Canvas Upgrade - December 21, 2015

We have an upgrade coming to Canvas, our home for all course content and online courses. The upgrade will take place December 21, 2015 and we have been having sessions the past couple of months to help prepare you for the changes.

If you didn't get a chance to make it to one of our information sessions, the video below will give you the basic information on what the upgrade means for you:

CTE Staff presenting at Teaching & Learning Conference

Tyler Watts and Dr. Theresa Butori will be presenting at the 3rd annual Winthrop Conference on Teaching and Learning in Rock Hill, SC, taking place Saturday, February 6, 2016.

Tyler will be presenting Universal Design for Learning: Empowering Students, Removing Barriers.

Theresa will be presenting Blended and Flipped - designing blended and flipped STEM courses.

There are a number of great topics on the agenda, so if you are interested in attending, visit the Winthrop Teaching and Learning Center to register. The registration fee is $45.

10 Minute Tip Video: Canvas Shortcuts

Thanks to all who attended our 10 Minute Tip on Canvas Shortcuts. If you haven't watched it yet - do so before you start some Thanksgiving grading, it could save you some precious time that could be spent with family, watching football, or taking a post-turkey nap.

We'll be sending out information soon about our next 10 Minute Tip and then take a break for the Christmas holidays.

Here is the recording of the session:



We are still building up our 10 Minute Tips playlist so you can view all the recordings in one place. Check back often!

Using Career Beam

Ellen Pate, Director of Career Services, will be offering training on integrating a new career resource, Career Beam, into your courses. Training will be held in the IT Training Room, with streaming via Polycom for those who may want to join from one of the learning centers.

Please bring your laptops to the training so that you can login and use the system during the training. We are also planning to record the training so that it can be reviewed again for those who were unable to attend.

Career Beam Registration and Overview:

Thursday, November 19, 10:15-10:45am, IT Training Center (0-126), Rickman Library (streamed via Polycom)

Career Beam- Resume and Cover Letter Module:

Friday, December 4, 10:15-10:45am, IT Training Center (0-126), Rickman Library (streamed via Polycom)

If you have specific questions regarding the training or how to set up your account, please contact Ellen Pate via email or by dialing 864-644-5149.

10 Minute Tip: Canvas Shortcuts

We know that you want to be well-equipped for the classroom, but that you are also busy. Our new series, 10 Minute Tips, provides short, live webinars that will introduce a classroom technique, technology tool, or shortcut to assist you in your classes.

We encourage you to join the live webinar so that you can ask follow-up questions directly, but if you can't make it, visit our 10 Minute Tip playlist to view recordings of past sessions.

This week's 10 Minute Tip is on Canvas Shortcuts. We know that when you are grading papers or creating content for your courses in Canvas that every little click matters. We'll be looking at shortcuts that can help you save time on the small stuff, so you can focus on what really matters in your courses.

10 Minute Tip: Canvas Shortcuts
Friday, November 20 at 11AM

To join the webinar on November 20, simply click on our 10 Minute Tip webinar page.

Please ensure that you sign-in prior to the meeting time so that you can setup your audio before the session starts. For more information on getting started with audio in the webinar, watch the video below:

CCCU Faculty Grants

The Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) has a number of opportunities coming up in the areas of the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) and professional development.

These include a Networking Grant for Christian Scholars program and scholarships for an upcoming conference on Critical Realism, Science and Religion.

Information on the grants and scholarships and how to apply are available on the CCCU website.

10 Minute Tip Video: Conferences

Thanks to all who attended our very first 10 Minute Tip on the use of the Conferences tool in Canvas.

We'll be sending out information soon about our next 10 Minute Tip as it nears.

In the meantime, if you couldn't make the first session, the recording of the session is available here:



We mentioned additional resources in the recording which are available here as well:

• Canvas Guide for Conferences
• Video Guides for Conferences Interface

We will also be building up our 10 Minute Tips playlist so you can view all the recordings in one place. Check back often!

Quality Matters Conference Webinars

Quality Matters is a nationally recognized peer review process to ensure quality online course design. Their annual conference is taking place next week (November 2-3) and they are offering webinars of a number of the sessions.

Quality Matters Conference Webinar Sessions

Enjoy the webinar from any location or feel free to join us in the CTE as we grab a cup of coffee and watch the sessions together.

Note: If you wish to register for the webinar it will ask you to accept the refund/cancellation policy and register for an account with Quality Matters. You will not be required to enter any payment information or pay for the webinar however.

Our own SWU Course Development Standards correlate with many of the Quality Matters standards, so the webinars will be a valuable tool for helping you develop your own courses.

10 Minute Tip: Conferences

We know that you want to be well-equipped for the classroom, but that you are also busy. Our new series, 10 Minute Tips, provides short, live webinars that will introduce a classroom technique, technology tool, or shortcut to assist you in your classes.

We encourage you to join the live webinar so that you can ask follow-up questions directly, but if you can't make it, we'll be posting a video archive of the session to watch later as well.

Our first 10 Minute Tip is on using the Conferences tool in Canvas. We will focus on the uses of the tool and some of the basic functions. Our 10 Minute Tip sessions will also take place in the same tool found in Canvas.

10 Minute Tip: Conferences
Tuesday, November 10 at 10:30AM

To let us know that you will be in attendance, visit our 10 Minute Tip Sign-Up Sheet to help us plan accordingly. We'll also send you a reminder before the webinar if you sign-up.

To join the webinar on November 10, simply click on http://bit.ly/SWUconferences

Please ensure that you sign-in prior to the meeting time so that you can setup your audio before the session starts. For more information on getting started with audio in the webinar, watch the video below:

Winthrop Conference on Teaching and Learning

The 3rd annual Winthrop Conference on Teaching and Learning is extending a call for proposals for the conference held on Saturday, February 6, 2016.

Call for proposals is now open through November 16, 2015.


For more information visit the Winthrop Conference on Teaching and Learning page.

Canvas Tweaks - September 2015

As we get feature changes and upgrade information related to Canvas, we will try and pull out what will have the greatest impact on your use of Canvas and communicate those changes to you here.

Any changes that are not significant but worth mentioning will be marked as Canvas Tweaks and only be communicated in our social media feeds (blog, Facebook, Twitter). If we have any more major changes occurring, we will make sure we get those to you in email as well, so you are not surprised by the changes.

This week, we have some minor changes that are worth looking into. To summarize the changes:

• Group Conclusion: Canvas now has groups conclude along with the course the groups are attached to. Groups are still accessible from the groups page, but are labeled as Previous Groups.

• Muted Assignments: If you mute an assignment, the score is muted from the student's total score, but no longer from your view in the gradebook as an instructor. The total score will show a warning indicating that what the total score shows is different than what it shows to students (with the muted assignment).

• Manual Quiz Grading: Previously if you wanted to enter a grade you would have to delete the dashes in the field for entering a manual grade. These are now removed automatically when you click in the window.

These changes will go into place on September 19th, 2015. If you have further questions, please contact us at the cte@swu.edu

Meet Kent Ellison

Kent Ellison

Instructional Design Technologist 

 

About: Kent graduated from SWU in 2007. Previously, he served as a Computer Technician in the Office of Information Technology. Since 2013, he has been studying educational technology online through Boise State University and will earn his MET degree in August. He is excited about working together with faculty, staff, and students in a new role at SWU.

Areas of interest: Web 2.0 tools, graphic design for learning, learning theory

Something you may not know about Kent is he is a new dad. Kent and his wife, Joy, have a son, Everett, who was born this past May. Everett is the first grandchild on both sides of the family. Kent welcomes any wise parenting advice.

If I could tell the SWU faculty one thing, it would be…

Don’t let your apprehensions keep you from leveraging the advantages provided by technology. There will be challenges and roadblocks, but we are here to help you through them.  

CTE Open House

The Center for Teaching Excellence is having an open house right after faculty development days. Come by on Thursday, August 13 and Friday, August 14 from 9AM to 4PM to the Rickman Library Basement.

During your visit you can:

• Meet the new CTE team
• Get help setting up your courses in Canvas
• Get a hands-on demo of our new computer display settings in classrooms
• View our Polycom remote classroom system
• Enjoy drinks and snacks
• And any other questions or help we can provide!

Be sure to stop upstairs to see the new things going on in the library as well in their open house!

Meet Ken Alexander

Ken Alexander

Educational Resource Manager

About: Ken came to work at Southern Wesleyan University in 1997.  He is responsible for ordering and distributing all textbooks and e-books for students and instructors in the Adult and Graduate Studies Program (AGS).  In addition, he is responsible for negotiating and leasing of all properties around the state (Greenville, Columbia, Charleston, North Augusta, Greenwood, and Spartanburg.)

Areas of interest: Golfing, hunting, fishing, and spending time with family.

Something you may not know about Ken.  He is a sports enthusiast with a genuine love for the outdoors.  Also, he was the assistant softball coach at Southern Wesleyan University in 2008.

If I could tell the SWU faculty one thing, it would be welcome you to the SWU family. If I can help with your textbooks or e-text needs, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me.  I look forward to a distinguished year!

Meet Theresa Butori

Theresa Butori

Distance Learning Trainer 

 

About: Theresa came to SWU from Anderson University where she worked as the Assistant Director of Instructional Design. Starting in 2007, she has worked with faculty members in using Blackboard and Moodle and transition to online teaching and learning. She has also taught online since 2004, teaching math and Excel spreadsheets for major online universities such as WGU and SNHU.

Areas of interest: Projects, performance assessment, rubrics, and course design.

Something you may not know about Theresa is that she has five younger brothers. She was born in Chicago and goes there to visit family which includes eight nieces and nephews. She started her career as an elementary science teacher in the Chicago Public Schools.

If I could tell the SWU faculty one thing, it would be that you can ask us anything, we are here to assist you in your transition to or if you just want to enhance your online teaching and learning.