Workshops, Webinars, & Conferences
The Academy for Teaching Excellence provides professional development opportunities for faculty every semester. Below are descriptions for upcoming workshops, webinars, conferences, and special events. Scroll to the bottom of the page for archives with links to more information about previous opportunities.
The Academy also offers Graduate Equivalency Courses (GECs). Learn more.
Questions? Please contact the Academy at 847.925.6174, academy@harpercollege.edu.
Workshops
GeoTech Center Regional Virtual Workshop: Teaching with Geospatial Technologies
Do you use maps in your curriculum? Does your teaching include location or solving spatial problems? Are you interested in adding to your active learning resources? If so, this free summer workshop on teaching with geospatial technologies will be of interest. Participants will gain hands-on experience on teaching with ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS Pro, UAVs (drones), and Earth Imagery. Workshop participants will develop an exercise or lesson for use in one of their classes.
This virtual workshop is sponsored by the National Geospatial Technology Center for Excellence (GeoTech Center), a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded organization that provides geospatial professional development opportunities and curriculum materials to K-12 schools, community colleges, and universities.
Participants who complete the workshop will receive $700 from the GeoTech Center. All full-time and adjunct faculty may register for the workshop. View workshop flyer.
- Dates: Wednesday, June 17 – Friday, June 19, 2020
- Time: Wednesday and Thursday from 8 a.m. – 3:45 p.m., and Friday from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
- Location: Online
- Facilitators: Mukila Maitha, Harper College and Dr. Rich Schultz, GeoTech Center
- CEUs: 2.0
- More Information and Apply (application deadline May 15, 2020)
Webinars
Transitioning to Fully Online Instruction Webinar Series
To support the transition to fully online instruction for Spring 2020 and Summer 2020 courses, the Academy hosted a five-part webinar series (April 2-April 16). Watch the recordings, view presentation slides, and learn how to apply for CEUs on the Transitioning to Fully Online Instruction Webinar Series recordings page.
- Part 1: Laying Out Your Online Course and Providing Quality Content
- Part 2: Bringing Your Course Activities and Assessments Online
- Part 3: Providing Feedback and an Organized Gradebook in Your Online Course
- Part 4: Building Community and Enhancing Communications in the Online Environment
- Part 5: Supporting Every Student in Your Online Course through Universal Design
CEUs: Complete the corresponding personal action plan for each webinar by August 7, 2020 to receive 0.2 CEUs after attending the webinar or viewing the recording. Those links are available under each webinar on the Transitioning to Fully Online Instruction Webinar Series recordings page.
Getting Ready for Finals: Online Testing and Alternative Assessments
As we approach the end of the spring semester, many faculty are wondering about the best way to deploy or adapt their final exams in a way that allows them to evaluate student learning while being flexible and understanding of the difficult situation that many of our students are in. In some cases, alternative assessments such as student presentations, contextual applications, reflective journals, narrated problem solving, open-book exams with multiple attempts, or capstone projects may be suitable replacements to traditional final exams. In this webinar (hosted on Wednesday, April 29 and Thursday, April 30, 2020), we shared strategies for developing these comprehensive assessments quickly and communicating expectations to students should you decide to offer an alternative to your traditional final exam. If you still need to administer a traditional final exam, we also shared best practices and tips from the experts for doing so inside of Blackboard in a way that sets students up to perform their best while maintaining academic integrity in both unproctored and proctored environments.
- Watch the webinar recording
- View the presentation slides: PDF version, PowerPoint version
- Facilitators: Academy for Teaching Excellence and Joe Scrima, Testing and Assessment Center
- CEUs: Complete this personal action plan by August 7, 2020 to receive 0.2 CEUs after attending the webinar or viewing the recording
Workshop Archives
Fall 2017
- Creating a Course Orientation with Blackboard Collaborate Ultra
- Deafhood and Allies in Creating Dialogues Workshop
- Enhancing Distance Course Design Using the OSCQR Rubric (online)
- Identifying Inequities in Our Schools Workshop
- Making an Impact with Collaborative Learning
- Making the 4 Connections in Your Classroom
- Start Smart Training Session
- Understanding and Teaching Adult Learners in an Accelerated Program
- Writing Strategies for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students
Fall 2018
Fall 2019
- An Introduction to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), Trauma and Resilience in Post-Secondary Education
- Best Practices for Accessible Video and Captioning
- Conducting Peer Observations of Teaching for Professional Development
- Evidence-Informed Teaching
- GoReact Training Seminar
- GIFTS: Great Ideas for Teaching Speech
- Innovate Inside the Box Book Discussion
- SAFEzone Training
- Small Group Instructional Feedback (SGIF)
- Sustaining The Professional Self for Deep Work
- Teaching While Black/Responding While White: Growing our Capacity Around Cultural Integrity
Spring 2018
- Allyhood: Building Skills to Foster an Inclusive Work Environment
- Building ePortfolios in Blackboard
- Deconstructing Gender
- Engaging Generation Z in Your Classroom
- Enhancing Distance Course Design Using the OSCQR Rubric (online)
- Investigating Language and Culture Through Ethnographic Theory and Practice
- Making the 4 Connections in Your Classroom
- May Day Culture of Care Discussion
- Recording Studio Demo
- Understanding and Teaching Adult Learners in an Accelerated Program
- Writing Strategies for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students
Spring 2019
- Canva: A Graphic Design Tool for the Rest of Us
- Improving the Organization of Your Online Course
- Introduction to POGIL
- Mental Health First Aid: Higher Education Edition
- OSCQR Mini-Me Workshop: Getting Students Started Online
- OSCQR Mini-Me Workshop: Getting Students Communicating & Collaborating Online
- OSCQR Mini-Me Workshop: Inviting Student Feedback
- OSCQR Rubric: Distance Course Design Review (online)
- SAFEzone Training
- Spark Creativity into Your Assessments
- STEMBusters: Strategies for STEM Inclusivity
- STEMBusters: Strategies for STEM Inclusivity in Math
- Sustaining the Professional Self for Deep Work
- Understanding and Teaching Adult Learners in an Accelerated Program
- Uploading a Video to YouTube and Posting to Blackboard
Spring 2020
- Blackboard Collaborate Ultra: Your Online Meeting Space
- Choosing Technology Without Losing Your Mind
- Conducting Peer Observations of Teaching for Professional Development
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Virtual Workshop Series
- Equity Literacy Project Launch
- Lunch & Learn with the 20-Minute Mentor: How Do I Build Community in My Classroom?
- Plant-Based Eating to Sustain Our Health and Our Environment
- SAFEzone Training
- Small Group Instructional Feedback (SGIF)
Conference & Special Event Archives
Fall 2018
Webinar Archives
Spring 2017
Spring 2019
Spring 2020
- Collaborative Tech & The Wicked Problem of “Open” Pedagogies
- Essential Online Skills
- Getting Ready for Finals: Online Testing and Alternative Assessments
- The Unwritten Rules of College: Creating Transparent Assignments that Increase Students’ Success Equitably
- Transitioning to Fully Online Instruction Webinar Series
- What OER Means to Me: Harper Employee Panel
Accessibility
Individuals with disabilities who would like to request an accommodation or who have questions about physical access may contact the event host or Access and Disability Services at ads@harpercollege.edu, 847.925.6266, at least two weeks in advance of the event date.
Academy for Teaching Excellence Workshop Cancellation Policy
Occasionally, the Academy for Teaching Excellence may have to cancel a workshop due to circumstances beyond our control. With the exception of instructor illness and inclement weather, the decision to cancel a workshop will be made 48 hours prior to the scheduled date of the workshop. In the event of a cancellation, the Academy will make every effort to notify registered participants via their Harper College email account. If you have a concern about a workshop you have registered for being cancelled, please contact academy@harpercollege.edu or call 847.925.6174.