Preparing for January Intersession and Spring 2016 Courses in Blackboard Learn

As you start to think about your January intersession or spring courses, we wanted to share with you the following important information that will help you prepare your course site in Blackboard Learn.

Copying a Course

To copy a previous course site into a new one in Blackboard Learn:

1. Go into the course site that has the content to copy. In the Control Panel, expand the Packages and Utilities section and click Course Copy.
2. On the next screen, in the “Select Copy Type” section, make sure Copy Course Materials into Existing Course is selected in the drop down menu.
3. Now, in the “Select Copy Options” section, next to the Destination Course ID field, click Browse. Then, find and select the Course ID for the new course (the one you want to put the content into). Click Submit.
4. Select the Course Materials that you want to copy over to the new course. Usually, Select All is the best choice, although you might not want to copy announcements.
1. If Select All is not used, make sure to include Grade Center Columns and Settings if Assignments and/or Tests are being copied.
2. Also, under Discussion Board, select Include only the forums, with no starter posts if threads are not created by the instructor for students to respond to. If not, all student threads will copy over as anonymous and they will need to be deleted.
5. In the “File Attachments” section, keep the default settings.
6. In the “Enrollments” section, keep the Include Enrollments in the Copy box unchecked.
7. Click Submit.

Please note: When a previous course site is copied over into a new course site, any new or changed content areas will be added to the bottom of the course menu.

Make Your Course Available

All Blackboard Learn course sites are unavailable to students by default. Here are the directions for making the course site available to your students. To open your course:

1. Go into the course site.
2. On the Control Panel, expand the "Customization" section and click Properties.
3. On the next screen, in the "Set Availability" section, select Yes to make the course available.
4. Click Submit.

Preparing a Blackboard Learn Course Site for a New Semester
Please check out this handy reference at http://goo.gl/pZbUZ8 to help prepare a  Blackboard Learn course site for a new semester.

Please do not hesitate to contact the Blackboard Learn Helpdesk at bbhelp@northshore.edu if there are any issues with Blackboard Learn.

iDevelop – NSCC’s Faculty Professional Development eNewsletter (12/14/2015)

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 (ITD) and the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment (CTLA).

20 Minute Online Professional Development
The Monday Morning Mentor series, professional development in twenty minute snippets, will kick off for the spring semester on January 25, 2016 with How Do Master Teachers Create a Positive Classroom? More information will be available in an upcoming issue of iDevelop. The presentation and supplemental materials can be accessed at https://sites.google.com/a/northshore.edu/mmm/.

The complete spring schedule of Monday Morning Mentor sessions is available at http://nscclets.blogspot.com/2015/12/20-minute-mentor-online-faculty.html.

Other Professional Development Opportunities

• SEQuEL (Southeastern-Massachusetts Quantitative Engagement & Literacy) Event. A day-long event that supports authentic curriculum, effective and innovative practices, and student success in quantitative literacy across the curriculum. Faculty and staff from the region are invited to attend, present, and share. When: Thursday, January 14, 2016, 8:30am - 2:30pm, at Bridgewater State University. Registration is free to attend the event. For more information: http://webhost.bridgew.edu/msalomone/quacprogram_com/sequel/.

MSC Initiative
NSCC is once again participating in the Multi-State Collaborative (MSC) initiative. You may recall that last year a number of you submitted student artifacts (e.g., essays, journal entries, and quantitative papers) to examine the validity of the AAC&U rubrics in written communication, quantitative literacy, and critical thinking.

The MSC is continuing to test these rubrics and has requested additional artifacts (e.g., essays, journal entries, and quantitative papers) in the following areas:

• written communication
• quantitative literacy
• critical thinking
• civic engagement

We received a small grant to stipend faculty interested in participating. Depending upon the level of faculty participation, these stipends will be somewhere in the range of $50-$100 per faculty member. The process is entirely voluntary and is intended to assess the rubrics only, not the student work or scope of the assignment. If you are willing to partake, here's what the MSC would need:

• A completed Assignment Cover Sheet
• Your assignment sheet that generated the artifact
• 10-12 student artifacts (e.g., essays, journal entries, and quantitative papers) that demonstrate written communication, quantitative literacy, critical thinking, or civic engagement. These artifacts should be at least 3 pages in length. All names and identifying features will be scrubbed. No releases from students are needed for this project.

Please let Chris Bednar know if you are willing to participate. We would need the materials by December 20, 2015. Thanks!


The CTLA Extension
The CTLA is launching a Google Site with information related to teaching, learning, and assessment. We are calling it "The CTLA Extension." We envision continuing to add content as the site develops. For now, you will find some resources related to the following areas:

• Instructional Strategies
• Assessment
• The Faculty Fellowship
• The Professional Days

Here is the link: https://sites.google.com/a/northshore.edu/the-ctla-extension/home.

Stay Updated on Professional Development
To stay current on professional development opportunities offered by Instructional Technology and Design over the winter break and during the spring semester, 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.

This will be the last issue of iDevelop for the fall semester. We will publish the first one of the spring semester on January 18, 2016. We hope you have enjoyed 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 - Spring 2016 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 spring 2016. For session descriptions, objectives, and mentor bios, click on the titles below. 

• January 25 - How Do Master Teachers Create a Positive Classroom?
• February 1 - How Do I Assign Students to Groups?
• February 8 - How Do I Get Students to Come to Class Prepared?
• February 15 - What Key Concepts Improve Student Learning and Memory?
• February 22 - How Do I Create Engaging Threaded Discussion Questions?
• February 29 - How Can I Effectively Use Class Preparation Assignments?
• March 7 - How Can I Make the Activities in My Course More Inclusive?
• March 14 - How Do I Build Community in My Classroom?
• March 21 - How Do I Give Feedback that Improves Student Writing?
• March 28 - How Can I Enhance Class Using Story, Popular Media and Objects?
• April 4 - How Do I Prepare a SoTL Article for Publication?
• April 11 - What Key Factors Influence Test Performance?
• April 18 - How Do Prepared Students Change the Way I Teach?
• April 25 - Is Your Syllabus Sending the Wrong Message?
• May 2 - How Can I Transform My Tests into Learning Tools?
• May 9 - How Can Students Use Self-Compassion to Reduce Test Anxiety?

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

iDevelop – NSCC’s Faculty Professional Development eNewsletter (12/7/2015)

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 (ITD) and the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment (CTLA)

20 Minute Online Professional Development: How Do I Design Courses to Enhance Student Veterans' Success?
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 December 7th is How Do I Design Courses to Enhance Student Veterans' Success? The presentation is available Monday at 10:00am and is accessible through Sunday of that week. 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 Bulletin or 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-design-courses-to-enhance-student-veterans-success-3193-1.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

• Creating Accessible Online Course Content. As part of Disability Services’ Brown Bag Lunch Series, Andrea Milligan and Lance Eaton will be facilitating a discussion around creating accessible digital course content. The event will take place on Thursday, December 10th from 12:30pm to 1:30pm in Danvers, DB388 (CTLA Conference Room).

Share your Teaching Practices
Please send an email with your teaching strategies, best practices, resources, and tips to itd@northshore.edu and we will share them in the next few issues of iDevelop.

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

iDevelop – NSCC’s Faculty Professional Development eNewsletter (11/30/2015)

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 (ITD) and the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment (CTLA).

20 Minute Online Professional Development: In Blended Courses, What Should Students Do Online?
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 November 30th is In Blended Courses, What Should Students Do Online? The presentation is available Monday at 10:00am and is accessible through Sunday of that week. 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 Bulletin or 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/in-blended-courses-what-should-students-do-online-3146-1.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

• Creating Accessible Online Course Content. As part of Disability Services’ Brown Bag Lunch Series, Andrea Milligan and Lance Eaton will be facilitating a discussion around creating accessible digital course content. The event will take place on Thursday, December 10th from 12:30pm to 1:30pm in Danvers, DB388 (CTLA Conference Room).

Resources

• Developing online learning activities for blended courses
  https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-resources/teaching-tips/developing-assignments/blended-learning/developing-online-learning-activities

If you are interested in learning more about designing and teaching blended/hybrid courses, please contact ITD at itd@northshore.edu.

Share your Teaching Practices

Are you teaching a blended/hybrid course? What types of learning activities do you find work really well in the online environment? And what types of learning activities do you find work really well in-class? Please send an email with your teaching strategies, best practices, resources, and tips to itd@northshore.edu and we will share them in the next few issues of iDevelop.

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