Spring 2011 Faculty Professional Development Mini-Conference

On Friday, April 15, 2011, full-time and adjunct faculty members participated in the QVCC Spring 2011 Faculty Professional Development Mini-Conference. Presentations included the following:

Process Writing across the Curriculum
O'Brian Kaufman

Promoting Active Learning through Inquiry
Bob Kirk

Video Technology in the Classroom
Jim Esposito

MIMIC: Make It Meaningful in Chemistry/Make It Meaning in College
Mary Christian-Madden

Blackboard Learn: A Peek Under the Hood
Cindi Brassington & Pauline Clifford

Twitter That...
Brian Donohue-Lynch

Research in the Community College
Ling-Chuan Chu

Back to Our Future: Building an Educated Citizenry
Nan Hirst & Jon Andersen

Quality Matters
Kudzai Zvoma

Working with GenYers
Pauline Clifford

We look forward to next year's topics of interest!

Spring 2009 Technology Workshop Updates

We've been busy this semester with an adjunct faculty mini-conference and assorted technology workshops:

Spring 2009 Adjunct Faculty Mini-Conference
Friday, February 27, 2009

Speakers & Workshops

myCommNet: Everything You Need in One Location
Jeremy Espeseth: You will need to monitor your class rosters, submit grades, and check your college e-mail frequently throughout the semester. This session will show you where to go to accomplish these tasks.

Embedding Video in Blackboard Vista Assessments
Bill Army/Elkin Spitia: Learn how to enhance your Blackboard Vista assessments, assignments, syllabi or any other content tool by embedding audio and/or video files into your course shell.

Teaching Hybrids
Cindi Brassington: Hybrid courses, taught in part in the classroom and in part online, can help busy students attend classes while working. Learn some strategies for designing and managing the hybrid class.

Quick Tips from Ed Tech: The Sneakiest Computer Viruses
Pauline Clifford: Computer viruses wreaking havoc on you and your computer? Discover the latest “sneakiest computer viruses” and what you can do to stop them from infiltrating your life and short-circuiting your productivity.

Netbooks: The Rise of the Small Machines
Pauline Clifford: What weighs 2 pounds, fits in your purse or backpack, and connects you to the world? Netbooks! Stop by and see what all the fuss is about.

Teaching Students Online Etiquette
Melissa Philion: This session will allow us to explore ways to help our students be successful communicators in the online atmosphere. We will talk about both communication intent and communication style and how to help students adapt to the online environment. We will also discuss methods we can use as instructors to facilitate better conversations in our discussion boards, gradebook, emails and chat sessions.

Online Open House: Showcasing Best Practices in Online Teaching
Jayne Battye/Beth Alves: Have you ever considered teaching an online class? Do you currently teach online and want to learn a few tips for better success. Learn the pros and cons of teaching online and get some helpful tips on how you and your students can survive and thrive!

Cheri Goretti: Presenter will discuss how to determine which courses are better suited to online delivery as well as how to take an onground course and develop it into an online course. Various online courses will be showcased along with features associated with Blackboard and how to use them. How to facilitate and grade student participation will also be discussed.

Spice Up Your Review Sessions with Quizdom
Ling-chuan Chu: Qwizdom is an interactive device that can engage your students and give you an instant feedback. If you like to break the monotony and have fun with your class, this activity can certainly help.

A Little HTML Can Go a Long Way
Kudzai Zvoma: In this session we will discuss some of the ways HTML can help make your course and Blackboard VISTA course content more effective as a means of communicating with your students. (No familiarity whatsoever with HTML is necessary for this session.)

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FotoFlexer (A Web-Based Photo Editing Tool)
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Facilitator: Pauline Clifford

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Enhance Learning with Green Screen
Friday, March 27, 2009
Facilitator: Bill Army

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Web 2.0 Applications
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Facilitators: Brian Donohue-Lynch & Pauline Clifford

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Facebook is Not Just for Kids!
Monday, April 6, 2009
Facilitators: Amy Barlow, Pam Brown, Pauline Clifford, Joe Couillard, & Cheri Goretti

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Stay tuned for "Demystifying Photoshop" with Annie Joly!

Hybrid Summer Seminar

Ten QVCC faculty members enrolled in a 7-week summer seminar on hybrid teaching and learning met on-ground yesterday in W102 with facilitators Brian Donohue-Lynch, Cindi Brassington, and Pauline Clifford. Five of the seven weeks will be conducted online with the first and last sessions being held on-ground. Topics to be addressed include: "What we know about teaching and learning," "Envisioning planning, and identifying resources for teaching online," "Creating and sustaining community," "Tools and resources for creating online courses," and "Issues in the online environment." Participants include: Erin Pagano, Kelly Cecchini, Bill Weiss, John Hall, Denise Walsh, Kudzai Zvoma, Sara Van Orden, Melissa Philion, Beth Alves, and Maria Angelos.

myCommNet--a look under the hood

Dr. Carrie Horvath, myCommNet Portal Support Specialist from the System Office presented an overview of the myCommNet tools at last month's Distance Learning Council meeting. A copy of the presentation is attached here for your perusal. Course Studio, the learning management system that is part of the Luminis product discussed in Carrie's presentation, can used by Continuing Education departments and faculty not using WebCT Vista. Don't forget, we go live with myCommNet on Wednesday, November 21, 2007. In addition, WebCT Vista and Banner Self-Service will not be available between Friday, November 16, 2007 and Tuesday, November 20, 2007. Students are advised to set up their Banner security question prior to November 16, 2007 so that they will be able to reset their NetID password if necessary. Students can stop by the computer lab to set up or modify their Banner security question.

http://www.qvcc.commnet.edu/qvccdl/pdfs/myCommNet_overview.pdf

Podcasting Webinar Part 1 held on October 10th

Part 1 of the podcasting webinar co-sponsored by the QVCC Center for Teaching and facilitated by our own Amy Barlow, Reference Librarian, took place on Wednesday, October 10th in the auditorium. Part 2: Developing Student Engagement through Podcasting to Reach Students will be held on November 14th. For more information, please contact Amy at abarlow@qvcc.commnet.edu. Many thanks to Amy for spearheading these informative sessions!

eTutoring has arrived!

Rachel Sarantopoulos, QVCC's eTutoring Administrator, facilitated an eTutoring Lunch 'n Learn in the Corporate Seminar Room this afternoon for interested faculty and staff. Attendees included: Joy Mark, Jim Grimord, Scott DeShong, Jack Derby, Brian Donohue-Lynch, Cindi Brassington, Arlene Normandin, and Elkin Spitia.

Rachel is available for in-class orientations for the eTutoring software. For more information about this online resource, please contact her at x7285 or rsarantopoulos@qvcc.commnet.edu.

Thanks for participating!

Many thanks to all the adjunct faculty members (new and returning) who participated in today's Adjunct Faculty Workshop.

I was very pleased with the podcasting session. Len Samboroski was able to upload a podcast to his Intro to Macroeconomics course while Robin Miyashiro and Arlene Normandin uploaded podcasts to the Moodle site Dr. Brian Lynch set up for us!

Stay tuned for more Web 2.0 workshops and Lunch 'n Learns to be offered throughout this upcoming school year. Both faculty and staff are invited to participate. Up next: Video podcasting!

Pauline