities below.
Log in with Gatorlink at UF IT Training
Faculty Instructional Resources and Support Team (FIRST)
(trini@ufl.edu)
Building 162
Faculty Instructional Resources and Support Team (FIRST)
(robbailey@ufl.edu)
Building 162
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Faculty Instructional Resources and Support Team (FIRST)
(kcinami@ufl.edu)
Building 162
Faculty Instructional Resources and Support Team (FIRST)
(pdisabb@ufl.edu)
Building 162
Faculty Instructional Resources and Support Team (FIRST)
(bcl@ufl.edu)
Building 162
Faculty Instructional Resources and Support Team (FIRST)
(kaelyn.nelson@ufl.edu)
Building 162
Faculty Instructional Resources and Support Team (FIRST)
(mrucks777@ufl.edu)
Building 162
Faculty Instructional Resources and Support Team (FIRST)
(krush@ufl.edu)
Building 162
Faculty Instructional Resources and Support Team (FIRST)
(asotala@ufl.edu)
Building 162
CALS FIRST offers Course Design and Course Delivery Communities of Practice, as well as consultations and faculty development opportunities. Reserve facilitated or self-service video studios to record lectures, or work with our video team to produce engaging field/lab videos and interactive materials.
To request course development or video services, please complete the online services request form.
For questions, email FIRST@ifas.ufl.edu for academics or general questions and ExtensionOnline@ifas.ufl.edu for anything related to Extension Online Learning.
