CFC Offers Course for Rapid Online Transition for Online Fall Courses

by | Jul 2, 2020 | Blog, Event, Faculty Development Workshop, Learn

Moving Rapidly to Remote Instruction (MRRI) will help you rapidly develop your face-to-face course for remote instruction for this fall’s semesters. If you are planning on teaching a fall course that needs to move online quickly, attend this three-week online workshop that will walk you through an intentional course design process and provide the expertise of the Coulter Faculty Commons who are experienced online faculty.  This is not the full Online Course Design Institute, but will take you through the streamlined basics of creating an online course so that you can be prepared for the Fall of 2020.

Dates: July 10 – August 1, 2020
When: There will be a combination of live Zoom sessions, recorded tutorials, content and assignments/deliverables.  You will have the opportunity to have 1:1 conversations with CFC staff and experience online faculty. Expect to commit 8 – 10 hours each of the three weeks to complete this process and be ready to teach.
Where:  Fully Online through Blackboard, Zoom, and Teams
Outcome: By the end of May, you will have your online course designed and developed, in Blackboard, with a teaching/facilitation plan in place.  You will also have the support of colleagues and the CFC throughout the summer.

The workshop is free and open to all instructors, including adjuncts.  Please register, to let us know you are joining us and to allow us to ensure that we have enough facilitators to make this workshop successful!

Assess Your Students’ Changing Needs – A Survey Template

by | Mar 16, 2020 | Blog, Educational Development, emergency instruction plan, Event, Help Your Students, Online Learning (Blackboard), Other Resources, Pedagogy, Pitfalls, student engagement, Teaching and Learning

Student needs are changing during this move to offering alternative modes of instruction. Faculty who want to find out what challenges students are facing can utilize a new web form created in Office365. 

The form can be modified by faculty prior to sending out. The survey should take students 5 minutes to complete, and asks for the following types of information:

  • whether students expect to have reliable Internet access
  • times of day students expect to do online work
  • preferences for asynchronous or synchronous activity
  • accessibility requests (content in different formats, for example)
  • basic psychological and physiological needs

The survey form is available below. Note the options for modifying the survey questions, collecting data, and sending out the link (the Settings icon can be found top-right of your screen, to the right of the Share button).

Open the Form

A heartfelt thank you to our colleague Dr. Mae Claxton, Professor of English, for reaching out to the CFC with this idea.

Assistance to all Faculty – Including Adjuncts – This Week

Assistance to all Faculty – Including Adjuncts – This Week

by | Mar 15, 2020 | Bb Collaborate, Bb How To, Blackboard, Blog, Course Design Studio, emergency instruction plan, Event, Faculty Development Workshop, Learn, Online Learning (Blackboard), Pedagogy, Pitfalls, student engagement, Teaching and Learning

Virtual Open Sessions

 

The CFC is hosting multiple open sessions for all instructors to learn how to access Blackboard and its general suite of tools. Due to new social distancing guidelines set forth by Human Resources established on March 16, we will be offering these sessions through the following video-conferencing link:

 

Dates and times are as follows:

 

Monday, March 16 – March 20
10:00 – 11:30 a.m.
1:30 – 3:00 p.m.

 

https://us.bbcollab.com/guest/f96dcd803b1f4fa5b75fe74f6a1576fa

 

New!  

The library has Free and Discounted Distance Education Resources During COVID-19 – 

https://researchguides.wcu.edu/distance-ed-during-covid19

 

 

 

 

Blackboard Logo

Blackboard Collaborate Training

 

We already had three Collaborative Training sessions scheduled for Wednesday, March 18.

 

Wednesday, March 18, 2020, 9 am – 11 pm

 

Module 1: Collaborate Essentials

 

This module is designed to give participants a solid foundation, enabling them to successfully deliver live, interactive Collaborate sessions. Participants will learn about the key features and core functions of the Collaborate user interface. They will learn about session roles and how to effectively manage the communication tools, understand audio indicators, manage session and participant interaction, display the whiteboard and PowerPoint content, and record a session.

 

  • Identify key features and core functions of the user interface
  • Understand the communication tools
  • Utilize the whiteboard and display PowerPoint content
  • Use the recording features
  • Recognize best practices and use cases

 

Guest Link: https://us.bbcollab.com/guest/ed44ccd7dab349688a66992db8e8d6d2

 

Please Login 10 minutes before the event to check audio.

 

 

 

Wednesday, March 18, 2020, 11:15 am – 1:15 pm 

 

Module 2: Creating Engagement using Collaborate Web Conferencing

 

In this module, participants will build upon what they learned in the Essentials session.  They will learn about the advanced Collaborate features and how to use them to support dynamic, interactive learning.

 

  • Review essential Collaborate tools
  • Discover the reasons for engaging the virtual learner
  • Recognize how to use the timer and utilize it to facilitate sessions and breakout groups
  • Understand breakout groups and how to facilitate small group collaboration
  • Utilize the polling tool to engage participants
  • Access session administration reporting tools
  • Identify key accessibility features
  • Identify best practices for engaging participants

 

Guest Link: https://us.bbcollab.com/guest/ed44ccd7dab349688a66992db8e8d6d2

 

Please Login 10 minutes before the event to check audio.

 

 

 

 

 

 Wednesday, March 18, 2020, 1:30 – 3:30 pm

 

Module 3: Increasing Web Conferencing Success

 

Ever wonder why some sessions seem to be effortless, while in others there are difficulties entering the session and getting participants to interact?  In this session, moderators will learn best practices for creating interactive, problem-free Collaborate sessions. In addition, there will be an open Q&A forum designed to answer your questions on how to accomplish specific activities in your Collaborate sessions.

 

  • Differentiate between the Collaborate Original and Ultra experiences and effectively switch between the two
  • Understand the importance of using the best web browser to deliver successful sessions
  • Access Collaborate from a LMS or from the Collaborate server
  • Implement best practices for delivering problem free sessions
  • Develop interactive sessions to engage participants into active learning
  • Locate resources for moderators and participants

 

https://us.bbcollab.com/guest/ed44ccd7dab349688a66992db8e8d6d2

 

Please Login 10 minutes before the event to check audio.

 

 

 

Available at any time

 

Blackboard Tools for Western Carolina Live Session I

 

    1. Forums, Blogs, and Journals
    2. Create, Manage, and Grade
    3. Advanced Discussion Settings
    4. Group Discussions
    5. My Blackboard Posts

 

Join link: https://us.bbcollab.com/guest/bc2c7428a59a45e3a5be62621dfdc6c2

 

 

 

Blackboard Tools for Western Carolina Live Session II

 

    1. Create Tests and Surveys (6)
    2. Question Types: Auto Graded and Instructor Graded (7)
    3. Reuse Questions: Pools, Random Blocks, and Question Sets (8)
    4. Advanced Test Creation Settings (9)
    5. Deploy Tests and Student Exceptions (10)
    6. Due Date Exceptions (11)
    7. View Assessment Item Analysis Statistics (12)

 

Join Link: https://us.bbcollab.com/guest/bc2c7428a59a45e3a5be62621dfdc6c2

 

 

 

 

 

Blackboard Tools for Western Carolina Live Session: Grade Center Intensive

 

    1. Columns and Manual Grade Entry (13)
    2. Configure Default Total or Weighted Total Columns  (14)
    3. Column Options and Organization (15)
    4. Grading Periods and Smart Views (16)
    5. Letter Schemas (17)
    6. Add Additional Calculated Columns  (18)

 

https://us.bbcollab.com/guest/bc2c7428a59a45e3a5be62621dfdc6c2

 

 

 

 

 

 

Call for Presentations is open for the Summer Institute for Teaching & Learning (SITL)

by | Feb 3, 2020 | active learning, CFC Insider, Classroom, Educational Development, Educational Technology, Event, Pedagogy, student engagement, Teaching and Learning

People meeting and brainstorming

The Coulter Faculty Commons invites all faculty and instructional staff to submit a proposal to present at the Summer Institute of Teaching & Learning, to be held in Hunter Library May 19 – 21, 2020.

 

 

 

Call for Proposals is open February 3 and closes February 28, 2020

The theme of this year’s event is Student Engagement with three sub-themes (tracks); Inclusive Pedagogy, Engaging the Online Learner, and Active Engagement in the Classroom.

  • Inclusive Pedagogy will include a nationally known keynote speaker and workshop facilitator, as well as possible opportunities for 75 minute sessions or 2.5 hour sessions.
  • Engaging the Online Learner will be a 1.5 day workshop (May 20 – 21) led by Dr. Eli Collins-Brown, director of the CFC. We have opportunities for a panel of experienced online faculty (including adjuncts) to share best practices the afternoon of May 20.
  • Active Engagement in the Classroom is open to all faculty and instructional staff to submit proposals for 75 minute and 2.5 hour workshops.

We have room for 2 – 3 spaces for each session time frame. There are three formats:

  • 2.5 hour workshop
  • 75 minute presentation/workshop
  • A panel of Expert Online Instructors (part of the Engaging the Online Learner track)

This is a great opportunity to share the excellent work you have been doing in the ‘classroom’. Questions? Contact Dr. Eli Collins-Brown.

Submit Proposal

Call of Proposals is open February 3 and closes February 28, 2020