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Faculty Resource Bulletins

Faculty Resource Bulletin

Highlights of this week’s Bulletin include:

From Your Colleagues

Document Cameras

Accounting faculty member Scott Sandok has been using a document camera as a substitute for a white board during his synchronous lectures. See his step-by-step instructions for this process here:

https://mnscu-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/yy4784td_minnstate_edu/EdQcLD74yLNEnZazumupLmwBr3dV5h478blfalPpeL_QkA?e=EDk40e

 

Video Assignments

In case you missed it in the last Bulletin, Philosophy faculty member Shane Stroup is giving his students the option of creating video assignments this semester in lieu of exams and essays. Some students are taking the option. Shane’s perspective as the assignments start to come in: “Some are GREAT! I think it is a solid way for students to show their ‘knowledge’, and they seem to dig it.”

One of Shane’s students agreed to share their first video assignment as an example:

 

 

Here is this student’s perspective on the video assignment option:

I choose the video path because I rarely get to make videos for any of my other classes, and it’s much more fun to me than writing an essay or taking a test. I used to make videos for fun so I already knew the basics of adobe premiere and Photoshop. This is my first time making a video for a college class but I have done it a couple times in high school.

I think the best part of the video path is that I can actually have fun and enjoy doing these big assignments, which positively affects my work. If I had to write an essay or take a test like I have to do for everything else in college it would be much more boring and I would have to force myself to do it.

I plan on doing a video for my final as well, like I said I enjoy creating videos more than writing essays or taking tests. I am honestly surprised to find out that almost no one else is doing the video path, it is a nice change of pace from the essays/tests from other classes.

Welcome Jamie Lewis, IHCC D2L Administrator

This week, we welcomed Jamie Lewis as our new Learning Management System (D2L) Administrator at Inver Hills Community College. Jamie is a proficient D2L Brightspace user, has experience designing trainings for various technology we use in teaching and learning at both DCTC and IHCC, and is skilled in the design of online, blended/hybrid, and traditional courses.

Jamie not only brings a passion for academic technology and course design to this role, but also years of experience as a TRIO advisor. Her background will lend itself to the Center for Teaching and Learning’s focus on both faculty and student success. I’m excited for her to be part of our college community and the CTL Team!

Community of Practice: Transparent Design in Teaching

As part of spring AD Days at IHCC, Mary-Ann Winkelmes, author of “Transparent Design in Higher Education Teaching and Leadership”, facilitated a workshop on applying transparent design do instructional materials. This workshop featured a panel of faculty from both IHCC and DCTC who participated in a community of practice on this topic all of fall semester. These faculty graciously shared edits they had made to assignments and will use in their courses this semester.

Because of faculty continued interest in this topic, we will be continuing these communities at both IHCC and DCTC this year. If you are interested in participating, just send an email to mspringborg@ihcc.edu or martin.springborg@dctc.edu. I’ll then send out a scheduling poll to determine three meeting times throughout the academic year. You’ll find more information about this community of practice on the Faculty Resources pages of or website:

IHCC: https://www.inverhills.edu/FacultyResources/ProgramsandServices/CommunitiesOfPractice

DCTC: https://www.dctc.edu/online-dctc/faculty-resources/programs-services/communities-of-practice

If you missed Mary-Ann’s workshop, you can watch the recording here:  https://mediaspace.minnstate.edu/media/Transparent+Instruction+in+Multi-generational%2C+Diverse%2C+Higher+Ed+Contexts/1_rxqwlmxt

Slides from this workshop are also available: https://inverhills-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/g/personal/yy4784td_inverhills_edu/ERqUg1GXgApHml1YO3GjUOcBgJDyEOiawjDxwEcRaryihQ?e=fw08Eg

Mentoring Groups: Course Design

Distinct from Communities of Practice, Mentoring Groups are comprised of a novice and two or more faculty experts who have agreed to serve as mentors on a specific topic. Mentoring groups have proven to be effective at other institutions, do not rely on or place all pressure on a single mentor, and, like Communities of Practice, draw on the strengths and perspectives of a group in the teaching and learning process.

This semester, faculty who completed our summer Online Course Design Institute will be serving as mentors to colleagues who would like help redesigning their courses for spring semester and beyond. Contact Martin Springborg if you are interested in working with these faculty. Mentoring groups for course design will be scheduled based on faculty interest.

Respondus LockDown Browser and Monitor

As you know from announcements made during Academic Development/In-service Days, Respondus LockDown Browser and Monitor are the tools we are using to proctor exams online this academic year. Respondus offers many online training resources for faculty and students. These resources include webinars, training videos, and resources such as downloadable start-up guides. Access these resources at:

https://web.respondus.com/he/lockdownbrowser/resources

https://web.respondus.com/he/monitor/resources

Please contact Martin Springborg with any questions about these products, or for individual assistance. Please create a JIRA ticket to coordinate installation of Respondus LockDown browser on your college-issued computer.

Campus Compact Engaged Faculty Institute

Campus Compact is offering an online version of their Engaged Faculty Institute. The Institute is a two-week, asynchronous learning experience for faculty interested in teaching community-engaged courses. The institute works best for those who are ready to design or re-design at least one specific community-engaged course and is open to all faculty (tenured/tenure-track and instructors). At this time, it is only open the instructors from Iowa & Minnesota Campus Compact member institutions.

2020-2021 Scheduled Institutes:

December 4-21, 2020, application deadline November 23

January 8-25, 2021, application deadline January 4

For application and more information: https://iacampuscompact.formstack.com/forms/engaged_faculty_institute_application_online.

 

More Events and Development Opportunities

Additional Campus Programs and Services

Faculty Teaching Online Group

We are excited to be continuing this group at DCTC all summer! If you are experiencing some success in this environment and would like to share with your colleagues, these sessions are for you. If you are struggling and need to draw upon on the wisdom of your peers, these sessions are also for you. Or if you’re anywhere in between, again – these sessions are for you.

These sessions will run without agendas. We’ll simply talk about whatever faculty bring to the meetings. Several members of the Faculty Development Committee will participate on a rotating basis. Join us any or every Thursday from 3:30-4:30 pm. Registration is not required. Come as often or as infrequently as you need. See the Zoom invitation from Martin Springborg in your campus email to join.

CTL Teaching Consultations

The Center for Teaching and Learning continues to offer teaching consultations designed to meet the needs of faculty members who prefer to work one-on-one with staff. Whether you need just-in-time training or advice in the application of a specific teaching tool, or are planning for next semester or next year, our staff are available to offer support.

Examples of topics addressed through consultation services include, but are not limited to:

  • Course design
  • Academic technology, including D2L Brightspace
  • Implementing a change in your course(s)
  • Applying student or other formative feedback to course redesign
  • Preparation for course review

For staff information and scheduling, visit Teaching Consultations pages at Inver Hills Community College and Dakota County Technical College.

 

From Minnesota State

See https://asanewsletter.org/events for a full list of upcoming webinars and other opportunities! Also see resources on the NED Resource Site focused on course design, assessment, and instructional strategies.

In addition, the Minnesota State Educational Innovations Office maintains a page of resources for students at www.asanewsletter.org/academic-continuity-students.

The Minnesota State Learning Technologies Team offers a variety of faculty resources (opens in new window) on their SharePoint site, including:

Navigate to the IMS opens in new window SharePoint site (https://mnscu.sharepoint.com/sites/IMS), and use YourStarID@minnstate.edu as your username and your StarID password.  View the PDF for how to login instructions opens in new window.

National and Vendor-Sponsored

Instructor Training: LockDown Browser & Respondus Monitor Webinars

This comprehensive training webinar is intended for instructors who plan to use LockDown Browser and/or Respondus Monitor with online exams. The session provides a detailed demonstration of both applications, including enhancements that make Respondus Monitor even more effective and easy to use.

Quality Matters

You can now register for QM ConnectLX professional development workshops.

Choose from over 24 two-hour, half- and full-day options such as:

QM Live! Workshops are also available! These two-hour, hands-on workshops are a great way to access learning experiences that are currently only offered as dedicated sessions for institutions. Topics include:

Bridge to Quality: A QM Online Course Design Guide

If you’re looking for a way forward from Emergency Remote Instruction that is rooted in QM Standards and focused on the learning experience, this guide is just what you need. This web-based guide provides a step-by-step approach to complete the hands-on, iterative work that is central to creating a quality course. This includes:

  • Alignment of foundational course elements
  • Promoting engaged, active learning
  • Creative work and organization to develop the course within a digital learning environment (LMS)

Turnitin

Whether you’re a new user or need a refresh, join our training sessions to learn how to get started with Feedback Studio and Originality Check Plus, or how to enable remote learning and assessment with Gradescope. We have expanded our training calendar to provide recurring training throughout the rest of the academic year.

More information and registration at https://www.turnitin.com/resources/training-webinars.

D2L Fusion Conference

For the safety and well-being of our guests, we’ve determined that it is necessary to move Fusion 2020 entirely online with an all-new virtual experience. While we can’t all be together in person this year, we’re fully committed to bringing you the absolute best Fusion experience possible.

The virtual Fusion program includes sessions of interest to K-12, higher education, and corporate learning audiences, and will take place three consecutive days each month (July-December) from noon–3:45pm ET (9am–12:45pm PT) each day.

See the full schedule at https://www.d2l.com/events/fusion/schedule.

Register at https://www.d2l.com/events/fusion/register.

 

The Faculty Resource Bulletin is one of many steps we’re taking to improve communication about local and statewide faculty professional development information and opportunities. Please visit our Faculty Resources sites (see links in the header of this blog) for more information and resources to support teaching and learning!

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