Friday, April 8, 2016

Week's End Report - April 8th

Tip of the Week!

On February 7, 2012, the GradHacker blog published an article on InsideHigherEd titled 7 Strategies to Make Your Online Teaching Better. 

 Two particular strategies stand out. One is: Give extra feedback. Then give more. We're all well aware of the importance of communication in education. We also know that without the face-to-face component it becomes more important to increase communication and to try to vary our communication to reach each student in the most effective possible way. This little mantra is a good way to remind ourselves that the feedback we are accustomed to giving may need a little extra support in the online environment. 

The strategy that stood out the most is: Prove you are not a dog. 
Internet dog.jpgIn 1993, Peter Steiner created the editorial cartoon shown on the right (By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13627120) for The New Yorker magazine. Although our online courses are an encapsulated environment, there can still be a very high level of effective anonymity if we don't put extra effort into personalizing our course. Here are some suggestions:
  • Post a picture of yourself doing something you enjoy (ex. hiking, at a football stadium, skydiving, etc.- don't worry about how you look, it's not a beauty contest!)
  • Post a picture of your family and/or your pet
  • Show your personality! GradHacker suggests using writing prompts found online to add some fun conversation
The more the students feel they "know" you, the more comfortable they will be approaching you. The more they're willing to approach you, the more engaged they'll be with the course. The more engaged they are with the course, the more likely they are to continue to participate. The more they participate in the course, the more likely they are to succeed. (You can see where I'm going with this!)

Learning Management System (LMS) Demonstrations

The LMS providers that have been featured in the LMS tour have responded to faculty request for demos by providing the following demo sessions. Each session will last approximately 15-20 minutes and will be followed by up to 40-45 minutes of faculty and staff led Q&A. Please consider attending any sessions that fit into your schedule to learn more about our LMS options.

  • Blackboard
    • Tues., April 12 2:00 pm
    • Weds., April 13 11:00 am
    • Thurs., April 14 4:00 pm
    • Tues., April 19 9:00 am
    • Weds., April 20 12:00 pm
    • Register at: https://bit.ly/SuesVOffice 
  • Brightspace 
  •  Canvas
 

Statewide Distance Education Meeting Information

The new statewide course template was discussed (as presented in last week's post). The new template will be presented at the Program Chair Summit. There is no mandate requiring regional courses to be changed to the new template at this time but we will reach out to program chairs at a later date to discuss options.

 A new statewide online orientation website is being developed. The site, which is currently under construction, can be accessed at https://www.ivytech.edu/online/getstarted.html
For the time being, please continue directing your students to our regional Online Education website at http://bit.ly/ivytechonline

 The Center for Instructional Technology (C4IT) has developed a training course to allow faculty who have not already completed the Quality Matters (QM) Applying the QM Rubric training to learn more about QM and earn a badge of completion. The course is a two-week hybrid course with six modules, five self-paced and one instructor-led course review. Those who completed the QM course through the QM LMS do not need to take this course. Sections will be offered beginning in summer.

 Ivy Tech is in the process of getting approval from the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) and the Department of Education (DOE) to offer Competency Based Education (CBE) programs for students pursuing a Technical Certificate (TC) in Software Development (SDEV) and Business Operations, Applications and Technology (BOAT- formerly Office Administration [OFAD]). To learn more visit https://www.ivytech.edu/cbe. 

Systems Information

Blackboard was down Friday, April 8th from 2 am - 6 am to fix an issue with Crocodoc.

 The Lafayette-Kokomo region once again reported the second highest usage in the state for Tutor.com, 256 Lafayette students and 39 Kokomo students used the service in the month of March for a total of 295 students in the combined region. The Central Indiana region was the only region higher, with 508 students using the service. Keep up the great work in promoting this service!
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