Highlights of this week’s Bulletin include:
- New Resources for Equity by Design
- Happening Now: DCTC and IHCC Course Design Institute
- Plan Ahead: Brightspace and Beyond Week
- Summer Equity Summit
- Minnesota State IT Conference
- ITC 2021 Distance Education Leadership Academy
- More Events and Development Opportunities
- Minnesota State highlight: Summer Calendar (there are MANY opportunities here)
New Resources for Equity by Design
Teaching & Learning in the Diverse Classroom Course
Cornell University’s Center for Teaching Innovation is pleased to announce its Teaching & Learning in the Diverse Classroom course is self-paced. U.S.-based and higher-education-centered, the five-module course is for anyone with teaching responsibilities, at any level of diversity expertise. Registration for the course is open now.
See more resources for Equity by Design on the Faculty Resources site.
Happening Now: DCTC and IHCC Course Design Institute
Online via D2L and Zoom
June 8-30
The Center for Teaching and Learning’s second annual Course Design Institute is focused on four important topics:
- Universal Design for Learning
- Humanizing Online Courses
- Academic Technology
- The D2L/Brightspace Course Design Template
These topics will be addressed in four weeks of synchronous sessions and asynchronous content, with ample opportunity for questions, collegial sharing of examples, and discussion.
This year’s CDI began this week with an engaging online workshop (recording now available in the CDI course site in D2L), “Secrets of Universal Design for Learning for Community and Technical Colleges” by Thomas Tobin, author of Reach Everyone, Teach Everyone: Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education.
More information and registration
Plan Ahead: Brightspace and Beyond Week
Online via Zoom (invitation sent to all registrants)
August 9-13
This week-long workshop is designed for all faculty. Whether you have been teaching online for several semesters or will be for the first time this year, this hands-on workshop will be of benefit to you. Facilitators will focus on beginning tools and recent updates made to D2L Brightspace, as well as other academic technology such as VoiceThread, Teams and O365 tools; MediaSpace and Kaltura Capture; and Zoom.
Each day consists of two hours of instruction followed by one hour of guided work/application time. Join us online (Zoom invitation will come following registration) from 9:00-12:00 Monday through Friday, August 9-13.
View/download full description and schedule
Summer Equity Summit
Online
June 15
The Second Annual Summer Equity Summit for is for all Minnesota State employees and is presented jointly by Inver Hills Community College, Dakota County Technical College, and St Paul College, and the theme this year is Racial Justice Moving Forward.
Keynote Presenters: Nekima Levy Armstrong, Civil Rights Attorney and Racial Justice Advocate
Breakout Sessions:
Breakout sessions will be focused on Exploring Power and Privilege in Academia, A Student’s Role in Decolonizing Education, Intersectional Approaches to an Anti-Racist Classroom, and Exploring Trauma 101.
Registration:
Preregistration is required for the event online at https://tinyurl.com/2021EquitySummit
For more information
Julia Glenn is our campus contact for the event and can be reached at jglenn@inverhills.edu.
Wendy Roberson is the event organizer and can be reached at Wendy.Roberson@saintpaul.edu.
Minnesota State IT Conference
Online via Zoom
June 24
You’re invited to the Minnesota State IT Conference. This is the third conference in a monthly series, all online! There is no cost and all are welcome and encouraged to attend, including those outside of IT. This month is hosted by Minnesota State University, Mankato, and will feature panel discussions on a variety of topics.
Register now for June 24 conference – limited spots are available and this conference has been shortened to only two sessions based on audience feedback.
Agenda:
- 9:00 am – Welcome message
- 9:20 am Session 1, Esports and Gaming on Campus: A discussion on supporting collegiate esports programs and fostering a positive gaming culture on campus with help from IT.
- 10:10 am – Session 2, Ensuring Accessibility in Online Learning: A discussion on the upsurge in online learning, the importance of accessibility in online learning technologies, and how IT can help ensure all individuals have equal access.
- 11:00 am – Conference ends
ITC 2021 Distance Education Leadership Academy
Online
Tuesday, July 27th and Wednesday, July 28th
Tuesday, August 3rd and Wednesday, August 4th
Tuesday, August 10th and Wednesday, August 11th
Planning for the future and motivating a team to join you along the way are the hallmarks of a successful leader. Incorporating scenario-based experiences under the guidance of nationally-recognized eLearning champions, the ITC 2021 Distance Education Leadership Academy will build on the American Association of Community College’s six designated leadership competencies to expand your leadership skills. Participants will return to their schools with an individual learning and leadership plan!
To Apply
The ITC will select a group of up to 20 distance learning leaders to participate in its 2021 Distance Education Leadership Academy. The application deadline is June 25, 2021. Apply online now.
Note: Applicants must include a letter of nomination from his or her institution and a one-page explanation what he or she would like to gain through participation with their fellow academicians. At the end of the online application, you will be given directions regarding where to send both the nomination and explanation.
More Events and Development Opportunities
Peer Review Rubric
Need some feedback on your online courses? Consider the peer review process, now scheduling for fall semester. Or if you aren’t ready to have others look at your course, feel free to use the Peer Review rubric as a checklist as you prepare your courses to go online. You’ll find the rubric in D2L. Search “Course Design Template” under your course list and navigate to course content.
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. For staff information and scheduling, visit Teaching Consultations page and use the Bookings feature to arrange a consultation time.
CTL Calendar
Visit and subscribe to updates from the CTL Events Calendar to view all professional development opportunities mentioned in this Bulletin.
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. 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.
National and Vendor-Sponsored
VoiceThread Workshops
Upcoming workshops include:
These workshops are completely free. The sessions are led by our instructional designer and online educator George Haines. George will share his expertise to help you get the most from VoiceThread.
Access VoiceThread’s full workshop archive.
Respondus Instructor Training Series
Join Respondus trainers for a free webinar and learn how to use LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor to address the integrity of final exams. Or see how Respondus 4.0 and StudyMate Campus allow you to easily create online tests, flash cards, or learning games.
Register for individual sessions here: https://web.respondus.com/webinars/
Quality Matters
QM offers a number of free resources to help support your quality assurance goals. Here are a few to check out:
- QM Success Stories — find out how other institutions are using QM processes and resources to meet their students’ needs
- QM IDA Membership — join this special interest group for instructional designers to engage with peers and numerous professional development opportunities
- Accessibility and Usability Resource Site — find solutions to common accessibility and usability challenges on this community-led resource site
- Elements of Quality Matters: Deliver on Your Online Promise — discover QM’s tools and resources in this one-hour, self-paced course
Online Learning Consortium
The Online Learning Consortium (OLC) is a collaborative community of higher education leaders and innovators, dedicated to advancing quality digital teaching and learning experiences designed to reach and engage the modern learner – anyone, anywhere, anytime. OLC inspires innovation and quality through an extensive set of resources, including best-practice publications, quality benchmarking, leading-edge instruction, community-driven conferences, practitioner-based and empirical research, and expert guidance. The growing OLC community includes faculty members, administrators, trainers, instructional designers, and other learning professionals, as well as educational institutions, professional societies, and corporate enterprises.
OLC resources are available to all Minnesota State faculty. Learn more here.
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.
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!