Although in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and being faced with some unique logistical challenges and opportunities, the 12th Annual General Education Conference was a smashing success! One of the challenges included supporting the effort while using online resources stretched thin due to a surge in the number of people working from home. The opportunities included being able to provide Purdue System faculty as well as faculty from 30 external institutions from across the United States with information and best practices in online instruction as well as other topics related to general education. While we were very fortunate to have experienced only very minor hiccups during the three-day event, the survey results indicate that conference participants were still extremely satisfied with the information shared. Julie Torres-Roman, a FTA in the Science Department and GEC presenter stated, "Our GEC 2020 was another great conference! It presents an opportunity to collaborate with other faculty and to stay informed on current topics. Each year, I obtain new tools that help me to become a better educator and learn new ways to achieve the coveted work-life balance." See Conference Briefs below for additional information.

I emphasize to the students that since we only meet live in seminar one hour per week, the Discussion Board is our classroom. As such, I like to post interesting asides that are related to what we are covering in that unit but not specific to the particular discussion question. That is what I would do in a "regular" classroom. Math history, famous problems and controversies and fun news stories can expand the conversation and give the students food for thought.

Do you have a best practice or tip you'd like to share? Feel free to email your department chair or fill out the GenEd/OC Digest Spotlight Form found on the homepage!

In the spirit of delivering on our mission to support the unique needs of our working adult students, the curriculum team is finishing up important revisions of our credit-for-work experience courses EL206 and LRC100. The new version of EL206: Academic Prior Learning Portfolio went live in the 2002B term this past April. LRC100, which will be renamed LRC100: Pathway to College Credit-Portfolio Development is scheduled for a June release date. Both courses teach students how to articulate and organize their work and life experience into an online portfolio that’s ready to be assessed for undergraduate credit at Purdue Global.

One of the areas identified for growth after this year’s engagement survey was, “I have opportunities to advance and develop in my career.” The SoGE has organization liaisons to help! Each organization liaison reports and enters important discipline specific information, such as upcoming conferences, workshops, etc., for societies and other associations that they're members of on a quarterly basis. You can view all of the entries here. If you have any important discipline specific information that you would also like to share, you may enter it on the form here.