Active Learning Classrooms

Active Learning Classrooms are teaching and learning spaces that allow faculty to move their course design beyond lecture.  Faculty are supported through the room design, flexible furniture, multiple writing surfaces, and interactive technologies.  In these rooms, students move from a static learning environments (rows of chairs) to a more dynamic one (group seating often utilizing chairs and tables on wheels).

Here at North Shore Community College, we have designed two spaces as Active Learning Classrooms.  LE 304 in Lynn and DB 101 in Danvers have portable chairs on wheels and white boards have been installed around the wall surfaces of the classrooms.  Faculty have begun to requests these spaces as they allow for students to work together more efficiently and effectively.  The teacher's role then becomes more of a guide to learning.

Some effective teaching models in these kinds of  classrooms include:

1.  Think--Pair--Share
This is a discussion strategy where the teacher gets the students thinking about a posed question.  The students then "pair up" to talk about their thoughts or answers to the question.  The teacher then calls on the pairs to share their thoughts with the rest of the class.

2.  Focused Listening
Here students recall what they know about a subject.  This can be done in pairs or groups  They list what they know on a sheet of paper.   The instructor roams the room requesting the lists to be read out loud by the pairs or groups.

3.  Brainstorming
This is similar to focused listening.  Here, though, students might stretch what they know by forming creative connections between previous knowledge and new possibilities.  In Brainstorming, there are no wrong answers.

4.  Note Check
With Note Check, students partner with someone.  They compare notes.  They notice each other's misconceptions or lack of clarity, and then assist in pointing that out and cleaning it up.

5.  The Two Minute Paper
Here the faculty member asks students to summarize the most important points in the day's lecture.  It helps students to put things in their own words.  It also helps students to identify their gaps in their understanding.

6.  The Final Question
At the end of class, the faculty member asks the students if they had one last question about the material, what would it be?  It encourages students to think deeply about material before leaving the room.

Resources:

• What is an Active Learning Classroom?
  http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/tutorials/active/what/index.html
• Reactions of Teachings in an Active Learning Classroom
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szGCwwcDc-g
• Active learning strategies
  http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/tutorials/powerpoint/learning/index.html

If you would like to know more about Active Learning Classrooms, please contact us at itd@northshore.edu.

Dave Houle
Coordinator, Instructional Technology
dhoule@northshore.edu

iDevelop – NSCC’s Faculty Profession​al Developmen​t eNewslette​r (9/15/2014​)

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.

20 Minute Online Professional Development: How Can I Enhance Students’ Self-Regulated Learning Skills?
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 September 15th is How Can I Enhance Students’ Self-Regulated Learning Skills? 

More information about this session (including description, topics, and learning goals) is available http://www.magnapubs.com/catalog/how-can-i-enhance-students-self-regulated-learning-skills/.

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 or the Bulletin notice. 

Image Source.

Other Professional Development Opportunities

1. What are you doing this Thursday afternoon (September 18th)?  A few spaces are available for full or part time faculty to attend an information session in the CTLA (DB 388) about Academic Technology and Library Services here at North Shore Community College.  Although this session and others that will follow (stay tuned!) are designed for new full time faculty, whether you are new to North Shore, full time or part time, or if you simply feel that you or your students could use a refresher to kick off a new academic year, you are invited to come.  Learn from our fantastic and friendly professionals--Andrea Milligan and Christine Goodchild.  Please RSVP to Andrea DeFusco-Sullivan (adefusco@northshore.edu) by noontime on Wednesday so that we can have enough coffee ready!  The coffee's on at 2:00 p.m. and things will wrap up around 4:00 p.m., but if you need to come a little late or leave a little earlier due to class/meeting scheduling, do not fret--come anyway.
       
2. The Tri-State Multi-State Collaborative Consortium, consisting of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, will co-host a Professional Development Day for faculty, administrators and professional staff at participating Multi-State Collaborative institutions.  The event will be held at the Southbridge Hotel and Conference Center on September 26, 2014 from 9:00am – 3:30pm, with registration and a continental breakfast beginning at 8:30am.  The event is sponsored by the American Association of Colleges and Universities and the State Higher Education Executive Officers and funded by a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation grant.  The event is free but space is limited to the first 150 participants to register.  Please contact Andrea DeFusco-Sullivan (adefusco@northshore.edu) for registration information.

Share your Teaching Strategies
Here are some teaching strategies shared with us around early semester community building.  Please continue to send us your great ideas at itd@northshore.edu and we will share them in the upcoming issues of iDevelop. 

• “I tried something new this semester.  Introductions in my class include: creating a 6 word memoir (there's a great YouTube video that introduces the concept) and having them tell me and the class what their hopes and dreams beyond NSCC are, what's their favorite sport and day of the year.  One of my edu objectives for all my students is to have them give three stand-up presentations each semester.  The introverts either don't come to class that day, or refuse to do it in class.  My strategy this year was that at the 2nd class I brought a fairly large ball (not quite a beach ball) to class.  I have students line up on either side of the room and toss the ball back and forth.  When you get the ball you do your intro.  100% of students spoke.  But more importantly, I polled the class afterwards for those who HATE public speaking and explained they'd just successfully spoken in front of the class.  The ball gives their mind something to do besides being crazy nervous, standing with a group of students gives them strength/courage, and tossing the ball back and forth provides comic relief.  I'm going to use the ball when we have our next presentation to further give them confidence.”
  -Dianne McDermott Cerasuolo (please feel free to contact her directly if you have questions or want to brainstorm around using her idea)

Resources

• F act Sheet: Self-Regulated Learning
  https://teal.ed.gov/tealguide/selfregulated 
• Encouraging Self-Regulated Learning in the Classroom: A Review of the Literature
  http://www.self-regulation.ca/download/pdf_documents/Self%20Regulated%20Learning.pdf

iDevelop is being brought to you by Academic Technology and the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment.  If you have any professional development events, best practices, resources or tips to share with other faculty, please send them our way.  Also, we would love your input on this eNewsletter.

Thank you,
Academic Technology and the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment

iDevelop – NSCC’s Faculty Professional Development eNewsletter (9/8/2014)

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.

20 Minute Online Professional Development: How Can I Be an Effective Mentor?
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 September 8th is How Can I Be an Effective Mentor?

For information on accessing the presentation and supplemental materials, please view the email version of iDevelop or the Bulletin notice.  More information about this session (including description, topics, and learning goals) is available http://www.magnapubs.com/catalog/how-can-i-be-an-effective-mentor/.

The presentation is available Monday at 10:00am and is accessible through Sunday of that week.

Upcoming Instructional Technology Workshops
This week, Instructional Technology and Design is offering several workshops on a variety of topics around integrating technology into the teaching and learning environment. Please reserve your slot at any of these sessions by emailing itd@northshore.edu.

Smart Classrooms
Come and find out all of the little ins and outs of using a Smart Classroom here at North Shore Community College. We will also share with you best practices when using one of these rooms. You will have the opportunity to try out the technology for yourself.

• Monday, September 8th from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Danvers HPSS 226
• Friday, September 12th from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. in Lynn LW 323

Share your Teaching Strategies
Here are some teaching strategies shared with us that faculty use to ensure that students start off the course on the right track and to develop a course community.

• Have students complete a syllabus quiz or scavenger hunt to ensure that they have reviewed the syllabus and are familiar with the course expectations.
• Before launching into the first content class, take some time to do a simple ice breaker.  Ask students a series of questions by calling on different students to ensure that everyone gets a chance.  Sample questions:  Do you have kids?  Do you have pets?  Do you have unusual pets? Have you traveled outside the US?  Do you like to use Instagram?  Have you ever met someone famous?  Have you climbed a mountain?  Are you a vegetarian or vegan?  Can you walk to campus?  Can you bike to campus?  If you drive, do you drive more than 10 miles?  25 miles?  50 miles?  This will help build a classroom community from day one and help you learn student names that much quicker.

What other ways methods do you use to remember students’ names?  Send an email with your teaching strategies to itd@northshore.edu and we will share them in the next few issues of iDevelop.

Other Professional Development Opportunities
Did you know that NSCC employees can find Professional Development ideas, blogs and webinars for free via our college's affiliation with the Life Scope Plan? In addition to offering legal guidance, and tips on managing your out-of-work life (from caregiving to finances), did you know that Life Scope offers many pointers on productivity, career development, and training....all for free, just because you're a NSCC employee. Check out the Life Scope homepage at https://www.advantageengagement.com/1108/login_company_lifescope.php.  Login using the information provided in the iDevelop email.

Resources

•  Learning Students' Names
  http://www.unl.edu/gradstudies/current/teaching/names  

iDevelop is being brought to you by Academic Technology and the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment.  If you have any professional development events, best practices, resources or tips to share with other faculty, please send them our way.  Also, we would love your input on this eNewsletter.

Thank you,
Academic Technology and the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment

August and September Instructional Technology Workshops

In August and September, Instructional Technology and Design will be offering several workshops for faculty on a variety of topics around integrating technology into the teaching and learning environment. Please reserve your slot at any of these sessions by emailing itd@northshore.edu.
  

Video Anywhere

Video Anywhere is a tool in ANGEL (also in Blackboard) that allows faculty to easily record a video from a webcam and embed that video directly into any of the text box editors throughout ANGEL (for example, Announcements, Pages, Discussion Forums, Drop Boxes, etc.).

• Thursday, August 21st from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. in Danvers DB 202

Google Documents for Collaboration and Communication

Looking for a way to promote student collaboration on a project? Need a simple way for students to share documents or give presentations? Want to collect information from your students quickly? Then Google Documents is for you. This workshop will present the benefits of using NSCC’s Google Documents application in the classroom to easily create, edit, and share documents, spreadsheets and presentations.

• Thursday, August 21st from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in Danvers DB 202

New to ANGEL

The New to ANGEL workshop is designed to familiarize faculty with ANGEL and introduce basic course building functionality. In this workshop, participants will learn to: navigate around the course site, add different types of content, organize content in folders, and enable the course for student access. While the college migrates to Blackboard, ANGEL will be available for faculty to use during the 2014-2015 academic year.

• Thursday, August 21st from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in Danvers DB 202
• Wednesday, August 27th from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. in Danvers DB 202
• Tuesday, September 2nd from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in Lynn LW 305

Blackboard Learn Sneak Peek

Over the 2014-2015 academic year, the college will be migrating to a new learning management system, Blackboard Learn. This session will provide participants with an opportunity to get a sneak peek at some of the features and functionality of Blackboard Learn as well as learn more about the implementation timeframe and the course migration process from ANGEL.

• Wednesday, August 27th from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in Danvers DB202

Open Educational Resources

This session will provide an overview of what open educational resources are, how faculty can find and evaluate them, ideas for using them in classes, and their role in the community college to help make textbooks more affordable to students.

• Wednesday, August 27th from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in Danvers DB 202

Smart Classrooms

Come and find out all of the little ins and outs of using a Smart Classroom here at North Shore Community College. We will also share with you best practices when using one of these rooms. You will have the opportunity to try out the technology for yourself.

• Friday, August 29th from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. in Danvers HPSS 226
• Tuesday, September 2nd from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in Lynn LW 323
• Monday, September 8th from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. in Danvers HPSS 226
• Friday, September 9th from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. in Lynn LW 323

We hope to see you at the workshops!  If you are unable to attend or are interested in learning more about other instructional technologies, please email us at itd@northshore.edu. We are happy to schedule a one-on-one session.

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