Inspire. Innovate. Impact.
Center for Transformative Teaching & Learning (CTTL) Newsletter Vol. I, Spring 2020
newsletter Introduction
Welcome to our first issue of Inspire. Innovate. Impact., CTTL's new electronic newsletter.
The CTTL’s vision is to foster community building that promotes commitment and engagement in continuous development to meet the challenges of equitable teaching and learning.
Each semester, a new issue of Inspire. Innovate. Impact. will highlight innovative faculty, tools, workshops, and stories in each of our four focus areas:
We are looking forward to making 2020 an exciting new year in terms of professional development and instructional design and technology support for faculty.
This issue introduces our brand-spanking new newsletter and provides a glimpse into the exciting new (and tried and true) CTTL offerings for 2020.
In this issue
Check out our CTTL Video
Meet the New ASLT Dean - Dr. Rolin Moe
The best education advice I have received in my career is from Gary Stager, an educational computing pioneer who was one of the prime voices in the maker movement. His educational philosophy is a simple four-word sentence.
“Less us, more them.”
Education is about helping people find the things they don’t yet know they love, to be publicly useful while also being privately happy. We do this every day formally in a classroom setting, but informally this happens across our tangible and digital campus at all hours of the day. As the new Dean of Academic Support & Learning Technologies (ASLT), I am committed to fulfilling the vision of a student-ready campus that meets our learners where they are by adopting “Less us, more them” from an administrative perspective. My work is based in how ASLT can continue to support the entire campus community, modeling effective instruction and progressive learning that empowers faculty, staff and students.
This happens across all parts of Skyline College and its operations. Some is big-picture, such as large-scale initiatives around active learning in our library, increased engagement with our learning center and further enrichment of online programs. Some is detail-oriented, such as data accumulation regarding our campus WiFi so we can ensure classrooms have proper connectivity and the community can effectively engage with learning artifacts and one another digitally. But the goal is always to be providing the support necessary so everyone in the Skyline College family is equipped to work together and create meaning.
Equity & Access
Hot Off the Press!
Spring 2020 Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) Course List
Skyline faculty are dedicated to adopting, compiling, and authoring low- and no-cost course materials. Their efforts ensure students have access to course material on day-1 of class.
Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC):
Reduces educational costs for students
Changes the way instructors teach and students learn.
Provides free and immediate access to digital materials
Remains available to students after courses end
We are excited to share in Spring 2020, 116-zero textbook cost (ZTC) course sections have incorporated open educational resources (OERs) and Skyline Library electronic course materials available to students at zero-cost ($0)!
An additional 30+ course sections offer open educational resources (OERs) in conjunction with course materials available to students for ≤ $40.
On behalf of Skyline students, thank you to each of our ZTC Champions!
Contact the ZTC Team to learn more about how you can get involved with ZTC @ Skyline.
EXcellence in Teaching
First Fridays
This fall semester CTTL launched First Friday workshops to help faculty and staff continue to learn and develop the skills necessary to help further support student success. First Friday professional development (PD) workshops are intentionally offered as series giving participants the ability to continuously build on their current knowledge. A few highlights from First Friday workshops include a series on International Student populations led by Chikako Walker, Program Services Coordinator and Clair Yeo-Sugajski, Retention Specialist. This series provide participants with more insight on how to best support international students so that they can achieve their academic goals. Part of the support involves understanding our international students culture, the importance of correctly pronouncing name, etiquette and the impact it can have on our students.
Other PD featured on First Friday looked at how to identify and support students experiencing food insecurity. Participants learned a variety of ways to connect students to the available services on campus and in the community. Finally, faculty who attended First Friday PD further engaged in conversation around fostering student engagement, humanizing online classes, and learned about the resources available through the Learning Commons.
New Faculty Academy
New Faculty Academy (NFA) began with a cohort of 11 new Skyline College colleagues ready to engage and transform the lives of our students. NFA is a year-long professional development program for our new faculty to engage in work rooted equity, develop culturally relevant pedagogies and practices.
Highlights from this first semester included:
developing an equity-minded syllabus,
building connections and partnerships/collaborations,
understanding the tenure process,
mentoring on campus,
self-care for both faculty and staff,
creating a welcoming environment to foster student engagement during class and office visits.
This coming year our NFA cohort will continue to focus on active learning in the classroom, universal design for learning, and educational technology. CTTL will also partner with the Equity Institute, Student Equity and Support Services to provide training on topics such as equity, race, unconscious bias, just to name a few. We are very excited for 2020 academic year to continue engaging our new faculty in a variety of professional development that will further enhance their professional growth.
Faculty Innovation
CTTL Video Studio: Augmenting the Learning Experience
The effective use of teaching and learning technologies is an increasingly important part of good teaching. Whether it be for an online, hybrid, or face-to-face course, the choices are abundant. One technology that has proven itself to be of great educational value for the widest array of students is the use of instructional video.
Instructors can create learning experiences that are intentionally student-centric by incorporating instructional videos into their curriculum. Incorporating well-designed video can help us to move beyond simply transferring information and into knowledge construction; students actively build mental representations based on what they already know and what is being presented to them, then synthesizing their own meaning. There are several pedagogical advantages the use of instructional videos creates; we all learn at different rates, so giving students control over the schedule and pacing of their learning individualizes the learning experience and increases their motivation to learn. Students can more readily view, pause, and review captioned video content so they are not left behind their peers. If students need to review material, they have the next best thing to office hours, a clear and concise explanation from the instructor via a video.
The CTTL provides support for a wide variety of technology needs—from the selection of the right tools to understanding the best ways of implementing them in your teaching. We invite faculty to reserve an appointment for our Video Studio service for help with training, consulting, and recording lecturettes (short videos) to augment your instruction. Our team always puts teaching and learning first, so talk to us about your instructional goals, and we will help you find the right technologies and pedagogies to meet your needs.
Online Learning
Skyline College Faculty Share Effective Contact Strategies in Online Courses
Changes to Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations related to Distance Education were approved in September 2019. Section 55206 Separate Course Approval was updated to require that distance education addenda in the course outline of record at a minimum now include: how course outcomes will be achieved in a DE format, how regular effective instructor-student and student-student contact will be achieved, and how the course meets accessibility requirements.
The Distance Education Team interview online and hybrid faculty to discover what strategies they use in their courses to effective engage students to help meet the Title 5 requirements.
If you are interested in learning more about Title Five and strategies on effective and substantive engagement in online and hybrid courses please contact our Skyline College Distance Education Team or visit us in the CTTL Building 5 Room 118.
That’s SO Basic! Self-Paced Canvas Basics Course
The Distance Education Team is happy to announce the launch Canvas Basics, a self-paced course that is a fun and informative tour of the Canvas Learning Management System. This training course has been designed to familiarize you with the Canvas key features and tools. Participants will discover how to organize their Canvas course shell to support their traditional face-to-face courses. Topics such as creating assignments, quizzes, grading and communication tools are meant to equip Skyline College faculty to be student ready. Get started with Canvas Basics Course.
Getting Ready for Online? Sign up for Cohort 12
Faculty and Skyline College who teach online and hybrid courses are content experts in their discipline, but also engage in the Canvas and Online Pedagogy Training to enhance their skills to teach in the online modality. The five-week course introduces Canvas tools in the context of practical strategies for design, development, and management of an online class. Cohort participants will have an opportunity to review the basics of online/hybrid course development and practice the use of Canvas tools through hands-on exercises. The goal of this training is to build an Online/Hybrid course in Canvas implementing Best Practices of Teaching and Learning as exemplified by Chickering and Gamson’s Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education, the Online Education Initiative (OEI) Course Design Rubric, and the Peralta Equity Rubric. If you are interested in teaching online/hybrid courses for Skyline College, please contact your dean to get permission to join Cohort 12 in Spring 2020. The training is entirely online and will begin Tuesday, February 18 and conclude on Friday, March 27. For more information please contact Distance Education Team.