The Learning, Education, Technology and Support (LETS) Blog

Thursday, August 23, 2018

September Blackboard Learn Open Labs

CTLI's Instructional Technology and Design (ITD) team will be hosting a series of Blackboard Learn Open Labs during the first two weeks of the semester.

Faculty are welcome to drop by the open labs if they have any questions/issues or would like to come in to work on your courses and get assistance from CTLI ITD staff. CTLI ITD team members will be available to assist on both the Danvers and Lynn campuses.

Week of September 3rd

Tuesday, September 4th from 9:00am-3:00pm in DB387 and LS319
Thursday, September 6th from 9:00am-3:00pm in DB387 and LS319
Friday, September 7th from 9:00am-3:00pm in DB387 and LS319

Week of September 10th

Monday, September 10th from 9:00am-3:00pm in DB387 and LS319
Tuesday, September 11th from 9:00am-2:00pm in DB387 and LS319
Wednesday, September 12th from 9:00am-3:00pm in DB387 and LS319
Thursday, September 13th from 9:00am-3:00pm in DB387 and LS319

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

20 Minute Mentor - Online Faculty Professional Development - Fall 2018 Schedule

The Center for Teaching, Learning, and Innovation (CTLI) offers 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.

Banner with "Got 20 Minutes? Then you have time to learn with the Monday Morning Mentor!"

The following sessions are on the schedule for fall 2018. For session descriptions, objectives, and mentor bios, click on the titles below.

August 27 - How Can I Bring Pop to My Classroom with Pop Culture?

September 3 - How Can I Promote Enrollment and Retention in Challenging Courses that Motivate Instead of Frustrate?

September 10 - What are Five Tips for Creating Videos that Promote Knowledge and Expand My Reach?

September 17 - How Will OER Benefit the 21st Century Student?

September 24 - How Can Livestreaming Bring New Life to My Teaching?

October 1 - What is Gamification and How Can it Promote a Growth Mindset?

October 8 - How Can the Three C's of Course Design Enhance Students' Online Performance?

October 15 - How Can I Use Simple Gamification Strategies to Engage my Students?

October 22 - How Can I Get Students to Engage with Course Content Before Class?

October 29 - How Can I Resolve Difficult Situations in the Classroom?

November 5 - How Should I Manage My Online Course?

November 12 - How Can I Engage the Emotions of My Students to Maximize Learning?

November 19 - How Can I Gain Valuable Insight from Course Evaluations?

November 26 - How Can I Encourage Students to Stay Connected with Course Content After Class?

December 3 - How Can Talking through Course Evaluations Improve my Teaching?

December 10 - How Can Promoting Academic Integrity Improve Learning Outcomes for Students?

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

Friday, August 17, 2018

Preparing for Fall 2018 Courses in Blackboard Learn

As you start to think about your fall 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:

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.
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.
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.
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.

If Select All is not used, make sure to include Grade Center Columns and Settings if Assignments and/or Tests are being copied.
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.

In the “File Attachments” section, keep the default settings.
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:

Go into the course site.
On the Control Panel, expand the "Customization" section and click Properties.
On the next screen, in the "Set Availability" section, select Yes to make the course available.
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 you 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.

Monday, August 13, 2018

August and September Blackboard Learn and Instructional Technology Workshops

The Center for Teaching, Learning, and Innovation's Instructional Technology and Design team will be holding various Blackboard Learn and Instructional Technology workshops in August and September.

In August and September, the CTLI's Instructional Technology and Design team will be sponsoring a series of workshops on a variety of topics around integrating technology into the teaching and learning environment as well as on using Blackboard Learn.

Workshops include:

Introduction to Blackboard Learn
Blackboard Learn Interaction Tool: Discussion Board
Blackboard Learn: Using Interactive Grading Rubrics
Blackboard Learn: Assignments and Safe Assign
Blackboard Learn: Tests and Surveys
Blackboard Learn: Grade Center and Grading
Virtual Classrooms with Blackboard Learn Collaborate {NEW}
Accessibility Awareness with Blackboard Ally and Creating Accessible Documents {NEW}
“10” Things You Might Not Know about Blackboard Learn: What’s New and Hidden Gems {NEW}
New to Smart Classrooms

To view the complete schedule of workshop sessions (with descriptions) and to RSVP, please visit this web site: https://goo.gl/forms/TRcmkQAhtMrhYqaY2.

If interested in attending a workshop, please make sure to RSVP. A workshop will be cancelled if less than three people sign up for it.

Monday, May 7, 2018

Preparing for Summer 2018 Courses in Blackboard Learn

As you start to think about your summer 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:

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.
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.
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.
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.

If Select All is not used, make sure to include Grade Center Columns and Settings if Assignments and/or Tests are being copied.
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.

In the “File Attachments” section, keep the default settings.
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.

Making your Course Shell Available to Students
When your course shell is ready for students to view, you will need to give them access. All course sites are unavailable to students by default. You can easily make your course sites available from the My Home page using the Qwickly multi-course tool.

If you are in your course site, here are the directions for making it available to your students. To open your course:

In your Blackboard Learn course shell, in the Control Panel, expand the Customization section and click Properties.
On the next screen, scroll down to the “Set Availability” section and select Yes to make the course available.Note: We recommend that you select Yes instead of Use Term Availability. Term Availability is set to the last day of classes and will close your course site that day (even though your students might still need access to finish up the course).
Click Submit to enable your students to see and access your course shell.

Preparing your Blackboard Learn Course Site for a New Semester
If you have already been using Blackboard Learn for your courses, please check out this handy reference to help you prepare your Blackboard Learn course site for a new semester at http://goo.gl/pZbUZ8.

Blackboard Learn Pre-semester Course Checklist
Once you course has been copied over, please review this checklist at https://goo.gl/18q3r5 to help you make sure your course site in Blackboard Learn is ready to go for the upcoming 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 (5/7/2018)

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 the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Innovation (CTLI).

Sign reads: Got 20 minutes? Then you have time to learn with the Monday Morning Mentor

20 Minute Online Professional Development
The Monday Morning Mentor series will be available over the spring semester to bring you professional development in twenty minute snippets. The topic for the week of May 7th is How Can I Write Better Letters of Recommendation? 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 https://www.magnapubs.com/online/mentor/how-can-i-write-better-letters-of-recomendation-14570-1.html. The complete spring schedule of Monday Morning Mentor sessions is available at http://nscclets.blogspot.com/2018/01/20-minute-mentor-online-faculty.html.

Looking for transcripts of past Monday Morning Mentor sessions? Please email ctli@northshore.edu with the session title and we can provide you with the transcript and supplementary materials.

Other Professional Development Opportunities

New @ NSCC - Virtual Classrooms with Blackboard Collaborate Ultra. Faculty are invited to learn about a new instructional technology available at NSCC, Blackboard Collaborate Ultra. Blackboard Collaborate Ultra is a virtual classroom tool that allows faculty to have synchronous, real-time conversations with their students that can include audio and video interaction with students, an interactive whiteboard, application and desktop sharing, informal polling, and breakout rooms for student groups. If you would like to learn more about how Blackboard Collaborate Ultra can be used in your face-to-face, hybrid, or online courses, we hope you can join us at our New @ NSCC session on Thursday, May 10th from 2:30pm to 3:30pm in Lynn South, LS314 (CTLI Training Room). If you are interested in attending, please RSVP at https://goo.gl/forms/PothEwANQRm3h9bx1. If you are unable to attend but would like more information on Blackboard Collaborate Ultra, please contact Andrea Milligan to set up a time to talk more at your convenience.

Upcoming Webinars of Interest

Designing courses as a student Hero’s Journey [BITS] on May 9, 2018 at 1:00pm Eastern. The speaker, Dr. Szymon Machajewski, "will synthesize the Exemplary Course Program Rubric and Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey to help instructional designers and instructors tell an epic story in their courses." Register at https://community.blackboard.com/events/1901-bits-designing-courses-as-a-student-heros-journey.
The Importance of Student Collaboration in OER Projects [CCCOER Webinar] on May 9, 2018 at 2:00pm Eastern. "Students have a valuable role to play in advocating for open education as well as the creation and revision of OER. Join us to hear from faculty, a student, and several administrators on how student collaboration has helped advanced their OER initiatives and contributed to student digital literacy."
More information with registration information at https://www.cccoer.org/webinar/may-9-the-importance-of-student-collaboration-in-oer-projects/.

Share Your Teaching Resources and Professional Development Opportunities
Please share your ideas, teaching strategies, and tips by emailing ctli@northshore.edu and we will share them in the next few issues of iDevelop. Also, please feel free to share any teaching resources or professional development opportunities that other NSCC faculty might be interested in.

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,
Center for Teaching, Learning, and Innovation

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

iDevelop – NSCC’s Faculty Professional Development eNewsletter (4/23/2018)

20 Minute Online Professional Development
The Monday Morning Mentor series will be available over the spring semester to bring you professional development in twenty minute snippets. The topic for the week of April 23rd is How Can I Move My Teaching Forward at Midcareer? 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 https://www.magnapubs.com/online/mentor/how-can-i-move-my-teaching-forward-at-midcareer-14542-1.html. The complete spring schedule of Monday Morning Mentor sessions is available at http://nscclets.blogspot.com/2018/01/20-minute-mentor-online-faculty.html.

Looking for transcripts of past Monday Morning Mentor sessions? Please email ctli@northshore.edu with the session title and we can provide you with the transcript and supplementary materials.

Other Professional Development Opportunities

North Shore Community College’s 2018 Visiting Writer. Novelist Louise Miller is a native New Englander, professional pastry chef, amateur flower gardener, old-time banjo player, obsessive moviegoer, and champion of old dogs. She will read from her debut novel, The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living, and her soon-to- be-published second book, The Late Bloomer’s Club. The readings will take place on Tuesday, April 24th, at 9:30am and 11:00am in the Danvers Campus library, 1 Ferncroft Road, and on Friday, April 27th at 9:30am and 11:00am in the President’s Board Room on the Lynn Campus, 300 Broad Street. More information is available at http://news.northshore.edu/blog/novelist-louise-miller-is-nsccs-2018-visiting-writer/.
Annual Law Day Lecture. This year’s Law Day topic is Separation of Powers: Framework for Freedom. The keynote speaker is Lawrence Friedman, a professor of law at New England School of Law in Boston, MA. The lecture will be held on Thursday, April 26th from 7:30am to 9:00am in the Danvers Campus Math & Science Building, DS119 and will be teleconferenced to the Lynn Campus Gym. More information is available at http://news.northshore.edu/blog/nsccs-annual-law-day-lecture-separation-of-powers-framework-for-freedom/.

Upcoming Webinars of Interest

Cars, culinary, and coding: Applied learning supported by Blackboard. This webinar, part of the BITS series, will take place on April 26, 2018 at 3:00pm EST. During this session, a panel of three instructors from Alfred State SUNY College of Technology will provide examples of different Blackboard Learn features - such as rubrics, wikis, grading, and online testing - to enhance and support their active learning classrooms. More information is available at https://community.blackboard.com/events/1900-bits-cars-culinary-and-coding-applied-learning-supported-by-blackboard.

Resources

Mid-Career Faculty: How to Stay Engaged, Fulfilled, and Productive (Faculty Focus Special Report)
http://www.sjsu.edu/cfd/career-planning/mid-career/FF-Special-Report-2017-Mid-Career.pdf
Three Active Learning Strategies You Can Do in 10 Minutes or Less
https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/blended-flipped-learning/three-active-learning-strategies-you-can-do-in-10-minutes-or-less/

iDevelop – NSCC’s Faculty Professional Development eNewsletter (4/9/2018)

20 Minute Online Professional Development
The Monday Morning Mentor series will be available over the spring semester to bring you professional development in twenty minute snippets. The topic for the week of April 9th is How Do I Earn Swift Trust in My Online Classes? 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 https://www.magnapubs.com/online/mentor/how-can-i-earn-swift-trust-in-my-online-classes-14607-1.html. The complete spring schedule of Monday Morning Mentor sessions is available at http://nscclets.blogspot.com/2018/01/20-minute-mentor-online-faculty.html.

Looking for transcripts of past Monday Morning Mentor sessions? Please email ctli@northshore.edu with the session title and we can provide you with the transcript and supplementary materials.

Other Professional Development Opportunities

Faculty Conversations. The Center for Teaching, Learning, and Innovation (CTLI) is initiating a new professional development series called Faculty Conversations. The goal of Faculty Conversations is to create an opportunity for faculty to come together to discuss various teaching and learning topics as well as to share strategies, best practices, and resources. The topic for our inaugural Faculty Conversations will be best practices in online and hybrid teaching. The next session Thursday, April 12th from 2:30pm to 3:30pm in Lynn South, LS314 (CTLI Training Room). Whether you are new to teaching online or hybrid courses, have been teaching online or hybrid courses for many years, or are curious about teaching online or hybrid courses, please join us for the conversation.

Upcoming Webinars of Interest

How ‘Open Educational Practices’ Support Student-Centered Course Design and Accessibility. The next CCCOER webinar is on Wednesday, April 11th at 2:00pm EST. Join the webinar to hear from two speakers on how the use of OEP, including OER adoption, can support accessibility of instructional materials and enable student-centered course design methodologies such as universal design for learning (UDL).
For more details and registration information, visit CCCOER’s website at: https://www.cccoer.org/webinar/how-open-educational-practices-support-student-centered-course-design-and-accessibility/.

Resources

Creating Trust in Online Education
https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/creating-trust-in-online-education/

Tuesday, April 10, 2018

iDevelop – NSCC’s Faculty Professional Development eNewsletter (4/2/2018)

20 Minute Online Professional Development
The Monday Morning Mentor series will be available over the spring semester to bring you professional development in twenty minute snippets. The topic for the week of April 2nd is How Can I Revitalize My Classroom with Workforce Development Concepts? 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 https://www.magnapubs.com/online/mentor/how-can-i-revitalize-my-classroom-with-workforce-development-concepts-14582-1.html. The complete spring schedule of Monday Morning Mentor sessions is available at http://nscclets.blogspot.com/2018/01/20-minute-mentor-online-faculty.html.

Looking for transcripts of past Monday Morning Mentor sessions? Please email ctli@northshore.edu with the session title and we can provide you with the transcript and supplementary materials.

Other Professional Development Opportunities

Faculty Conversations. The Center for Teaching, Learning, and Innovation (CTLI) is initiating a new professional development series called Faculty Conversations. The goal of Faculty Conversations is to create an opportunity for faculty to come together to discuss various teaching and learning topics as well as to share strategies, best practices, and resources. The topic for our inaugural Faculty Conversations will be best practices in online and hybrid teaching. There will be two sessions to accommodate different teaching schedules and campus locations: Friday, April 6th from 9:30am to 10:30am in Danvers Berry, DB301 (CTLI Conference Room) and Thursday, April 12th from 2:30pm to 3:30pm in Lynn South, LS314 (CTLI Training Room). Whether you are new to teaching online or hybrid courses, have been teaching online or hybrid courses for many years, or are curious about teaching online or hybrid courses, please join us for the conversation. If you are interested in participating, please RSVP at https://goo.gl/forms/ofxEBk3BEoYW4Xus2.
Liberal Studies Lecture Series (Rescheduled). Join Lance Eaton as he presents this semester’s (LS)^2 presentation “Vampires Get You Famous, But The Hulk Will Get You Sued: The Intersections of Creativity, Censorship, Copyright and the Commons” on Monday, April 9th from 9:30am to 10:45pm in the Math & Science Building, Room 119 at the Danvers Campus. This presentation is also open to the public. More information is available at http://news.northshore.edu/blog/vampires-get-you-famous-but-the-hulk-will-get-you-sued-the-intersections-of-creativity-censorship-copyright-and-the-commons/.

Monday, April 2, 2018

iDevelop – NSCC’s Faculty Professional Development eNewsletter (3/26/2018)

20 Minute Online Professional Development
The Monday Morning Mentor series will be available over the spring semester to bring you professional development in twenty minute snippets. The topic for the week of March 26th is How Can I Engage Generation C? 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 https://www.magnapubs.com/online/mentor/how-can-i-engage-generation-c-14595-1.html. The complete spring schedule of Monday Morning Mentor sessions is available at http://nscclets.blogspot.com/2018/01/20-minute-mentor-online-faculty.html.

Looking for transcripts of past Monday Morning Mentor sessions? Please email ctli@northshore.edu with the session title and we can provide you with the transcript and supplementary materials.

Other Professional Development Opportunities

Faculty Conversations. The Center for Teaching, Learning, and Innovation (CTLI) is initiating a new professional development series called Faculty Conversations. The goal of Faculty Conversations is to create an opportunity for faculty to come together to discuss various teaching and learning topics as well as to share strategies, best practices, and resources. The topic for our inaugural Faculty Conversations will be best practices in online and hybrid teaching. There will be two sessions to accommodate different teaching schedules and campus locations: Friday, April 6th from 9:30am to 10:30am in Danvers Berry, DB301 (CTLI Conference Room) and Thursday, April 12th from 2:30pm to 3:30pm in Lynn South, LS314 (CTLI Training Room). Whether you are new to teaching online or hybrid courses, have been teaching online or hybrid courses for many years, or are curious about teaching online or hybrid courses, please join us for the conversation. If you are interested in participating, please RSVP at https://goo.gl/forms/ofxEBk3BEoYW4Xus2.
Liberal Studies Lecture Series (Rescheduled). Join Lance Eaton as he presents this semester’s (LS)^2 presentation “Vampires Get You Famous, But The Hulk Will Get You Sued: The Intersections of Creativity, Censorship, Copyright and the Commons” on Monday, April 9th from 9:30am to 10:45pm in the Math & Science Building, Room 119 at the Danvers Campus. This presentation is also open to the public. More information is available at http://news.northshore.edu/blog/vampires-get-you-famous-but-the-hulk-will-get-you-sued-the-intersections-of-creativity-censorship-copyright-and-the-commons/.

Resources

How then do we teach Generation C?https://onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com/2012/04/12/how-then-do-we-teach-generation-c/
Simple Ways to Reach Gen Z
https://campustechnology.com/articles/2017/08/09/5-simple-ways-to-reach-gen-z.aspx
Here Comes Z: Strategies To Engage A New Generation Of College Students https://elearningindustry.com/engage-a-new-generation-of-college-students-strategies