About C!TL

C!TL Mission

The Renton Technical College (RTC) Center for !nnovative Teaching and Learning (C!TL) fosters community around and drives advances in teaching and learning to promote student success by:

  • Actively and thoughtfully seeking and incorporating methods and tools in the 21st-century landscape of education.

  • Increasing faculty and interdepartmental communication.

  • Championing the cycle of teaching and learning across campus

  • Initiating and supporting campus professional development activities to ensure students are learning, in alignment with RTC’s strategic plan.

C!TL is an integral part of ongoing and extensive professional development for faculty, supporting RTC’s vision of being a premier technical college in Washington State.

The center is coordinated by Dr. Liz Falconer, Director of Innovative Teaching and Learning, who works with instruction department administrators and faculty, assisting in facilitating learning and teaching innovation across the college curricula.

Dr. Falconer's work includes the development, implementation and evaluation of instructional improvement projects; overseeing RTC’S statewide Professional Development (PD) offerings, administration of faculty and staff PD activities, and administration of the college Learning Management System (LMS).

C!TL is supported by a team of experts that include eLearning Administrator Sara Newman, Instructional Designer Yun Moh, and faculty leads called Inclusive Pedagogy Instructional Designers (IPID)

eLearning Mission

The mission of RTC eLearning is to provide online pathways for student success across all modalities. The eLearning goals and activities are guided by the needs of the college and statewide concerns.

Some of the areas of focus relating to online student success include, but are not limited to leading practices and training in:

  • Accessibility

  • Assessment

  • Alignment

Resources

  1. Intentional Teaching Pathway @RTC

  2. Professional Development Opportunities for RTC faculty

  3. 20-Minute Mentor: Instant PD for Faculty and Administrators

  4. 250 Ways to Awesom-ize Your Teaching: Ideas for utilizing Reading Apprenticeship, UDL and online tools

  5. Assessment at RTC: Information on writing outcomes, types of assessment, and using rubrics and data to improve student success.

  6. Canvas for faculty: Your go-to Canvas resource

  7. Canvas Street of Dreams: Stroll the street for ideas!

  8. Faculty and Staff Resources

  9. Library Resources and Services for Faculty

  10. Funding for Professional Development: Professional Development Funding at RTC

  11. PD Planning and Certification: Information on PD Planning and Certification Process

  12. Program Review Process

  13. Professional Development for Educators: Online Certificates for Faculty Statewide

  14. RTC Reference Guide for Faculty: A general guidebook for teaching at RTC

  15. Teaching Conferences: Conference Opportunities

  16. Suggestion Box: Your suggestions are welcome anytime!

Did you know? Faculty who participate in professional development have higher student retention rates!

RTC's Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning is located in C105 and is a space for faculty and related instructional staff workshops, meetings, and computer use. It is coordinated by Liz Falconer, Director of Innovative Teaching and Learning.

Full-time faculty at Renton Technical College are expected to fulfill the state-mandated professional development areas of discipline, governance, and pedagogy.

For both full time and adjunct faculty, there is also the institutional expectation and support for ongoing professional development related specifically to instruction. In 2015-16, RTC provided stipends for faculty to select from their topics of choice for a year-long asynchronous in-service. In 2016-17, there is support for participation in the Intentional Teaching Pathway, building a culture of shared teaching expertise and lifelong learning.

I am very excited about the Intentional Teaching Pathway that has been developed on our campus. Prior to coming to RTC, I had heard about the great work being done here with applying Reading Apprenticeship and Universal Design for Learning for student success.

I look forward to the expansion of these concepts and practices across our curriculum in creating active, learning-centered classroom communities.

– President Kevin McCarthy