New year, new knowledge! There are loads of opportunities to learn some new skills, build on existing ones, or share your experiences coming up over the next few months.
LT Workshops and Courses
Here’s the list of upcoming opportunities currently being offered by LT during the Spring Term. To register, please use Cornerstone via the Employee Portal.
Blackboard Grade Center Workshop I: Basics
January 23, 2020 from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in SCC 123
Instructor-led course covering Blackboard Grade Center Basics
Blackboard Grade Center Workshop II: Assignment
January 29, 2020 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in SCC 123
This is the second of a series of workshops on Blackboard Grade Center. This workshop is intended for all COD instructors who want to utilize Blackboard’s Assignments tool to create assignments, and grade student submissions.
Blackboard Grade Center Workshop III: Test
February 5, 2020 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in SCC 123
This is the third of a series of workshops on Blackboard Grade Center. This workshop is intended for all COD instructors who want to utilize Blackboard’s Test tool to create tests and grade student submissions, regardless of instructional delivery modes.
Foundations of Online Teaching
February 10 to March 13, 2020, Online
Designed for Faculty and Administrators, the focus of this online course is on being an effective online facilitator. Topics include: Developing your online course environment, Effective communication online, Techniques to build instructor presence, Media in the online environment, and Adaption and accessibility. This course offers best practices and techniques for creating an engaging and successful online experience.
Intro to Blackboard Collaborate Ultra
February 24 to March 11, 2020, Online
Blackboard Collaborate is a web conferencing tool that you may want to utilize for virtual office hours or class meetings. This online workshop offers an opportunity for you to become familiar with the Blackboard Collaborate environment. You will experience the Collaborate room, use tools and features available for the Participant role and Moderator role.
Blackboard Grade Center Workshop II and III
March 10, 2020 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in SCC 123
This session combines Blackboard Grade Center Workshops II and III, Assignment and Test.
Blackboard Grade Center Workshop IV: Rubrics
March 19, 2020 from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in SCC 123
This is a one-hour face-to-face workshop, and the 4th of a series of workshops on Blackboard Grade Center. This workshop is intended for all COD instructors who want to utilize the Rubrics tool for grading assignments.
Blackboard Grade Center Workshop V: Weighted Grades
March 25, 2020 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in SCC 123
This session explains how to create weighted grades in the Blackboard Grade Center.
Introduction to Instructional Video & Yuja Video Platform
April 13 to April 29, 2020, Online
This online workshop offers an opportunity for you to learn the basics of creating and publishing a simple instructional video. Learning materials cover equipment setup, recording process, video editing and closed-caption editing using YouTube tools, publishing to YouTube, and presenting the video in your Blackboard course.
Blackboard Grade Center Workshop I: Basics and Beyond
May 5, 2020 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in SCC 123
Instructor-led course covering Blackboard Grade Center Basics
Spring Conferences
Here are a few excellent conferences to attend to make sure your professional development dollars don’t go to waste.
ILLCO Growing Online Learning 2020: Humanizing the Online Environment: Increasing Instructor Presence and Enhancing Student Engagement, February 11-13, Online
This conference offers faculty and staff an opportunity to learn more about improving online teaching and learning.
For more information and registration: Growing Online Learning
SXSW EDU, March 9-12, Austin, TX
SXSW EDU features a diverse array of speakers, sessions, workshops, learning experiences, policy discussions and film screenings programmed to foster learning and discovery for all education stakeholders.
For more information and registration: SXSW EDU
Spring CUE, March 19-21, Palm Springs, CA
For three days in March, Spring CUE will be the epicenter of educational excellence and innovation! Spring CUE has been the go-to event for educational innovation for almost 40 years with 5000+ attendees and over 250 exhibitors – come and see what the buzz is about, find your people, be inspired and raise your game as an educator in the beautiful surroundings of Palm Springs.
For more information and registration: Spring CUE 2020 Conference
Online Learning Consortium Innovate 2020, March 31- April 3, Chicago, IL
OLC is close to home this year, making it easier to attend. This year’s theme is “Education Reimagined.”
Attendees can choose from over 400 sessions spanning a wide variety of topics and special interest areas, including online teaching and learning, ed-tech, leadership accessibility, gamification, K-12, open educational resources, and many more.
For more information and registration: OLC Innovate 2020
Faculty Summer Institute: At the Intersection of Teaching, Learning, and Technology, May 20-21, Champaign, IL
Register now or submit your proposal for this summertime conference. Participants are encouraged to share their experiences and teaching methods in person and virtually, and the conference aims to bring together educators and instructional-technology professionals.
For more information and registration: Faculty Summer Institute 2020
ION Courses
The Illinois Online Network always has a lot to offer. While it’s too late to sign up for their first session of 2020, you can still take courses in their second spring session, starting March 16th. Courses include:
- Instructional Design for Online Course Development
- Overview of Online Instruction
- Practicum for Master Online Teacher Certificate
- Student Assessment in Online Courses
- Technology Tools for Online Teaching
- Universal Design Principles for Online Learning
For the full list of 2020 learning opportunities through ION, visit the ION website.
Other Opportunities
Hungry for more? Here are some other upcoming learning opportunities.
The ADE is a great place to learn more about Adobe products and teaching with technology. They have a large slate of upcoming courses that cover topics like graphic design, flipped learning, video creation and more.
There are some great webinars on here for those looking to learn more about creating truly accessible course content.
This virtual conference offers an opportunity for sharing your successes and challenges in teaching with technology. You will connect with other practitioners without travel expenses and time commitment. This showcase highlights a variety of strategies and approaches to teaching and learning from every campus of the UW-System. It will be held April 7-8, 2020.
