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April 2020
It has been difficult to write this month’s dispatch from the IETL for many reasons, but primarily because of the unprecedented experience of teaching in a pandemic. It is my hope that this message finds you each well, and that you are weathering the challenges–large and small–that we have all been faced with the past 5 weeks.
First off, I want to commend all of you for your resilience, and the courage to continue teaching. It is no small task and I suspect that most of you have faced bouts of frustration, exhaustion, and perhaps even despair as you have had to re-imagine how to continue the community of your classroom in virtual space.
Second, I want to remind you that you are not alone in this teaching endeavor and that there are many helpful folks who are just a click away if you need guidance and support.
Third, I wanted to share with you a favorite quotation that has been on my mind, as I have considered what I bring to the classroom in this difficult time:
“Mentors and apprentices are partners in an ancient human dance, and one of teaching’s great rewards is the daily chance it gives us to get back on the dance floor. It is the dance of the spiraling generations, in which the old empower the young with their experience and the young empower the old with new life, reweaving the fabric of the human community as they touch and turn.”
-Parker J. Palmer
If you are like me, joining my students on Zoom and Canvas has brightened my days and enlivened the isolation of sheltering-in-place. My students’ persistence has strengthened my own resolve as we all must “reweave the fabric” of our community during this pandemic. Though I look forward to when this is all behind us, in the meantime it brings me hope to reach out and connect with my students.
And finally, I wanted to leave you with some links strengthen and entertain you, as part of our campus community, over the next few weeks:
- If you missed the live event, please enjoy the recording of our Remote Teaching Town Hall.
- Tune in next Tuesday, April 28th, 1-2pm, to our next event, “When Teaching Goes Viral: Stories from Instructors Addressing COVID-19 in Their Course Content” (Event LINK)
- Looking for interesting documentaries and critically-acclaimed movies to watch? Log in to chapman.kanopy.com for a wealth of video content. I recently watched I Am Not Your Negro: James Baldwin and Race in America and have dozens of other movies on my “Watchlist” including Los Angeles Plays Itself and The Rabbi’s Cat. Another documentary that I plan to watch soon (not on Kanopy, but on Netflix) is Crip Camp: a Disability Revolution, which features some of the activists who agitated for the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The official trailer is embedded below.
- Want more Parker J Palmer to read? His columns at On Being are a wealth of thoughtfulness.
- Deborah Farmer Kris, who spoke at our last JanCon event, recently wrote a thoughtful article about How Self-Compassion Supports Academic Motivation and Emotional Wellness.
- We recently added Accessiblity software to Canvas, so your students can access text-based course content in multiple accessible filetypes.
Sincerely,
Jana Remy
Director, Educational Technology
Co-Director, Institute for Excellence in Teaching & Learning
April Canvas Updates
Each month, new updates to Canvas improve our experience. Follow our blog to learn what improvements have been made to Canvas in April.
Ally is now available in your Canvas course
Do you know how accessible your documents are? Check your accessibility report and find out!
Create Digital Content to Help You Teach Online
If you’ve been asked to teach online, it will be important for you to prepare digital content to share with your students. Here are several ideas for content creation (this information is taken from Chapman University’s Course Continuity page.
Here's Some "Good News For You" From Dodge Students
Need some good news? Dodge students have created a “Good News For You” TikTok channel. The videos feature students showing gratitude for what they have, sharing good news stories and offering tips to stay sane in this environment. This was developed from an idea in Professor Frank Chindamo's Advanced Web Video Class.
Remote Assessments - Alternatives to Face-to-Face Tests
Moving to remote teaching means pen-and-paper testing is no longer available. Here are some alternatives to a proctored test.
Tips to Deter Zoombombers
In this time of disruption, there has been an increased likelihood that you may have uninvited attendees show up in your meetings and deliberately try to derail it. Explore some ways to prevent Zoombombers.
Incorporating a Student Needs Assessment into Your Course
To better facilitate online learning and student support services, the IETL and Advisory Group on the Status of Disability & Accessibility has collaborated to create a student needs assessment form template that faculty can use with their own class(es).
When Teaching Goes Viral: Stories from Instructors Addressing COVID-19 in their Course Content
Our next Town Hall is April 28th at 1pm where instructors will share how they have used COVID-19 to inform their remote classroom experience.
Upcoming Course Continuity Training
Educational Technology Services is offering virtual training on features in Zoom, Panopto, Blackboard, Canvas, and more to help you adapt to the online teaching environment. All trainings will be posted on our SignUpGenius page.
Menu for the Future
Thursday, April 30 | 11:30 am - 1 pm | Zoom
Facilitated by Mackenzie Crigger. This workshop will explore the cultural, social and ecological implications of food consumption, as well as discuss food justice and food insecurity, based on varying factors. The event will examine the issue from a global and local perspective through a peer to peer learning format. Sponsored by Facilities Management.
The Chapman University Working and Teaching Remotely Page is Continuously Being Updated with Course Continuity Resources and Strategies.
Adobe Creative Cloud is now available for free to all Chapman faculty, staff, and students
ACUE Releases Online Teaching Resources for all Faculty
The Association of College and University Educators (ACUE) has developed an Online Teaching Toolkit with free online teaching resources to benefit both faculty and students.
Eight Rules for Teaching During COVID-19
Have your core teaching principles and teaching philosophies changed or have they just been challenged in this time of crisis teaching? For most of us, the answer is somewhat and for others it may be an enthusiastic no or defeated yes. The answers don’t lie in the latest technology, but in our abilities to be authentic and effective educators. What defines students success in this period of time may look completely different.
Equity Resources & COVID-19
Diversity officers across various higher education institutions have crowdsourced helpful equity resources in response to COVID-19. These include webinars, articles, and other resources (this blog post will be updated with resources as they become available). We hope that you find these resources useful in our communal pursuit to make remote learning, teaching, and working as inclusive and equitable as possible.
