Catalyst
Spring 2008
connecting
IN THIS
issue
THE ACCESSIBLE CLASSROOM - IT IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO
page 1
ZOTERO: A FREE REFERENCE MANAGEMENT TOOL INSIDE YOUR FIREFOX BROWSER
page 2
REACHING YOUR HIGHEST POTENTIAL
page 2
WHO IS RUTH RODGERS
page 3
SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST
page 4
ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION
page 4
Universal Design for Learning..................................... 5
Livening up Your Lectures........................................... 5
Active Learning Tools.................................................. 5
Testing Higher Up the Thinking Scale......................... 5
Groupwork: A Necessary Evil?................................... 5
EES: What are They? Why Should I Care?.............. 5
SoTL: A New Acronym for Assessing
Your Own Practice................................................... 5
Teaching Portfolios: For You and Your
Administrator............................................................ 5
Course Outline Template Coaching - New Users........ 5
Student Learning Styles: What Can You Do
About Them?........................................................... 6
Personality Dimensions:
What Colour are You?.............................................. 6
Fostering Collaboration with Google Docs.................. 6
Bringing the Internet to You with
Google Reader......................................................... 6
Engaging Students with Clickers - Overview.............. 6
eInstruction CPS Clickers Session.............................. 6
TurningPoint Clickers ................................................. 6
Debunking Learning Outcomes................................... 6
Turnitin.com................................................................. 7
Death by PowerPoint: Tips for Better Teaching.......... 7
The Millennial Student................................................. 7
Simple Techniques for Using a Laptop
in the Classroom...................................................... 7
Second Life Workshop................................................ 7
Linking Assessment to Course Outcomes.................. 7
Designing Rubrics....................................................... 7
Engaging the Post-secondary Learner........................ 7
Journals, Blogs, Wikis................................................. 7
WebCT Gradebook..................................................... 8
Exporting Grades to Banner........................................ 8
Creating and Evaluating Quizzes/Tests in
WebCT Vista............................................................ 8
Extending the Collaborative Environment Using
the WebCT Discussion Tool..................................... 8
Managing Assignments in WebCT Vista..................... 8
Grading Forms and Groups........................................ 8
Introduction to WebCT Vista....................................... 9
Collaborative Communication Tools............................ 9
There’s How Many People in My Class??
Teaching Strategies for Large Classes.................... 9
Let the Games Begin.................................................. 9
About Us..................................................................... 9
with YOU!
Volume 1, Issue 18
THE ACCESSIBLE CLASSROOM - IT IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO
By Maureen Wideman, Senior Instructional Designer
I’m a little disappointed that I must continue to
advocate on behalf of our disabled students for
accessible courses and materials. Put aside that
the law requires access not only to the building, but
also to our services, including learning. Why else
do we make our courses accessible? Studies show
that providing materials in alternate formats actually
improves learning right across the class, but more
than that, it is simply the right thing to do.
Videos/Films:
• Ensure videos are captioned or have a text transcript available. For students with vision problems, a description of the video may also be necessary.
Learning Objects:
• Learning objects can be difficult to complete if a student has a vision problem or perhaps a hearing problem. Ensure the learning My heart sinks when I hear comments like, “I outcome of the activity can be achieved using make the course, you make it accessible.” It is another format.
comparable to an architect saying, I’ll design and
build the building, then we’ll renovate it to ensure Written Exercises:
it’s accessible.
• Ensure your written exercises can be accessed using assistive technology.
That energy could be more effectively used if faculty • Documents should enable students to increase members designed their instruction with accessibility the font size.
in mind. After all, accessibility is not just an issue for • Use a plain background.
the Centre for Students with Disabilities, but it is a • Stay away from jargon or slang. For example: “
responsibility for all of us. Let’s create opportunities you are way off base with this exercise.”
for all our students to succeed.
• Descriptions may be required for graphs and images that can’t be read by screen readers.
Here are a few tips:
Activities:
Lectures:
• Ensure your activities have the support • Post notes on your course web site. It would be necessary for all your students i.e. adequate helpful if they were available before class so that lighting, room for movement, clear sight students may read them before they arrive.
lines, etc.
• Provide breaks during long sessions.
• Allow time for questioning and clarification.
Textbooks:
• Summarize often.
• Ask your textbook manufacturer if your course • Pause frequently. This allows the information to materials are available in alternate formats. land and sink in.
Transcribing a textbook is a timely endeavour • Describe assignments both in writing and orally. and can put your student weeks behind. Try and use materials that are available digitally and/
PowerPoint:
or orally.
• Create slides with a solid background. You want high contrast between the background For more information on creating an accessible
and text. Don’t have light blue text on dark blue learning environment, contact Maureen Wideman,
background (some of your students may Senior Instructional Designer, Innovation Centre at
be colour blind.)
Maureen.Wideman@dc-uoit.ca.
• Use at least a 24 point font.
• Describe slides orally.
• Limit the number of slides.
NEWSLETTER INFORMATION
© Editor-in-Chief: Maureen Wideman, Senior Instructional Designer
Designer: Lisa Kerr, Administrative Professional
Publisher: Chris Hinton, Director
C A T A L Y S T
P A G E
1
ZOTERO: A FREE REFERENCE MANAGEMENT TOOL INSIDE YOUR FIREFOX BROWSER
By Jordanne Christie, Learning Technology Specialist
If you spend a lot of time doing research online and are a Firefox
Browser user, then Zotero could be very helpful tool for you. I started
using it recently, and although I am still learning some of its finer points, I
feel sufficient enthusiasm about the product to recommend it to anyone
doing research online. Zotero [zoh-TAIR-oh] is a free, Firefox extension
(only works with Firefox version 2.0) that helps you collect, manage
and cite your research sources. It was created by a team of digital
historians at the Center for History and New Media at George Mason
University. Their goal was to create a freely available, open source
tool that would put the essential functions of standalone bibliography
software like Endnote and RefWorks into the Firefox browser.
Once saved into Zotero, you can organize items into collections, you can
tag them with relevant keywords or terms, and you can add descriptive
notes to each item. In addition, you can also add attachments such as
text or PDF documents, images, audio, and video files to any reference
item. From there, you can generate formatted bibliographies from a list
of bibliographic styles including APA, MLA, and Chicago. Bibliographies
can be exported as rich text files and HTML files, or they can be exported
directly into Microsoft Word using Zotero’s custom plugin. Zotero also
allows you to export to other bibliographic tools like Endnote or RefWorks.
Moreover, Zotero offers tools for archiving and annotating web pages,
including the ability to highlight text, and add sticky notes for annotation.
The feature of Zotero that I find most beneficial is that it has the
ability to detect and extract bibliographic information from a range
of websites, library catalogs, and online research databases. When
Zotero recognizes bibliographic information on a site, it places a small
icon at the end of the location bar in the Firefox browser. When you
click the icon, it automatically saves the item and all of its bibliographic
information to your Zotero reference library. Zotero senses reference
information through “site translators” which are available on many major
research sites and databases, such as JSTOR, ProQuest, EBSCO, and
ERIC, as well as most libraries’ online catalogs and popular reference
sites such as Google Scholar and Google Books.
Zotero is best experienced, so if you do a lot of research using online
resources and databases I recommend that you download it and give it
a try. I would also recommend that you watch the tour featured on their
homepage as it provides a great overview of how the product works.
REACHING YOUR HIGHEST POTENTIAL
Sometimes what we are afraid of has such a firm grip on us that after a
while we have a great story around that and don’t even know that it’s a
limiting belief anymore. Many people give the appearance of living their
highest potential. Take someone who is at the top of their game in the
business world. Whatever their profession, they are seen to be the best.
What they may know, and have kept hidden from others, is that they are
just dancing around the place that would put them over the top. You might
see this in the person who is a dedicated nurse with a dying dream to
be a doctor. Or the lawyer who admitted on retirement that he’d always
dreamed of being a teacher. It might also show up in the administrative
professional who is highly respected for their competence and yet secretly
imagines running their very own business.
Written and permission granted by Ms. Daryl Wood, CPCC
Relax! It’s not about working harder or working longer. Some of you are
heaving a big sigh of relief. We have this odd, pervasive sense that in
order to be “all that we imagine” we must put in more time and give up
something. Resources might already be limited so it’s no wonder that so
many people settle for what is and not what might be.
And what does your highest potential mean anyway? There are lots of
thoughts on this subject and equally as many assessments to help you
figure it out. What intrigues me is that when people
are given the right circumstances they discover that
they already know what it means to them. And …
they know when they are falling short.
Years ago I seemed to have a lot of things in my
life working very well. I was working long hours and
thought I was satisfied. But deep inside I knew that
something was really missing. I have always been
passionate about writing and love to put words
together to tell stories or inspire. I had a sense that
I could make a difference in this world if only I gave
myself permission to write. Instead, I stayed small
and never stretched myself into the public realm.
That changed on Father’s Day 1997 when I sent off a heartfelt story
about my father’s terminal diagnosis to The Toronto Star. Seeing the
photo and 1/3 page printing was enough to wake me up out of my
complacency. People responded with their own stories and I could
see how much comfort and inspiration they got from mine. Since then,
having published three books and produced many feature articles. I
know that the more I write the more I am living in my highest potential.
And, I’m still setting new visions for myself as I delve even deeper into
what fulfills me.
Looking back on those years when I kept myself “on hold” I know that my
greatest challenge was my fear. Susan Jeffers says, “feel the fear and
do it anyway and sometimes facing our most difficult decisions brings us
closest to reaching our personal pinnacle.” What are we really afraid of
anyway? Failure? Success? Change? Rejection?
C A T A L Y S T
P A G E
If you are interested in learning more about this free reference management
tool, please refer to the following online resources.
http://www.zotero.org/
http://www.zotero.org/videos/tour/zotero_tour.htm
Many people only reach their highest potential in
some, not all, areas of their life. They might have
accomplished what they set out to do in their career
while their personal life – health, family, recreation –
have all been lost or forgotten. In her groundbreaking
book “The Soul of Money” author Lynne Twist tells of
speaking to a group of senior women executives at
Microsoft back in 1998. The dialogue that followed
showed clearly that while these women had amassed
wealth and position, many spent very little time with
their children and much less on themselves. Does
this sound like they have reached their highest potential?
And what about the athlete who trains and competes with total focus. So
many times when we follow their journey we learn of the compromises
they have made and frequently that their families have also endured. Is it
wrong for them to exclude anything that interferes with their primary goal?
When they win that tournament, medal or award is this then deemed to
mean they have hit their highest potential?
Abraham Maslow is known for his theory on the Hierarchy of Human
Needs. It is fascinating to think that above all other concerns such as
physical and even love and achievement is the need for personal growth
and fulfillment. Perhaps in this realm we find the key to what it means to
reach our highest potential. An individual’s perspective can be dramatically
shifted when they look through the lens of personal satisfaction. Indeed it
would seem that we have an internal, rather than external, mechanism for
determining the right answer for ourselves.
2 Continued to page 3
©
So what does reaching your highest potential feel like? The idea of
pulling out all the stops and living your best life can stir up a variety of
emotions. When I guide my clients into the future and they see what is
possible they are usually very excited. Many can actually feel what it’s
like to fulfill a dream or become the person they have known they could
be. In that moment it feels so harmonious. Ten minutes later it can be
the scariest thing they have ever faced. Getting a little queasy when we
see our most magnificent selves may be what it takes to keep us moving.
Another clue to what it feels like can be found in remembering peak
moments in your life. When I ask my clients to describe the times that
really stand out as profound there is usually a change in their voice and
energy. As they describe the details it’s clear that they are drawing from
a special bank of memories that have deep resonance for them. This
just might be the same place where full potential can be embraced.
What I strongly believe is that when people do reach this point …
they know! These events are not always marked with fireworks and
celebrations. They can sometimes come quietly around the corner
and show up in a smile, a handshake or even just the witnessing of
something unfolding before your eyes. In any case, it can change
the course of your life and bring everything in your world into focus.
Now a few thoughts for everyone who is still holding onto the idea that this
is going to be hard. What if you knew unequivocally that reaching your
highest potential might be one of the most fulfilling experiences of your life?
What if this gave you more energy, more satisfaction, more happiness?
What if it was the most fun you ever had? Would it be worth pursuing?
If you are wondering how to find the answers (besides hiring me as your
coach) you can start by asking yourself some basic questions. For the best
results give yourself a quiet place and some uninterrupted time. Relax
yourself and maybe even close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Okay,
now you are “out of your head” and ready to capture some inner wisdom.
• Who am I being when I am most proud of myself?
• What have been the most fulfilling moments of my life?
• What do I know for sure I am outstanding at?
• When was it that I absolutely knew that I was drawing on my inner wisdom and strength?
• What do I know for sure I have inside of me that I am meant to deliver?
• What could I do that I know for certain would be enormously gratifying?
What I believe is that our highest potential is reached when we check
inside ourselves and know that in everything we have done, we have
done our best. There may be times when we didn’t get everything
finished before we headed home and yet we know that at that moment,
we had given all we had to give. We may choose to remain silent at a
time when speaking up would make a difference and again, we know
that for us, at that point in time, it was what was right for us. And there
also may be times when we get that all over, prickly skin feeling that
says “Oooooooh, yes, this is why I am here.”
Living fully consciously with intention is the most we can ask of anyone.
When we ask this of ourselves we ignite the desire to be who we know
we are meant to be. And that is what I see as reaching our highest
potential.
Ms. Daryl Wood is a published author and Certified Life Coach. She will
be sharing her wisdom and offering outstanding learning opportunities
at two upcoming women’s retreats – Living Leadership and Women’s
Wisdom Retreat. Check out her website at http://www.darylwood.com
for details. Daryl provides individual coaching by telephone to clients
around the world who are determined to reach their potential.
If you have any questions and/or comments that you would like
to address with the author of this article, Ms. Daryl Wood, contact
Lisa Kerr, Administrative Professional, Innovation Centre at
Lisa.Kerr@dc-uoit.ca.
WHO IS RUTH RODGERS (what can she do for you?)
By Ruth Rodgers, Teaching and Learning Specialist
The Innovation Centre is pleased to announce that Ruth Rodgers has recently joined the team as a new Teaching & Learning Specialist. Ruth’s role
is focused on supporting the development of faculty teaching skills and abilities across the college and university. She brings a wealth of experience
developed over more than twenty-five years as a post-secondary faculty member, curriculum designer, faculty developer, and lifelong learner.
How can Ruth assist you? Ruth is eager to provide ideas, coaching, and support via personal consultations, faculty team meetings, workshops,
online seminars, and a variety of communication vehicles. Below are some of the topics that Ruth can discuss with you, but she’s also happy to
take requests!
Ruth is a newcomer to Oshawa, and would love the opportunity to meet you. Contact Ruth by e-mail at Ruth.Rodgers@dc-uoit.ca or ext. 2540.
©
•
Universal design for Learning
• Lesson planning
•
Authentic assessment
• Classroom management
•
Active learning strategies
• Scholarship of teaching and learning
•
Teaching and course portfolios
• Reflective practice
•
Cooperative learning
• Essential skills across the curriculum
•
Student learning styles
C A T A L Y S T
P A G E
3 SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST
By Chris Hinton, Director
What drives how teaching and learning happen? What factors determine
the instructional approach professors will take when they enter the
classroom? Perhaps it is the subject matter? Perhaps their approach
has to do with their own experiences as learners? How can professors
improve their teaching when it may seem like there are no options to
change or that it may be, “the obvious way to do things?”
With practice, it is possible to reflect on what is really happening in
the classroom and with critical reflection it can be possible to unearth
the assumptions that support the activity of teaching. Identification of
the assumptions that underlie our actions is the first step in the further
development of our skills.
Certainly there is a complex power dynamic at play in the classroom.
Traditionally this has meant that the professor is vested with all the
power and the learner with none. Such an idea is reminiscent of the
image that goes with the notion of the “sage on the stage” attended to
by rapt pupils. While this is a less common situation these days, such a
scenario bespeaks many assumptions and points to a certain philosophy
of teaching. It is in the unearthing of the assumptions that underlie our
behaviour that enables personal or professional growth. The same is true
of an organization.
Whether we acknowledge it or not we have an underlying set of beliefs
that govern our actions, just as an institution such as a college or university
is an embodiment of such a set of beliefs. The policy of an institution
should be the manifestation of the beliefs, however, no group of policies
would capture everything. The forces that govern what we do cannot be
acknowledged or changed until we become conscious of them.
I wonder about this often. Are my actions based on false or outdated
assumptions, am I just responding reflexively to situations? My ability
to grow and transform as an individual is based on being aware of why
I do the things I do and what beliefs drive my actions. Similarly so in the
context of an institution of higher education, what is our role? Are we here
to sort students? Is the mechanism of higher education largely a process
to weed out those who we feel shouldn’t be part of our professions? Or
are we to work at helping students succeed? Are these activities mutually
incompatible?
My opinion is that the notion of an educational institution as a sorting
mechanism is anachronistic but still fairly common as an attitude, even if
an unconscious attitude. This idea manifests itself in different ways. One
manifestation is the notion of having a high barrier to entry. Requiring
high marks for an applying student appears to be a method to increase
the quality of our graduates. This is a sorting mechanism taking effect
from day one. It appears to be an obvious action to improve the quality
of our students, despite the notion that high school marks aren’t that
solid a predictor of success. Of course this discussion is dependent
on the vision of the kind of individual that we want to graduate. Do we
want a well-rounded person that is effective in their specific domain but
also possesses communication and collaboration skills? Or perhaps it
is sufficient to just create brainy grads and not worry about a rounded
skill set?
Another indication of a sorting mentality is the notion of setting a high bar
for exit. Rather than empowering learners by giving effective formative
assessment along the way we simply set a single highly rated terminal
event, like a final exam, to weed out the unworthy. Is this really an
effective way of determining what our students have learned? The idea
of sorting is bound up with how we assess our students, whether we
use formative assessments as a learning strategy or a large summative
assessment as the final barrier.
On the other hand, if we could measure motivation perhaps that would
be a better way to decide who joins our institution. Then we could focus
on providing the supports that students need to succeed. Some will still
not succeed, of course we have to sort them out, but one has to think
that a highly motivated student stands a better chance of overcoming
any academic limitations.
Presumably we want individuals who have mastered the material but
at the same time can think for themselves, communicate with others,
solve problems, and extrapolate their knowledge into new situations.
The point is whether our system is spending more effort at helping
people to succeed at becoming such people or in trying to sort out those
who haven’t.
What about you? What beliefs are at the core of what you do?
ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION
By Ruth Rodgers, Teaching and Learning Specialist
Measurement of outcomes must be in the same domain (head, hands, heart/ cognitive, psychomotor, affective) and at the same level (introductory, intermediate, advanced) as the outcome and the teaching methodology. However, build as much variety into your evaluation as possible, within these guidelines.
Ideally, assessment of student learning should support students in their
further learning, rather than simply being a score in a gradebook. To
be most successful, students should have opportunities to practice,
receive formative feedback, correct, refine, and try again in the context
of a course before being evaluated for grades. Whenever possible, build
activities with instant feedback (the answers being taken up in class, selfgraded online quizzes, peer feedback etc.) into your classroom teaching
prior to the graded evaluation. Here are five (5) key ideas:
4.
1. Only achievements that are essential to success in the course / program/ field should be measured.
Need additional help on these topics?
2. Every course outcome must be measured at least once.
3. Outcome behaviours are measured against objective criteria (criterion-referenced); students are not measured against each other or their own previous work.
5. Evaluated behaviours must be both observable and objectively measurable.
Ruth Rodgers, Teaching & Learning Specialist,
Extension 2540 E-mail: Ruth.Rodgers@dc-uoit.ca
Karen Hodgins, Curriculum Specialist,
Extension 2170, E-mail: Karen.Hodgins@dc-uoit
Maureen Wideman, Senior Instructional Designer,
Extension 2174, E-mail: Maureen.Wideman@dc-uoit.ca
Stay tuned for additional tips to follow in the next edition of Catalyst!
C A T A L Y S T
P A G E
4 ©
SCHEDULE of EVENTS
Universal Design for Learning
Facilitated by Ruth Rodgers, Teaching & Learning Specialist
Groupwork: A Necessary Evil?
Facilitated by Ruth Rodgers, Teaching & Learning Specialist
Monday, May 5 - 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Monday, May 26 - 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
*Friday, May 30 - 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Tuesday, April 29 - 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Employers always list “teamwork skills” high on their requirements for
graduates. How can we help our students gain these important skills
without needing a license in refereeing? This session will provide a number
Have you ever used the pushbutton that opens a door for you, when of tools for setting up, managing, and assessing student groups in ways that
your hands were full? Have you ever rolled a child’s stroller or grocery students will perceive as fair and manageable.
cart down a sidewalk curb cut to street level? Then you’ve experienced
Universal Design. UD integrates special needs tools and strategies into
designs that are useful to everyone. Universal Design for Learning helps EES: What are They? Why Should I Care?
us design lessons that support learning by all students, including those Facilitated by Ruth Rodgers, Teaching & Learning Specialist
with special needs.
Livening Up Your Lectures
Wednesday, May 7 - 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Tuesday, May 27 - 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Wednesday, April 30 - 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Monday, May 19 - 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Essential Employability Skills: Six categories of important skills that every
graduate of a college program must develop (and critical for university
grads, too). What is our role in helping students develop and demonstrate
these skills?
Facilitated by Ruth Rodgers, Teaching & Learning Specialist
Okay, so we know that the average adult attention span is twenty minutes. This session will help you integrate the EES into your course delivery.
What activities can you integrate into your lectures (even to large classes) that
will help students stay focused and retain information? Come and find out! SoTL: A New Acronym for Assessing Your
Active Learning Tools
Facilitated by Ruth Rodgers, Teaching & Learning Specialist
Thursday, May 1 - 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Tuesday, May 20 - 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
*Friday, May 30 - 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Own Practice
Facilitated by Ruth Rodgers, Teaching & Learning Specialist
Thursday, May 8 - 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning is a fancy name for what you
probably already do: think about what’s working in your courses, what’s not,
and how you can fix it. Now recognized in scholarly circles as equal to subject
research, SoTL is the formalization of that reflective activity. This session will
What’s a learning jigsaw? A traveling file? Numbered heads together? introduce you to the principles and practices of SoTL and suggest some
Come and experience a variety of quick and easy learning activities you approaches to researching your own teaching.
can use with your students to help them apply, review, retain, and retrieve
course content—and you don’t have to be an entertainer to use them.
Testing Higher Up the Thinking Scale
Facilitated by Ruth Rodgers, Teaching & Learning Specialist
Friday, May 2 - 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Thursday, May 29 - 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Teaching Portfolios: For You and Your
Administrator
Facilitated by Ruth Rodgers, Teaching & Learning Specialist
Tuesday, May 13 - 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
The creation of a Teaching Portfolio can be a stimulating and enriching
experience. This session will explain how portfolios can be much more than
Drowning in assignments because your course must assess students’
a collection of documents, and can provide payoffs for your practice and
ability to analyze and synthesize? You can write multiple-choice tests to
your career.
assess these higher order skills. Come and learn how.
Note: *Training sessions will be held at the Whitby campus.
visit the
p.d. web site at
http://innovation.dc-uoit.ca/treg
for detailed
information regarding the
faculty development opportunities listed on
pages 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9
Course Outline Template Coaching - New Users
Facilitated by Louis Bertrand and Ralph Hofmann, DC Faculty
Thursday, May 8 - 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Tuesday, May 20 - 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Can I cut and paste into the template? How do I determine which
Essential Employability Skills Outcomes belong in my course
outline? How do I differentiate between the information required in the
assessment and the evaluation columns of the sequence of instruction.
If you are a new user of the Durham College Course Outline template,
please join us to learn how to successfully navigate the template.
© C A T A L Y S T
P A G E
5
Student Learning Styles: What Can You do
About Them?
Engaging Students with Clickers - Overview
Facilitated by Ruth Rodgers, Teaching & Learning Specialist
Clickers are starting to make more appearances in college and university
courses. Faculty across all disciplines are using clickers to help keep their
students motivated and engaged in class. Clickers are portable, hand-held
Wednesday, May 14 - 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
devices that allow students to send their responses to questions wirelessly,
via infra-red or radio frequency (RF) technology, to a receiver connected
Wednesday, May 28 - 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
to the instructor’s laptop computer. Software installed on the instructors
computer analyzes the data and displays the results graphically in real-time,
Sure, it’s great to know that students have a variety of learning styles—
giving both students and faculty a quick idea of what concepts might need
but what can you do to accommodate all of them in your course? This
further review, additional explanation, or increased preparation.
session will review Kolb’s approach to learning styles, and introduce a
unit/lesson planning tool that ensures that all students’ learning styles are
The Innovation Centre has acquired three sets of clickers from two different
accommodated in the learning cycle.
vendors to allow faculty to try out the technology in the classroom and to
provide a mechanism for faculty to investigate the effectiveness of clickers
Personality Dimensions: What Color are You? as a teaching and learning tool. The first two sets of clickers are from
eInstruction and can be used with small classes of up to 32. The third set of
Facilitated by Ruth Rodgers, Teaching & Learning Specialist
clickers is from TurningPoint and is intended for larger classes of up to 100
students.
Thursday, May 15 - 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Personality Dimensions is a quick and fun assessment tool that is
eInstruction CPS Clickers Session
nevertheless based on solid research into personality types. It’s a great
tool to improve communication, relationship-building, and conflict resolution. Facilitated by Jordanne Christie, Learning Technologies Specialist
Participants will complete a personality type inventory and learn ways to use
this tool informally in their work (this session will NOT qualify participants
Thursday, May 8 - 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
to administer the Personality Dimensions assessment to others).
Wednesday, June 4 - 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Fostering Collaboration with Google Docs
Facilitated by Jordanne Christie, Learning Technologies Specialist
Wednesday, May 14 - 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Thursday, June 12 - 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Do you collaborate with others on documents, spreadsheets or
presentations? Would you like your students to be able to collaborate on
documents, spreadsheets or presentations?
Google Docs is a powerful, versatile, and free tool that makes collaborative
work extremely easy. It allows users to create documents, spreadsheets
and presentations online and share them with others for collaboration. In
this session, participants will be introduced to Google Docs and will learn
how to create a Google account, how to generate a Google document, and
how to share these documents with others for optimal collaboration.
Bringing the Internet to You with Google
Reader
Facilitated by Jordanne Christie, Learning Technologies Specialist
Thursday, May 22 - 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Monday, June 16 - 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
We increasingly live in a society where time is precious and information
is abundant. Thus, tools which can help us efficiently access and
consume new information are vital. Google Reader is a free RSS reader
or aggregator, which automatically retrieves the latest news and updates
from your favorite sites. This session will introduce you to Google Reader,
and will show you how to take advantage of this tool to efficiently manage
and keep up with all of the online information that matters most to you.
This session will provide a hands-on demonstration of the eInstruction (CPS)
clickers, and will show participants how to create lessons and add questions,
as well as how to import PowerPoint presentations and generate reports.
TurningPoint Clickers
Facilitated by Jordanne Chrisite, Learning Technologies Specialist
Wednesday, May 21 - 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Wednesday, June 18 - 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
This session wil provide a hands-on demonstration of the TurningPoint
clickers, and will showcase how TurningPoint can be easily integrated with
PowerPoint and used in class to increase student engagement with course
materials.
Debunking Learning Outcomes
Facilitated by Karen Hodgins, Curriculum Developer
Thursday, April 24 - 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Monday, May 5 - 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Friday, May 9 - 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
*Friday, May 30 - 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
So, what is a learning outcome anyway? And, how do they benefit you
and your students? How do you develop a learning outcome? Where do
you begin? And when do you finish? How do you know your outcomes are
appropriate?
Whether you are developing learning outcomes for a new course or
revising learning outcomes for an existing course, this session will enable
you to evaluate, develop and strengthen your course learning outcomes.
Please ensure you bring a copy of a current course outline/syllabus with you
to class.
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Turnitin.com
Linking Assessments to Course Outcomes
Wednesday, June 4 - 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Monday, May 5 - 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Wednesday, May 14 - 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Facilitated by Maureen Wideman, Senior Instructional Designer
Facilitated by Maureen Wideman, Senior Instructional Designer
The University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) and Durham
College have purchased a licence with the plagiarism detection service
Turnitin.com. This training session will cover the basics of setting up an Do your assessments support your course learning outcomes? Would
assignment, submitting papers and analyzing the originality reports.
you like to know? In this workshop we look at how learning outcomes are
supported by assessment practices. We’ll talk about different assessment
methods that provide deeper learning for your students. We’ll align those
Death by PowerPoint: Tips for Better
assessments to the course goals.
Teaching
Facilitated by Maureen Wideman, Senior Instructional Designer
Wednesday, May 28 - 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Please ensure you bring a copy of a current course outline/syllabus as well
as some examples of your assessments with you to class.
Designing Rubrics
Many of our students see a couple of PowerPoint presentations every day
over the course of several years. In many cases, these presentations are Facilitated by Maureen Wideman, Senior Instructional Designer
very similar - words on a screen - with little impact or imagination. It’s time
to improve those PowerPoint presentations to make them effective learning Thursday, May 15 - 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
tools rather than just words on a screen. This seminar will look at what
Wednesday, May 28 - 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
works and what doesn’t when it comes to PowerPoint.
The Millennial Student
Facilitated by Maureen Wideman, Senior Instructional Designer
Thursday, May 8 - 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Thursday, June 5 - 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
You’ve heard that using rubrics is an effective method to guide marking. A
well-designed rubric can reduce instructor subjectivity and provide a guide to
students as to what is expected. In this session, you will learn about different
types of rubrics and begin to build one. Bring an assignment with you to
guide your work.
This module is also available as an independent online unit. Contact Maureen
This module looks at Generation “Y” or the millennial student. It deals with Wideman at extension 2174 or e-mail at Maureen.Wideman@dc-uoit.ca for
how they are wired differently and, therefore, how they learn differently. It registration information.
provides suggestions on how to engage the learner.
This module is also available as an independent online unit. Contact
Maureen Wideman at extension 2174 for registration information.
Simple Techniques for Using a Laptop in the
Classroom
Facilitated by Maureen Wideman, Senior Instructional Designer
Monday, May 12 - 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Monday, June 9 - 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Engaging the Post-secondary Learner
Facilitated by Maureen Wideman, Senior Instructional Designer
Thursday, June 5 - 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
In this half-day workshop we develop techniques to better engage the
learner. We look at trends and traits of postsecondary learners, we learn
better communication strategies and experiment with some active learning
techniques. This workshop is highly beneficial for the relatively new instructor
or part-timer.
Looking for some ideas to expand the use of the laptop into your teaching?
Please ensure you bring a laptop with you to class. If you do not own a
The Innovation Centre is holding a one-hour seminar focusing on simple
laptop, one will be provided to you during class.
techniques teachers can use to incorporate the laptop into their courses.
We’ll look at some ideas for research, discussion groups/assignments and
have the opportunity to share our successes with participating faculty.
Journals, Blogs, Wikis
Faciliated by Maureen Wideman, Senior Instructional Designer
Second Life Workshop
Facilitated by Maureen Wideman, Senior Instructional Designer
Tuesday, June 3 - 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Tuesday, May 20 - 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
Wednesday, June 4 - 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Know the difference? Why not join us for this basic introduction to these
Think Web 2.0 is passé? MUVE into Web 3.0 with this introductory
collaborative learning tools which are now available on campus. Reflective
workshop into the virtual world of Second Life. Create an avatar (virtual
journaling can deepen understanding; blogs and wikis enable students to
person) and explore this online environment. How can we use it to engage
work together to share ideas and collaborate on projects.
our learners?
Please ensure you bring a laptop with you to class. If you do not own a
Please ensure you bring a laptop with you to class. If you do not own a
laptop, one will be provided to you during class.
laptop, one will be provided to you during class.
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7 WebCT Gradebook
Facilitated by June MacDonald-Jenkins, Learning Technologies
Facilitator / Jordanne Christie, Learning Technologies Specialist
Tuesday, April 8 - 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
Friday, April 11 - 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
Extending the Collaborative Environment
Using the WebCT Discussion Tool
Facilitated by June MacDonald-Jenkins, Learning Technologies
Facilitator / Jordanne Christie, Learning Technologies Specialist
Friday, May 16 - 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Wednesday, May 21 - 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Are you tired of students constantly asking you for their grades? Would you
As a means of furthering evolving the student’s ability to converse and
like your students to be able to track their own progress and have immediate
develop outside of the classroom setting, the Discussion tool offers a variety of
access to their grades? The Gradebook tool in WebCT Vista provides an
functionality as an asynchronous collaborative tool for students and professors.
easy, convenient and secure way for faculty to manage grades and distribute
them to students.
The tool offers threaded conversations, blogging and journaling as mediums
for thoughtful exchange of ideas both inside and outside the classroom
In the first part of this session, participants will be introduced to the WebCT
setting. Peer review and automatic mark submission of discussion threads
Gradebook and the process for adding columns, creating formulas, entering
adds to the functionality for educators as well.
marks, and displaying marks to students will be demonstrated. In the second
half of this session participants will have the opportunity to setup their
If you would like to create an environment for thoughtful exchange of ideas
Gradebook to meet their individual needs.
between small or large groups, then this is the tool for you. Join us to see
how you can move collaborative communication strategies forward in your
Please ensure you bring a copy of a current course outline/syllabus and
classroom and beyond.
laptop with you to class. If you do not own a laptop, one will be provided to
you during class.
Exporting Grades to Banner
Facilitated by June MacDonald-Jenkins, Learning Technologies
Facilitator / Jordanne Christie, Learning Technologies Specialist
Monday, April 14 - 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Wednesday, April 16 - 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Tuesday, April 22 - 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Thursday, April 24 - 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Managing Assignments in WebCT Vista
Facilitated by June MacDonald-Jenkins, Learning Technologies
Facilitator / Jordanne Christie, Learning Technologies Specialist
Tuesday, May 20 - 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Are you tired of looking for submitted work and have no idea where you
saved it, or deleted it. Ever wonder when they were actually submitted?
The Assignment tool provides a secure online environment through which
your students can download assignments and upload their submissions.
This session will walk you through the process of submitting your mid-term All submissions are tracked allowing you to see when students submit their
and final grades to Banner, including how to change your column settings, assignments (and keep a record of late submissions). This offers students
how to create a backup of your files, and how to export your grades to the the opportunity to download the assignment at their convenience (prior to
Banner system.
the cutoff date), complete it and submit it electronically for grading.
Please ensure you bring a laptop with you to class. If you do not own a Once submitted, you can download all assignments to your computer and
laptop, one will be provided to you during class.
grade them offline or save in My Files in WebCT while marking online. Once
graded, you can send them back to your students using WebCT - all without
printing one piece of paper.
Creating and Evaluating Quizzes/Tests in
WebCT Vista
Faciliated by June MacDonald-Jenkins, Learning Technologies
Facilitator
Tuesday, May 6 - 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Monday, June 2 - 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Tired of marking by hand until 2 o’clock in the morning? Find yourself giving
the same feedback over and over again? We can help. Have you ever
considered offering your tests or quizzes in WebCT? Membership has its
privileges ...
Benefits are:
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Automatic marking;
Paperless environment;
Selective release to select groups or individuals;
Randomization of questions;
Use of test banks in WebCT, and
Portability of tests between sections or classes.
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Please join us for an interactive session on using the Assignment tool to
enhance your teaching environment.
Grading Forms and Groups
Facilitated by June MacDonald-Jenkins, Learning Technologies
Facilitator / Jordanne Christie, Learning Technologies Specialist
Tuesday, May 27 - 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Friday, June 6 - 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Ever wonder how to use a grading rubric in WebCT? Would you like to
mark discussions or assignments using a standardized mark scheme and
have the marks automatically inputted into grade book? Perhaps, you have
group assignments to mark? Then we have some ideas for you. Come and
discover the flexibility of creating groups and creating measurement rubrics
for both the facilitator and students for peer review.
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Introduction to WebCT Vista
Facilitated by June MacDonald-Jenkins, Learning Technologies
Facilitator
What is the Innovation Centre?
The Innovation Centre provides teaching and learning expertise, leadership,
and support to faculty at Durham College and the University of Ontario Institute
of Technology. Our goal is to foster relationships with faculty to empower
Tuesday, June 10 - 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
them create a richer learning environment, whether it is in the classroom or
online. We support teaching and learning, curriculum development, as well
Wednesday, June 18 - 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
as teaching with technology. The Centre also champions the introduction
Ever wonder what all the talk is about? Have you ever dreamed of doing of new learning technologies and their appropriate use in teaching and
more then simply submitting marks via WebCT? Thought about using a learning.
“student centered” learning management system to enable and facilitate
Our staff closely works with all schools and faculties to ensure that faculty
greater learning?
and staff have the opportunity to use the latest teaching, technology,
Then you need to take a “leap of faith” and join us for an introductory and online resources to benefit student learning. For a complete
overview of WebCT and the possibilities. Setting up your course homepage, listing of our office staff, please visit the Innovation Centre Web site at
a review of available tools, and some initial customizing of the course to http://x.dc-uoit.ca/blog/.
make it reflect your own personality will allow you to “dip your toes” into the
The Centre offers access to highly qualified staff, a variety of computer and
possibilities.
multimedia equipment as well as one-on-one training sessions. In addition,
the Centre promotes an ongoing, campus-wide dialogue about Web-centric
Collaborative Communication Tools
instructional technology and its role in curriculum.
Facilitated by June MacDonald-Jenkins, Learning Technologies
Facilitator / Jordanne Christie, Learning Technologies Specialist
Wednesday, May 7 - 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Monday, May 12 - 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Creating a community of learners both inside and outside of the classroom
is perhaps one of the most significant contributions to learning that can
be made. How is this possible with so much going in our busy academic
environments?
A variety of tools are available in WebCT that link students not only during live
conversations in class, but long after. The calendar, roster, announcements
and email serve as functional asynchronous means of communication;
while chat and the white board serve as synchronous tools. Come and join
us to see how these collaborative communication tools can enhance your
student’s contribution to their learning as well as others.
There’s How Many People in My Class??
Teaching Strategies for Large Classes
Services
The Centre provides a wide range of services to DC and UOIT faculty and
staff. These services include:
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Providing individual consultation in learning new technology for teaching and research purposes.
Providing individual consultation in designing and developing curricula.
Assisting in the development of course-related Web resources for faculty and staff.
Hosting group discussions on issues relating to teaching, learning, & technology.
Hosting professional development programs for faculty and staff.
Conducting workshops and demonstrations on new Web-centric and e-learning technologies throughout the year.
Facilitating best practices in teaching through workshops and seminars.
How to Work with Us
Faciliated by Dr. Wendy Hardman, Faculty Development Officer
Our services are available by appointment or on a drop-in basis. Simply call
the Centre to arrange your training session. We also run regular classes
on a variety of topics and our schedule is available online. Departments
Tuesday, May 13 - 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
can request a workshop specifically focused on their needs. We also assist
faculty in working with rich media, learning objects and games. WE’RE
Some say that teaching a large class, say over 100 students, is no different HERE TO HELP YOU!
from teaching a small class. Having more students in your class CAN affect
your presentation, the students’ response and the outcomes of a class.
How to Contact Us
Learn about teaching/learning strategies and techniques for the big ones.
Let the Games Begin
Facilitated by Dr. Wendy Hardman, Faculty Development Officer
Tuesday, June 10 - 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Web site: http://x.dc-uoit.ca/blog • E-mail: innovation@dc-uoit.ca
Phone: 905.721.2000 x. 2593 • Fax: 905.721.3096
Visit our office in the Gordon Willey Building, Room SW101. Our hours of
operation are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday. All training will be
held in the Innovation Centre (SW101) unless otherwise specified on the
Professional Development Web site at http://innovation.dc-uoit.ca/treg.
The outcome of this training session is to see how games can encourage
active learning in your classroom. Explore a number of games for their Faculty Development Opportunities
usability to test of knowledge, apply learning, encourage critical thinking and
Some sessions are subject to cancellation if a minimum quantity of three
even have a spot of fun.
(3) participants is not reached. Any cancellations will be posted on the
This one-hour session will take you on a tour of a number of games, invite Professional Development Web site and participants who are currently
enrolled in a session(s) will be notified by e-mail in advance.
you to test yourself and work with others.
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