20 Minute Mentor - Online Faculty Professional Development

The Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment and Academic Technology have partnered up again to bring faculty a professional development series from Magna Publications, called the 20 Minute Mentor. The goal of the  20 Minute Mentor series is to offer faculty practical professional development opportunities in twenty minute snippets that can be accessed from anywhere and at any time during the given week. Session topics cover the areas of student engagement, teaching and learning, teaching online, assessment and learning goals, and classroom management.

Information on how to access the  20 Minute Mentor sessions is available each week in the Bulletin.

New video presentations go live at 10:00am each Monday morning and are only accessible through Sunday. Presentation handouts and supplementary materials are always available.
The following sessions are on the schedule for spring 2014.  For session descriptions, objectives, and mentor bios, click on the titles below.

• January 27th - How Can I Create Meaningful Assignments for My Students?
• February 3rd - How Can Backward Design Make My Courses More Accessible?
• February 10th - How Can I Effectively Teach Unprepared Students?
• February 17th - How Should I Manage Conflict Within My Department?
• February 24th - How Can I Set Time Management Priorities in Online Teaching?
• March 3rd - How Can I Use Discussion to Facilitate Learning?
• March 10th - What Are the Three Worst Mistakes to Make in the Classroom?
• March 17th - How Can I Be an Effective Mentor?
• March 24th - How Can I Make the Activities in My Course More Inclusive?
• March 31st - How Do I Set Students Up for Success in Online Courses?
• April 7th - How Can I Make My Multiple Choice Tests More Effective?
• April 14th - How Can I Get Students to Take Responsibility for Their Own Learning?
• April 21st - How Can I Connect Students' Interests to Course Content?
• April 28th - How Do I Prepare a SoTL Article for Publication?
• May 5th - How Can I Use Technology to Create Custom Automated Feedback?
• May 12th - How Can Rubrics Make Grading Easier and Faster?

We would love to hear your feedback on the usefulness of these sessions. Please send your input to itd@northshore.edu.

Launching of Phase 2 of the College Instructional Technology Study

As we mentioned in a previous post, we had a very successful first phase in our College Instructional Technology Study.  We are now in the process of Phase 2.  In the second phase of this study, Academic Technology (AT) will explore the various student support services at the college to share knowledge and resources about students’ learning and technology in order to better understand the benefits and challenges all involved parties encounter. North Shore Community College (NSCC) has a variety of tools and resources that are used in assuring student success in the classroom and in the college as a whole and beyond. It serves the best interests of everyone if each area of the college is better informed about the range of tools, resources and technology practices. Therefore, AT will plan to meet with the various student support services to share resources and tools around technologies that enhance student learning at the college.  

“Technologies that enhance student learning at the college” means any special computer programs, devices, online services/programs/web sites, or other technologies that are used to manage and facilitate communication, interaction, and learning within the teaching and learning environment at the college, but with particular attention to students’ learning experience. This could also be using what are considered common technological programs and tools (cellphones, cameras, Microsoft Word, Facebook, etc.) in new, unique, or unorthodox ways for learning.

Across departments, divisions, programs, and projects, NSCC makes use of a wide range of instructional technology in facilitating education, guidance, and communication. While some tools are well known, others are less-known but could have the potential of large scalable uses for the faculty and staff at the college. Hence, lack of knowing or having access to the range of instructional technological tools at NSCC means that AT provides less service and efficiency en masse than it might otherwise do.  

At its core, this study is a fact-finding mission to better understand what the instructional technology is that is being used, how it is being used, and how AT can further aid the use of this instructional technology for the betterment of all.   

For a more detailed explanation, please visit the public plan at this link.  We appreciate any feedback or thoughts you might have to offer us about the project. 

WORKSHOPS Are Coming!

Mark your calendars because the annual January Instructional Technology Workshops are quickly approaching!  Just prior to the start of the Spring Semester, Instructional Technology and Design will be sponsoring a series of workshops on a variety of topics around integrating technology into the teaching and learning environment. The workshops will take place Monday, January 13th through Thursday, January 16th in DB 202 (unless otherwise noted).

Updated workshop descriptions and the opportunity to RSVP can be found here.  Keep an eye out for more information in your NSCC Email. Here is the current schedule:  

Monday, January 13th
9:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.	Polling/Getting Feedback from Your Students, DB304
10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.	Wow!  This App is the Best!, DB304
1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.	New to ANGEL
Tuesday, January 14th
9:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.	New to ANGEL
10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.	ANGEL Rubrics
1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.	Getting More out of Students with ANGEL Agents
Wednesday, January 15th
9:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.	ANGEL Gradebook
10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.	Virtual Classrooms - Adobe Connect
1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.	Blogger: Google's Blogging Tool
Thursday, January 17th
9:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.	New to Smart Classrooms, DB304
10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.	Creating Accessible Online Course Content, DB304
1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.	Preparing Students for Technology and Learning Online, DB304