Tag: TLP

Just Breathe

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Hello!

My name is Zach Justus, I previously served as the Interim Director of Faculty Development and am excited to be back in the role. This is a time of tremendous change on our campus and in higher education broadly, but I am going to keep these tips focused on actionable concrete ideas designed to help you in the day-to-day work of teaching and learning. 

Today’s tip is–just breathe. One of the great privileges of this position is working with new faculty. When I was meeting with new lecturers I focused on just making it through the first week. It is good advice for all of us. Give yourselves permission to focus on that goal as well. You don’t need to be a master of Canvas when you get started. You don’t need to be the most knowledgeable person in the room about generative AI. You just need to make it through the first week. 

If you are looking for some help with Canvas I strongly recommend the 90 minute self-paced training available through TLP. Start here for training and other guides.

If you are looking for help getting started with AI in your classroom please refer to our joint announcement last week. TLP is also hosting a series of workshops including several on syllabus statements. You can change your syllabus policy in the first week if you announce it to the class. 

Lastly, be on the lookout for our fall programming announcement next week.

Zach Justus
Interim Director of Faculty Development
Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences

Spring into Canvas (…for Fall!)

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Dear faculty, 

I want to use this Tuesday Tip to remind you about the Spring into Canvas for Fall day, which will be held on Thursday April 20th both in person and via Zoom. 

You can access the program here for more details about the sessions. 

The Technology and Learning Program is planning a whole day to help faculty learn about Canvas and start getting familiar with the new learning management system. 

Spring into Canvas for Fall 
April 20, 9am – 4pm 
Colusa Hall 116, 114, 111 

Have a lot on your plate? TLP is  breaking Canvas down into bite-sized tasks. Come for 10 minutes, a single session, or the entire day. Or just come have pastries and coffee and/or lunch. This day is all about you.  

TLP Instructional Technology Consultants are hosting structured sessions and available to help you personally in a dedicated workroom. Join in-person or on Zoom. Our Canvas workroom will provide “10-Minute Tasks” that will help you get started.

  • If joining us in-person, bring your laptop, your coffee mug, and TLP will help you get started with your transition to Canvas.  
  • If joining on Zoom, you’ll arrive in the TLP Lab when you click on Zoom link and will then be directed to a Zoom breakout-room. 
  • Can’t come at all? You haven’t missed the boat. We are here all summer and will continue to offer sessions and consulting to assist you before the fall semester starts when over 600 faculty will be using Canvas for the first time. 

I also want to remind you that Faculty Development released a Zine last week focusing entirely on Canvas. In the Zine, you can read longer pieces about the transition to Canvas but you can also access practical tips about specific tools in Canvas. 

TLP will offer more opportunities for training and support, both in person and via Zoom, later in April and in May, as well as during the summer. 

I hope you will take this and future opportunities to learn more about Canvas and I particularly want to encourage faculty teaching in summer to attend the Spring into Canvas for Fall Day and other workshops this Spring to make sure you have the proper support for your summer courses! 

Using Videos in the Classroom

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Dear faculty,

As a media studies scholar, I know the benefits of utilizing videos in the classroom, teaching about the meaning that can be found in media texts, and designing video assignments to allow for different forms of expression.

Many of us have also learned (perhaps the hard way) how difficult it is, sometimes, to create engaging video lectures that go beyond simply recording our voice and showing a set of PPT slides on the screen.

The Center for Teaching at Vanderbilt University has created a fairly extensive teaching guide on creating effective educational videos and I encourage you to explore this resource.

Faculty Development and the Technology and Learning Program are partnering in Spring 2022 to offer a series of four workshops focusing on Using Videos in the Classroom. The workshops will be offered via Zoom and will cover different aspects of educational videos:

Explore the Use of Videos in the Classroom (February 23rd, 3:00 – 4:30 p.m.)
Creating Videos for Your Curriculum (March 30th, 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.)
Manage your Kaltura Videos (April 13th, 3:00 – 4:30 p.m.)
Create Student Video Assignments (April 27th, 3:00-5:00 p.m.)

The workshops are open to everyone, but we ask that you register here for the ones you wish to attend, so we can better plan each workshop based on attendance.

For any questions, please reach out to me (cfferrari@csuchico.edu) or fdev@csuchico.edu , and we look forward to working together towards creating engaging videos and engaging student assignments!

ChicoFlex Updates and Training Opportunities

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Dear faculty,

I want to take the opportunity of this Tuesday tip to remind you of a number of resources related to ChicoFlex technology and pedagogy. First of all, I want to point you to this website, which clarifies some general questions about this mode of instruction and provides updates on the technology and the trainings available.

Winter 2022 GoFlex training
Kathy Fernandes and I, together with the Technology & Learning Program (TLP), have been hard at work to plan additional training for faculty interested in teaching ChicoFlex courses and, more broadly, in hybrid pedagogy. There is currently an open call for faculty interested in participating or mentoring in our Winter 2022 GoFlex session. This 5-day session is designed to prepare faculty who have not attended GoFlex in Summer 2021.This Winter session will also have a STEM track focusing on implementing ChicoFlex in courses offered in the Science building.

DATES: January 5, 6, 7, 11, 12 (skipping January 10th, Monday), 2022. You can read more information in the Call for Applications. Applications are due by Wednesday, November 17th.

If you want to learn more about GoFlex, you can visit this website, which includes faculty showcase videos.

ChicoFlex and Hyflex Fellows
Additional efforts in relation to ChicoFlex and hyflex pedagogy include the selection of six faculty that will work with Faculty Development and the Technology and Learning Program in Spring 2022 to develop an assessment plan for the ChicoFlex model and will start piloting a full hyflex mode of instruction. The key difference between ChicoFlex and hyflex is that ChicoFlex does not include the possibility for students to attend a course fully asynchronously, while full hyflex courses in the future will. You can read more about this distinction here.

Faculty Learning Community: Innovative Hyflex and Inclusive Pedagogy
Lastly, I want to announce a new faculty learning community that will be offered in Spring 2022. Dr. Jamie Gunderson will lead 20-25 faculty in a learning community that will focus on universal design for learning and will encourage faculty to create inclusive hybrid and virtual learning spaces. The call will come out on November 15th, together with all FDEV Spring 2022 programs, so stay tuned! Share your experience on our blog if you are teaching a ChicoFlex course this semester and/or you have completed GoFlex in the Summer!

Add a comment to share your experience if you are teaching a ChicoFlex course this semester and/or you have completed GoFlex in the Summer!

An Exploration of Podcasting in Higher Education

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Dear faculty,

This Tuesday Tip is written to encourage you to attend our new series on Podcasting for Teaching and Learning, which will start next week. Faculty Development is organizing the series in collaboration with the Technology and Learning Program, and we hope that you are excited to learn more about how podcasting can be used in your classes. As you can see in the webpage, the meetings will be held in Glenn 302 (a hyflex room, yay!) and also via Zoom, so feel free to attend in your preferred fashion, but we do ask that you register here so we can plan according to the expected audience.

In tandem with this series, I want to make sure that you are aware of a number of resources available on our website:

In particular, I want to point out this article, “Can creative podcasting promote deep learning? The use of podcasting for learning content in an undergraduate science unit” (Pegrum, Bartle & Longnecker, 2014), which examines the use of podcasts in an undergraduate chemistry course, specifically in relation to deep learning. I want to encourage all faculty to think of ways in which podcasting could be useful and beneficial in your classes, across Colleges, disciplines, and formats.

The first workshop will be held next Wednesday, September 29th, 3:00-4:30 pm, and we hope to see you there!

Add a comment to share ways in which you use podcasting in your class!

The ChicoFlex Pilot

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Dear faculty,

I want to take this opportunity to share some information about the ChicoFlex pilot that started in early April and invite you to this week’s Friday Forum for a chance to hear from the faculty who are participating in the pilot. Danielle Hidalgo (Sociology), Jaime Raigoza (Computer Science), Kevin Kimbell (Finance and Marketing), Nicholas Nelson (Physics), and Scott Brady (Geography and Planning) have been teaching in classrooms equipped with hyflex technology for the last couple of weeks, and have experimented with different pedagogical practices.

Faculty Development has been working closely with Classroom Technology Services and the Technology & Learning Program to learn the ins and outs of hyflex technology, class management, and general pedagogical needs for hybrid courses that will adopt the ChicoFlex Model. The ChicoFlex Team (Brent Liotta Chiara Ferrari, Kathy Fernandes, Marjorie Shepard, and Mike Magrey) has attended these classes in a variety of capacities: acting as students in person, participating as students online, and providing some tech support.

We are incredibly grateful to the faculty who are participating in the pilot, and I think I speak for our whole team when I say that we are learning so much about the possibilities, as well as the challenges of this mode of instruction. This Friday Forum will give us an opportunity to share what we have learned so far: we encourage everyone to join us for a chance to ask questions about ChicoFlex and hear about Summer training opportunities!

ChicoFlex Pilot Friday Forum

(Friday, April 30th, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m., via Zoom)

The ChicoFlex Spring Pilot Team

Poll Everywhere & Student Engagement

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Hello? Anyone out there? 

Wondering if anyone is behind those black screens? Looking for new ways to check-in and engage students or colleagues online?  Poll Everywhere might be able to assist you! Poll Everywhere is Chico State’s new online polling software available to all instructors, staff, and students for free. Come and learn the various engagement activities available to you and how they can easily be incorporated into your PPT presentations, Google Slides, and into Blackboard.   

Faculty, staff and students must use their Chico State campus email address with the account.  

BROWN BAG SESSION: Poll Everywhere 

WHO: Claudine Franquet, ITC in TLP 

WHEN: Friday, October 16th 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

WHERE: Zoom 

Meeting ID: 919 3973 8505 

Password: Chico 

This Tuesday Tip is brought to you by Claudine Franquet, instructional technology consultant in the Technology & Learning Program. 

Poll Everywhere & Student Engagement

adminLeave a comment

Hello? Anyone out there? 

Wondering if anyone is behind those black screens? Looking for new ways to check-in and engage students or colleagues online?  Poll Everywhere might be able to assist you! Poll Everywhere is Chico State’s new online polling software available to all instructors, staff, and students for free. Come and learn the various engagement activities available to you and how they can easily be incorporated into your PPT presentations, Google Slides, and into Blackboard.   

Faculty, staff and students must use their Chico State campus email address with the account.  

BROWN BAG SESSION: Poll Everywhere 

WHO: Claudine Franquet, ITC in TLP 

WHEN: Friday, October 16th 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

WHERE: Zoom  

Meeting ID: 919 3973 8505 

Password: Chico 

This Tuesday Tip is brought to you by Claudine Franquet, instructional technology consultant in the Technology & Learning Program. 

Quality Learning and Teaching Program

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The Office of Faculty Development is partnering with the Technology & Learning Program to offer a series of workshops designed around the Quality Learning and Teaching instrument. Please read below for details. 

The Quality Learning and Teaching (QLT) program was developed to assist faculty and instructional designers to more effectively create and deliver online, blended, and flipped courses, and has been utilized at CSU, Chico since 2014. I have led the QLT Program since 2016 and I have found that key benefits include: 

  1. Engaging students in their learning experience more directly 
  2. Increasing student feedback throughout the course (not only at the end) for immediate and continuous improvement. 

If you are interested in learning more about the nature of quality online instruction at CSU, Chico and about the benefits of faculty training, you can read this recent article written by Ben Seipel and myself: Preparing and Training Higher Education Faculty to Ensure Quality Online Learning and Teaching. 

QLT WORKSHOPS 

The five workshops below are designed to meet core standards in the QLT instruments and are associated with deliverables that will allow you to fully redesign a course (or design a new course). While we encourage faculty to take them in this sequence, it is not necessary to attend them in this order.   

Workshop 1: Introduction to QLT, Course and Learner Support (Chiara Ferrari) – Wednesday, October 7, 2 – 3:30 p.m.

Workshop 2: Assessment of Learning Outcomes (Ben Seipel) – Wednesday, October 14, 2 – 3:30 p.m.

Workshop 3: Organization of Course Materials and Resources (Chiara Ferrari) – Wednesday, October 28, 3:30 – 5 p.m.

Workshop 4: Student Engagement (Christine Sharrio) – Thursday, November 12, 3:30 – 5 p.m.

Workshop 5: Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (Claudine Franquet) – Wednesday, December 2, 9 – 10:30 a.m.

**For those faculty who cannot commit to attending the whole QLT series, the workshops are open on an individual basis, but we ask that you REGISTER HERE if you plan to attend, so we can plan properly based on the number of attendees.** 

COMPENSATION 

FDEV is offering compensation to 30 faculty who can commit to attending all workshops, completing all deliverables associated with them, and completing a final course review. Compensation will consist of a $500 taxable payment. Please refer to the call for applications for more details and complete this brief application form. These workshops will be offered again in the spring (twice), so if you are interested in applying, spring workshop dates will be shared later in the Fall semester. Please REGISTER HERE for the workshops you plan to attend. 

Reflection on the Past 2 Months

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Congratulations to you for persevering through this extraordinarily challenging semester! If you’d like to reflect on your experiences both in and out of the classroom with your fellow colleagues, join the Virtual FLC this Thursday at 10 a.m. (https://csuchico.zoom.us/j/5308985778). We’ll share lessons learned that will make us stronger as teachers and scholars in the fall and beyond. Take a break from grading and join the discussion at any point!

Given the uncertainty of the challenges ahead, I encourage you to tune in to the Board of Trustees live virtual meeting today to hear about the future plans for the CSU.  This includes Chancellor White’s report on COVID-19 implications for the CSU at 10 a.m. and the CSU fiscal status report at 1 p.m. (full agenda here).

As we look ahead, FDEV will be supporting TLP this summer to offer the GoVirtual Summer Institute. As such, FDEV will not offer development programs this summer. Applications for fall FLCs will emailed to faculty later in the summer.