iDevelop – NSCC’s Faculty Professional Development eNewsletter (8/24/2015)

Welcome to iDevelop, a weekly eNewsletter providing faculty with information about professional development opportunities at NSCC. The intent of this eNewsletter is to spotlight the various professional development events for faculty in one convenient location as well as share best practices, resources and tips related to the teaching practice. iDevelop is being brought to you by Instructional Technology and Design and the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment. 

20 Minute Online Professional Development: How Do I Use VoiceThread for Online Student Discussions?

The Monday Morning Mentor series will be available over the fall semester to bring you professional development in twenty minute snippets. The topic for the week of August 24th is How Do I Use VoiceThread for Online Student Discussions? The presentation is available Monday at 10:00am and is accessible through Sunday of that week. For information on accessing the presentation and supplemental materials, please view the email version of iDevelop.

More information about this session (including description, topics, and learning goals) is available at http://www.magnapubs.com/online/mentor/how-do-i-use-voicethread-for-online-student-discussion-3117-1.html.

The complete fall schedule of Monday Morning Mentor sessions is available at http://nscclets.blogspot.com/2015/08/20-minute-mentor-online-faculty.html.

Other Professional Development Opportunities

• Blackboard Learn Workshops. Blackboard Learn is now available for all faculty members teaching face-to-face, hybrid, or online courses. ITD is offering a series of Blackboard Learn workshops this week on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. To view the complete schedule of workshop sessions (with descriptions) and to RSVP, please visit this web site: https://goo.gl/J5ngLA.

To stay current on professional development opportunities offered by Instructional Technology over the academic year, be sure to:

• Read the Learning, Education, Technology and Support (LETS) Blog at http://nscclets.blogspot.com/. ITD’s goal with this blog is to provide an informative and useful resource for faculty and staff by highlighting events, spotlighting projects, and presenting current information around instructional technology while also providing a growing pool of resources, recommendations, tools, and materials for teaching and learning purposes.
• "Like" the North Shore Community College Academic Technology Page on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/myNSCC.acadtech. On the Academic Technology Facebook page, AT provides information about upcoming professional development opportunities, links to interesting articles on integrating technology into the teaching and learning environment, and presents tips on using the various instructional technology resources.

Resources

• 7 Things You Should Know About…VoiceThread
  http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/eli7050.pdf 
• Using VoiceThread to Build Student Engagement
  http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/asynchronous-learning-and-trends/using-voicethread-to-build-student-engagement/

ITD has a department license to VoiceThread. If you are interested in learning more about incorporating VoiceThread in your classes, please contact ITD at itd@northshore.edu. We would be happy to brainstorm ideas and help you get started.

We hope you enjoy this weekly eNewsletter and would love your input. Please let us know if you have any feedback on the format, content, and resources or if there is anything else you would like to see in the eNewsletter.

Thank you!
Instructional Technology and Design and the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment

20 Minute Mentor - Online Faculty Professional Development - Fall 2015 Schedule

The Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment (CTLA) and  Instructional Technology and Design (ITD) 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 and the iDevelop e-newsletter.

New video presentations (with supplementary materials) go live at 10:00am each Monday morning and are only accessible through Sunday. 

The following sessions are on the schedule for fall 2015.  

• August 24th - How Do I Use VoiceThread for Online Student Discussions?
• August 31st - What If a Student Asks a Question I Can't Answer?
• September 7th - What Should I Do When a Student Cheats?
• September 14th - How Can I Measure My Faculty Development Center's Impact?
• September 21st - What is the Best Way to Grade Participation?
• September 28th - How Can I Use Technology to Improve Learning?
• October 5th - How Do I Create a Climate for Learning in My Classroom?
• October 12th - Can Service-Learning Work in My Discipline?
• October 19th - What Can I Learn From Student Ratings?
• October 26th - How Can I Reduce Apathy and Increase Motivation?
• November 2nd - How Do I Get Started with Service-Learning?
• November 9th - How Can I Connect Students' Interests to Course Content?
• November 16th - How Can I Better Manage Difficult Conversations with Faculty?
• November 23rd - How Can I Build a Successful Faculty Development Program?
• November 30th - In Blended Courses, What Should Students Do Online?
• December 7th - How Do I Design Courses to Enhance Student Veterans' Success? 

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