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October 2020
Dear Colleagues,
Perhaps you have taken up baking during the pandemic, as so many others have? What I have learned about sourdough over the last seven months is that it takes many weeks to curate a good sourdough starter and it takes at least three days to prepare the dough for baking a loaf: with stages for proofing, needing and sharping. It is not instant gratification, but the anticipation of the loaves coming out of the oven does mean that every morsel of that bread is treasured and savored.
Like the process of making homemade bread, I’ve invested many hours and many days into revamping my teaching practices this semester to support online learning. In doing so I’ve carefully thought about how I can share content, how I can encourage students to engage with course materials in meaningful ways, and how our in-class meetings can both clarify murky topics and also fortify important concepts. I’ve had moments where everything went right and the students rose to the occasion, and I’ve days where all of my planning fell flat as a frisbee. Analogies aside, this semester has truly caused me to re-do and re-think and re-learn in ways that I did not anticipate. None of us could have known or could have expected the day-after-day of watching state COVID dashboards and wondering when we might move from purple to red to orange, in the hopes of returning to an in-person teaching experience. Likewise, even the most tech-savvy among us have had to learn new ways of using digital platforms to support our students. Truly, this will be a semester that we will never forget.
And now, as we head into this new phased return to on-campus teaching, it’s my hope that you will carry all of these lessons learned from remote teaching along with you and that they will enliven your teaching practice. As you do so, here are a few resources that you might find helpful:
- Resources for hosting Learning Circles online (I especially like this question, “As you arrive onto our call today, what words would you use to describe where your head is? And where your heart is?”)
- Links to short tutorial videos about our HyFlex Prime classrooms (using PC, using laptop)
- Tips for Building an Inclusive Online Classroom
- An info sheet for Teaching HyFlex on our campus
- Anti-Racism Learning Opportunities from EDUCAUSE
And finally, when we have this semester behind us and we are able to eat with one another again, I look forward to sharing one of my handmade loaves with you and hearing about all you have learned from the challenges of 2020.
Sincerely,
Jana Remy
Director, Educational Technology
Co-Director, Institute for Excellence in Teaching & Learning
Things to do: Update Zoom
The most recent update of Zoom offers improvements to breakout rooms, including the ability for attendees to self-select breakout rooms.
Your Action is now Required to Publish Zoom Recordings
We have turned on the ability to publish and unpublish Zoom cloud recordings in Canvas. As a result of this change, instructors will have the option to review a Zoom cloud recording before making it viewable to their students.
New Column in your Canvas Gradebook
Next time you are in the Canvas Gradebook, check out the new column.
Introducing Proctorio
Proctorio is a remote proctoring tool integrated into Canvas quizzes that helps maintain the academic integrity of online exams. It is an optional tool to use.
Avoid Data Loss When Multiple Graders are in the Speedgrader in Canvas
If multiple graders are grading the same students during overlapping sessions, that could cause data loss, even if they aren’t editing the same students at exactly the same time.
HyFlex Classroom Types
There are three types of HyFlex classrooms available to you on campus: Prime, Flexcam, and Connect.
Educational Technology Support Hours Continue in Fall
Our virtual drop-in support hours will continue for Fall 2020!
CanvasCon is Going to be Virtual and Free this Year
Thursday, Oct. 15, Visit the FAQ page for more info about timing for PST.
You must register by October 8, 2020.
CanvasCon is a FREE global conference for educators, edtech experts, Canvas lovers, and Canvas lurkers. And for the health and safety of all attendees, it’s virtual. Join in for professional development, idea-sharing, and skill-building.
Canvas "Level Up" Design Series starts October 23
Save time, improve workflows, and increase community and collaboration in your Canvas courses!
If you have a teaching related question or need assistance, IETL office hours are available weekly.
Helpful Training Resources are Posted Regularly on the Higher Ed and Technology Blog.
Access Teaching Resources in the IETL Den
Find "Teaching Resources from the IETL" on your Canvas dashboard. We hope you will find the resources in our Den helpful and timely as you navigate teaching in a HyFlex environment, and as you work to maintain engagement and inclusion in the classroom.
Access Technology Resources in the ETS Den
Faculty now have access to Canvas, Panopto, Zoom, EdTech resources, and more within the ETS Den. Look for it on your Canvas dashboard.
Adobe Creative Cloud is now available for free to all Chapman faculty, staff, and students
Making Real Change a Classroom at a Time
What or why to teach are more important considerations than how to teach if we are to offer an education that truly matters at this distinct historical juncture, writes Andrew Kaufman.
Using Blogs for Online, Hybrid, or HyFlex Teaching
Blogs offer many benefits, including encouraging students to be more engaged, writes Annette Vee, who provides tips on how to incorporate them most effectively into your courses.
