CTL Happenings - Message #519

Adobe Spark is an intuitive application that allows you to create multiple kinds of digital stories, and it’s available at no cost to all IU faculty, staff, and students. For example, you can create engaging graphics or simple narrated video presentations. This session will cover the basic functions and interface of Adobe Spark, and we’ll discuss applications for both your use in creating content for your courses as well as ideas for incorporating Spark digital story assignments into your curriculum. We’ll also discuss steps needed to make sure your graphics and videos created in Spark are accessible when using them in other tools like Canvas.

Decisions about course design, such as late policies, grading structure, learning activities, and assessments, significantly impact students’ learning experiences and outcomes. In this webinar, you will be introduced to evidence-based practices for equitable course design, reflect on the rationale for your course design, and articulate changes that consider your identities, teaching philosophy, and course context.

Check out an example of an alternative assessment that an IUPUI instructor developed to improve her students’ learning and assess them fairly.

Do you know anyone who will be a new graduate teaching assistant (TA) in fall 2021 and/or spring 2022? Have them register for the 2021 TA Orientation, to learn about the expectations and responsibilities of their new position and develop strategies to confidently and effectively interact with faculty and undergraduate students in face-to-face and online classes. Click here for more information and registration details.

Mark your calendar now! The CTL’s Advancing Teaching and Learning with Technology (ATLT) Symposium is Friday, November 5, 2021 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Zoom. The call for proposals will open the end of July and registration will open in August. Come and hear from your colleagues and our keynote speaker about using technology to support both students and instructors. Watch the CTL Happenings for more information!

The CTL's Learning Environments Grant (LEG) program offers up to $25,000 per award to create innovative, inclusive, and engaging settings for learning at IUPUI, IUPUC, and IU Fort Wayne. This year's funding will be limited to furniture-only projects.

Talk with your colleagues about spaces in your school that could be used to reinforce your curriculum and build community among students, faculty, and staff. Contact Douglas Jerolimov (djerolim@iupui.edu) at the CTL to discuss your ideas. See the LEG website for more information and to download the RFP.

Full proposals are due by October 1, 2021, but preliminary ideas must be submitted in a Capital Projects Request for Service form no later than August 1, 2021.

Well-organized Canvas modules provide an effective checklist for both instructors and students to ensure all content is being covered. This webinar, offered by the IU campus teaching and learning centers, will provide a basic understanding of how to setup a Canvas course using Modules to organize your assignments, discussions, files, and more. This webinar will be repeated on August 18, 2:00 -2:45 p.m.

This workshop will show you how to use your smartphone, computer, and Adobe Premiere Rush (a tool available at no cost to all IU faculty, staff, and students) to create videos that can easily be integrated into courses. Premiere Rush can also be used to edit other video, such as screen captures or video lectures, and students have access to it, so they can use it for creative projects you might assign. This session will cover the basics of using Premiere Rush and will provide examples and ideas about how Premiere Rush can be useful in your teaching. We’ll also discuss steps needed to make sure videos you create are accessible to all learners.

Do you find that only a couple of students attend your office hours? Join us for a brief presentation and discussion of how you can better support student participation in your office hours by providing flexibility, helping students understand the role of office hours, and other strategies to improve both your and your students’ experiences. We will also share some tips on effective office hours via Zoom.

As IUPUI continues the process of reviewing general education courses, course coordinators or faculty responsible for preparing course dossiers for review may have questions about the information and materials that need to go into the dossiers. This webinar will provide an overview of the course review process, course dossier requirements, and the rubric that will be used to review the course dossiers. It will also address the option for preparing a simplified course dossier based on using a Mile Marker assignment. Examples from existing course dossiers will be incorporated into the webinar. Questions and discussion will be encouraged.

You have your shiny new Canvas courses for fall semester, but you don't want to start from scratch! Learn how to import some or all of your content from a previous course and make Canvas do the bulk of the work for you. We'll also talk about important things that you need to check and do after importing and before giving students access to the course.

We'll have tips on:
1. automatically updating assignment due dates,
2. checking for dead links in your content, and
3. making sure students are seeing what you want them to see.

In addition, we'll cover some basic beginning-of-the-semester tasks to get your class started on a positive and welcoming note and to help make the rest of the semester easier for both you and your students.

This workshop introduces faculty and staff to the Quality Matters (QM) Rubric and to the QM Process. Quality Matters is a nationally recognized quality assurance organization for online course design, and the QM Process is a faculty-led peer review process that uses the research-based standards (criteria)  of the QM Rubric to certify online courses. Eventually, many online courses within the IU system will undergo the QM Process with the goal of achieving national QM recognition. Faculty may also use the QM Rubric as a guide to design online courses. And, for faculty who are interested, this course serves as a pre-requisite for QM's Peer Reviewer Course, which is a required course for faculty who seek certification as a QM Peer Reviewer, allowing them to participate in QM course reviews for courses created here at IU and at other universities.

The workshop is offered at IUPUI as a one-day synchronous Zoom workshop from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. with a one hour break for lunch. To receive the QM certificate of completion for this workshop, participants must be present for and participate in the entire workshop.

The Faculty Forum offers writing groups that provide encouragement, accountability, and a sense of community for faculty and staff. This summer, there is only one writing group that meets via Zoom on Tuesdays from 12:00 - 2:00 p.m. The writing sessions ends Tuesday, August 10. There are no hybrid or at your pace groups. Click here for more information and registration or contact us at: faccross@iupui.edu. 

This session will discuss IRB review of research in educational settings, with an emphasis on instructors studying their own courses. The session is intended as an introductory overview and will focus on practical considerations.

Ever wonder how to help incoming students transition to college studying? Join our study on Metacognitive Learning Strategies and master teaching students how to learn. First year seminar instructors and others teaching entry level courses are encouraged to join. Click here for more information or to ask questions.

The SEIRI seed grants program (SSG) is a competition that facilitates and supports STEM education innovation and research. SSG is an opportunity to facilitate and support STEM education innovation and research at IUPUI. The deadline for proposals is November 1, 2021 by 11:59 p.m. Click here for more information.

Sebastien, N. (2021, July 7). Increasing student engagement during synchronous online classes. Faculty Focus.

If you’re teaching a synchronous online class this summer, consider these strategies to create meaningful and frequent ways for students to interact with you, the course content, and with one another.