Author: eschudel

Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning Bulletin for January 2021

Happy New Year, and welcome to 2021!

In this bulletin from the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning please find articles, links, and learning opportunities that may be of interest to you. For general information please contact CETL . For information specifically about online teaching, contact eLearning.

Note that registration is restricted to Camosun College employees.
 “Teaching occurs only when learning takes place.”
― from What the best college teachers do by Ken Bain

 eLearning workshops (Registration required)

Welcome to the eLearning Team’s offerings to support the start-up of winter term, providing training related to Camosun’s core educational technologies. Get descriptions and register here.

Workshop dates Times Topics
Monday, January 4 1:00pm- 2:00pm D2L Overview
Tuesday, January 5 10:00am-11:00am Introduction to Blackboard Collaborate Ultra
Tuesday, January 5 1:00pm – 2:00pm D2L Course Set-up
Thursday, January 7 10:00am-11:00am Setting Up Your Gradebook in D2L
Friday, January 8 10:00am-11:00am Increasing Your Proficiency in Blackboard Collaborate

eLearning resources

·         Online learning tips for students Share this with your students at the beginning of term!

·         Privacy considerations for online teaching

·         Guidance for remote instruction

D2L Change Notice

As part of Colleague Renewal, there will be a new integration between D2L and Colleague. The most immediate change will impact some of the communication tools. The roll out will happen in phases, starting in January, then March, then summer. Find out more

Other CETL learning opportunites

 Planning ahead for spring SD 

 Stay tuned for the following online learning opportunities coming in spring 2021:

 Camosun Communities of Practice

 Check out our MS Teams Communities of Practice site. This is a peer-based virtual space for synchronous and asynchronous conversation, connection, resource sharing and more, including channels for:

Synchronous and asynchronous online course design and delivery

As you move into thinking more about how you want to teach online in the Winter, and even moving forward into Spring and Summer next year, we would like you to consider flexible delivery options to support your students in engaging with your course content and activities.

  • Synchronous design and delivery = “at the same time”. Instructors and students meet online in real time through videoconferencing or live chatting, typically on a weekly basis. Instructors may deliver virtual office hours, course check-ins or focused sessions on complex content or troubleshooting.
  • Asynchronous design and delivery = “not at the same time”. Students can work through course materials, assessments and activities at their own pace or within a prescribed/suggested time frame. E.g. They may be required to participate in a discussion activity over a seven day period when it is convenient for them or work through interactive self-paced activities and receive automated feedback.
  • Flexible design and delivery = incorporating a variety of delivery approaches so that students have a choice in how, when, and where they study. Instructors can define how much structure to integrate into the experience for students and often the goal is to strike a balance.

As we continue to transition courses to an online environment, faculty will need to rethink the role that both synchronous and asynchronous delivery approaches play in creating effective flexible online learning experiences for students. It is evident that neither approach is perfect; there are pros and cons to both modalities for online delivery. Increasingly faculty are opting for an approach that incorporates both delivery formats and enables faculty to be more flexible and responsive to the diversity of learner needs. Ultimately, deciding on your approach will depend on your learners, the curriculum, course materials and your time and capacity as an instructor and other contextual factors. If we consider designing online courses that incorporate the strengths of both asynchronous and synchronous delivery models, we can create experiences that enable both flexibility and structure to co-exist, thus creating a more enrichening teaching and learning environment for students and instructors.

Learn more! Creating flexible learning experiences through asynchronous and synchronous delivery approaches is a Camosun resource developed by the eLearning team which highlights some key elements to consider when determining your delivery strategy.

Below are some additional articles for consideration:

Some Changes Coming to Camosun’s D2L

Camosun College is updating its integration with the Colleague student information system. Faculty and Students will notice changes to some of the D2L communications tools as a result of this update.  And there are also some exciting (and long awaited) changes coming up!!

January, 2021

Email

As of January 2021, the D2L Email tool will be limited to student-instructor communications only. Students will no longer be able to communicate with each other through this tool. This change has been made in order to protect students’ personal information.

Students will continue to have access to their historical emails but will not have the ability to reply to or forward those messages.

Messenger

Students will have access to a new Message tool in D2L that will enable students to connect with other students from within D2L. The Message tool has replaced the existing Pager tool.

Audio Note (the Record Audio button)

Audio Note recording time has now been increased to 5 minutes.

March, 2021

“Chosen names” for students and faculty (also sometimes called “preferred names) will be available in Colleague and will cascade into the D2L Classlist.

Data updates between Colleague and D2L will occur in real time (meaning that if a student registers late, they will immediately have access to D2L and not have to wait until the next day).

Summer, 2021

An option to export grades directly from D2L to Colleague will be available.  More information on this change will be available closer to its availability – stay tuned!

Help?

The tutorial for how to use the Message tool is now available on the eLearning Tutorials at Camosun site.

For more information or questions, contact eLearning@camosun.ca.

eLearning Drop-ins for December

The eLearning team will be offering scheduled drop-in sessions for faculty needing support with D2L, Collaborate, Kaltura, Assessments, and Final Grades. Come to the sessions with your questions, curiosities, and dilemmas and we will be happy to help you with them. These sessions are not formal workshops; instead, sessions will respond to the needs of those who participate. The sessions are organized around specific tools, but we will do our best to answer any questions that participants have. No registration is needed.

You can join the sessions through the Collaborate link on the nav bar in the D2L On-Demand course or email Emily Schudel for a link.

Drop-in Dates Times Topics
Tuesday, December 1 11am-12pm D2L Dilemmas
Thursday, December 3 2-3pm Final Exam Setup
Tuesday, December 8 2-3pm Releasing Final Grades in D2L
Thursday, December 10 10-11am Final Exam Setup
Tuesday, December 15 11am-12pm Releasing Final Exams in D2L
Thursday, December 17 2pm-3pm Final Exam Setup
Tuesday, December 22 11am-12pm Releasing Final Grades in D2L

eLearning resources

More eLearning Workshops Coming!

Getting ready for the end of term?  Preparing to teach online this winter?  eLearning has drop-ins and workshops for you!  Welcome to the eLearning Team’s offerings to support the start-up of the winter term (note: the first day of classes is January 6, 2021).

These workshops will provide faculty with training related to Camosun’s core educational technologies:

  • Desire2Learn (D2L) – Learning Management System
  • Blackboard Collaborate Ultra – Web Conferencing
  • Kaltura – Video Streaming Service

You can go to the registration form to register for one or multiple workshops.  If you are unable to attend the workshops and need assistance, contact eLearning Support, and you will be connected with an instructional designer.

D2L Overview

Description: This workshop will provide you with an overview of the essential teaching tools available in our learning management system, D2L Brightspace.

Date & Time: Wednesday, November 18 from 10:00-11:00am
Date & Time: Monday, January 4 from 1:00- 2:00pm

D2L Course Set-up

Description: This workshop will focus on setting up your course for Day 1. We will demonstrate how to copy course components (from your DEV or MASTER course to your LIVE offering), customize your homepage, apply a course banner, create a welcome news item and streamline your navigation bar.

Date & Time: Wednesday, November 25 from 10:00 -11:00am
Date & Time: Tuesday, January 5 from 1:00 – 2:00pm

Setting Up Your Gradebook in D2L

Description: This workshop will focus on the basics of setting up a Gradebook from start to finish. We will provide you with an overview of key functionality while also sharing some best practices.

Date & Time: Wednesday, Dec 9 from 1:00pm-2:00pm
Date & Time: Thursday, January 7 from 10:00-11:00am

Introduction to Blackboard Collaborate Ultra

Description: Collaborate is a web-conferencing tool that integrates with D2L. This session will provide you with a basic overview of the tools and functions within Collaborate as well as provide instructors with tips on how to use this tool to connect with students and facilitate effective learning experiences.

Date & Time: Tuesday, January 5 from 10:00-11:00am

Increasing Your Proficiency in Blackboard Collaborate Ultra

Description: Are you looking for an opportunity to practise using Collaborate tools such as File Share, Groups and Polls before using these tools in a live class? Then, this advanced workshop is for you. It will provide you with a demonstration of how to use these tools as well as some hands-on time to practice to increase your comfort level with Collaborate. Each session will be limited to 8 participants.

Date & Time: Wednesday, November 25 from 1:00-2:00pm
Date & Time: Thursday, December 17 from 10:00-11:00am
Date & Time: Friday, January 8 from 10:00-11:00am

Integrating D2L and Collaborate: Best Practices in Online Blended Teaching

Description: Planning for Winter term? Looking for ways to use D2L and Collaborate in your teaching? This workshop will introduce you to the amazing world of facilitation in an online blended environment. Come share your ideas and challenges!

Date & Time: Tuesday, November 24 from 2:00-3:00pm
Date & Time: Wednesday, December 2 from 10:00-11:00am

Creating Great Kaltura Capture Videos

Description: Kaltura Capture is a desktop recorder that is part of the Kaltura Streaming Media service that enables instructors and students to create videos that capture web cams, screens, and audio. This session will provide you with an in-depth overview of the tools and tips on how to create effective videos.

Date & Time: Friday, November 27 from 1:00-2:00pm

A Quick Introduction to H5P

Last week the Educational Technology Users Group (ETUG) ran a Cooking with H5P webinar which gave participants a great overview of how H5P works, and how to get started exploring it on your own. I encourage you to check out the recording.

What is H5P?

H5P (HTML-5-Package; https://h5p.org/) is plugin tool that enables faculty, instructional designers, etc. to develop creative, dynamic and responsive web-based content, activities, and assessments without having to have advanced technical expertise. H5P is an open-source tool, which means faculty can share their H5P objects with anyone – or adapt H5P objects developed by someone else – without being limited to a specific proprietary tool or platform.

Some of the benefits of H5P include:

  • Increased student engagement. H5P allows you to develop a variety of responsive and interactive objects, including image Hotspots, Branching Scenarios, Flashcards, Dialog Cards, Interactive Video, and Speak the Words
  • Opportunities for students to develop their own interactive objects. H5P provides students the opportunity to create their own H5P objects for sharing back as assessments or as learning objects for their fellow students.
  • Open tool, open licenses. H5P objects can be Creative Commons-licenced, supporting the 5 Rs of Open Education Resources (OER) Reuse, Retain, Revise, Remix, Redistribute.. You can access templates, and adapt & reuse freely shared, CC-licenced H5P objects and resources from institutions world-wide, including from a wide network of users right here in British Columbia.
  • Accessibility compliance. H5P is dedicated to ensuring that all its objects meet, or are on track to meet, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). A complete list of content-type accessibility is kept up-to-date by H5P.com at Content Type Recommendations.

H5P Resources

Using Short Answer versus Written Response Questions in D2L

There is often confusion in the world of D2L Quizzes: when to use Short Answer questions, and when to use Written Response questions.

To sort out this confusion a bit, thinking of Short Answer questions as questions with one or two word answers. Not sentences! This is because Short Answer questions are set up to be graded by D2L, and it is very hard to accommodate the number of potentially correct answers if there are more than two words.

In the example here, we have two possible answers listed, one with two words (Justin Trudeau), and one with just one word (Trudeau). Use a Short Answer question for this kind of question.

Short Answer question

Have a question that requires a longer response? Use a Written Response question. The downside is that you need to grade Written Response questions yourself, but if you use a Short Answer question for multi-word answers, you will likely need to grade those questions yourself anyway since students will likely give correct answers you have not accounted for.

In the example here, we are asking a question that would require multiple words which could be presented in any order, making it impossible for the system to grade easily. Use a Written Response question for this kind of question.

Written Response question

If you have questions or want to run a scenario past an instructional designer in eLearning, email elearning@camosun.ca to arrange for a consult.

Finding Online Images to Supplement your Course Materials

Last week, I was excited to see on the Open Education Challenge site, a challenge called “How do I find a Creative Commons licensed image to use in my course materials or presentations”.

I wanted to share with you here the resources presented on this site, and to give you a few more.

  • Creative Commons image search – to search for licensed and public domain works
  • Unsplash– photos that are free to use, no permission required but attribution appreciated
  • Pexels– stock photos that are free to use, attribution is not required, adaptation is permitted
  • The Noun Project – Creative Commons-licensed icons

In addition to these resources, our Camosun Library also has some great resources and tips for finding and using images online.

  • Start with the Open Culture tab on the Open Libguide. Here you will find links to sources of copyright-friendly images and music.
  • And explore the Art History Libguide, but make sure to know what the copyright licencing is for any images you find – ask one of our friendly librarians if you’re not sure!
  • Find some guidance on how to use images under Fair Dealing at the Copyright Libguide.
  • And also on the Copyright Libguide, you will find some tips for posting images (etc.) on D2L.

Have other sources? Add to the comments!

ETUG Workshop – Online November 6th

This year ETUG proudly presents its Fall Workshop online! Join us on Friday, November 6th (8:30am – 5:00pm) for COVID and Beyond: What’s your Metaphor? Registration is Free, and you can attend all the sessions, or come and go as it works for you.

Join presenters from across the province who will talk about some of the challenges and opportunities from the past 8 months. We will also have space for informal conversations, and to reunite with your fellow ETUGgers.

Check out the program and register ASAP to ensure your spot!

In addition, we will be continuing the conversations from various presentations on our ETUG Slack. Join the ETUG Slack to get in on the action.

New feature coming to Quizzes – Import from Question Library into Quiz Section

As some of you may know, the newer Quiz Creation interface has at least one feature that has been driving me personally crazy:   If you create a Section in a Quiz, you can’t import questions from the Question Library directly into that Section. Right now you have to import questions into the root directory (the main page) of the quiz, and then move them into a section. How cumbersome.

Well, no more!

In our next upgrade, happening at the end of this week, you will be able to import questions from the question library into a Quiz Section. Here’s how:

  1. Go to the Quizzes tool in your D2L course, and go to Edit a Quiz.
  2. On the Properties tab, click Add/Edit Questions.

    Click Add Edit Questions

  3. Make sure you have added at least one Section (Add a Section).
  4. Click Import and select Browse Question Library.

    Browse Question Library

  5. Select the questions you want to import into your Section in the quiz, then click the arrow next to Import and select Import to Section.

    Import to Section

  6. Select the Section you want to import the questions to. They will automatically be imported into that section.

    Select section

  7. Finish adding questions to your quiz, then click Back to Settings for Quiz …

    Go back to Settings

  8. Finish creating your quiz, and click Save and Close.