Summer On-Demand Series: Professional Development on Your Own Time

by | May 5, 2021 | Academy

The Academy has curated a list of workshops from this past academic year that you may have missed or didn’t have time to attend. For most workshops, you can watch the recording and submit an action plan by July 23, 2021 to receive CEUs, but please see each workshop description for specific details. The list of workshops is below; click on each toggle for more information. Please watch for weekly emails from the Academy this summer that will highlight each workshop along with the links to the recording and action plan.

Woman typing on laptop by a pool with Academy On Demand visible on screen
Diminish the Distance: Conference and Connect

Connecting with students isn’t easy in the virtual environment, but it’s even more important than ever. This workshop explores how individual conferencing with students provides the interaction that supports their success. Our goal is to explore technologies to initiate and facilitate different types of conferences such as student-initiated, teacher-initiated, feedback seeking, curricular related, community building and more. This workshop also touches on strategies to encourage students’ participation and skills for having difficult conversations, when necessary.

  • Facilitators: Relating to Students: Making Connections Community of Practice
  • Link to recording
  • CEUs: 0.1 – After watching the recording, please complete this personal action plan by July 23, 2021 to receive CEUs.
Become an Ally Advocate: Improve the Accessibility of Course Materials with Ally for Blackboard

We’re excited to announce a new tool called Ally that will be available in all Blackboard courses starting July 19, 2021. Ally provides you guidance on how to correct accessibility issues within your digital course content, which means your learning materials will work better on mobile phones and tablets as well as with assistive technologies. Ally provides visual indicators (that only you can see) next to your course files for detailed feedback about how to correct the accessibility issues with your files. Ally also provides your students with a choice of alternative file format by clicking the Ally icon next to the file name and choosing a version of the file most appropriate for their device and need.

If you’d like to learn about Ally and how to make your course more accessible, summer is a great time to do this! To get started:

Please direct any questions about Ally to Janet Woods at jwoods1@harpercollege.edu.

The 5 Ws of Group Work

We all know that sometimes students have negative feelings towards group work. As educators we also know that group work can be a truly valuable learning experience for students. During this workshop we will cover the 5 Ws of group work which, when planned and communicated out, will help to eliminate the negatives leading to a more positive experience for students.  

  • Facilitator: Jenny Henrikson, Instructional & Distance Education Design Specialist 
  • Link to recording
  • CEUs: 0.3 – You can watch the recording and contact Jenny Henrikson at jhenriks@harpercollege.edu for instructions on completing the group activity plan prior to July 16, 2021 to earn CEUs.
Bandwidth Recovery Strategies: Helping Students Maximize Learning Potential

Students are experiencing increased stress as a result of the pandemic and the social and political unrest in response to recent events. The Fall 2020 Bandwidth Recovery Series was designed to provide faculty with strategies to help students conserve bandwidth so that they can successfully engage in learning under these tense and trying circumstances. Each session provided attendees with a greater awareness of the underlying causes of bandwidth depletion and concrete, multi-disciplinary strategies to increase students’ cognitive and emotional bandwidth. This workshop explores strategies to reduce common stressors so students can focus on learning.

Anti-Racist Pedagogy: Conserving Bandwidth for Our Students of Color

Students are experiencing increased stress as a result of the pandemic and the social and political unrest in response to recent events. The Fall 2020 Bandwidth Recovery Series was designed to provide faculty with strategies to help students conserve bandwidth so that they can successfully engage in learning under these tense and trying circumstances. Each session provided attendees with a greater awareness of the underlying causes of bandwidth depletion and concrete, multi-disciplinary strategies to increase students’ cognitive and emotional bandwidth. This workshop examines how inclusive representation creates opportunities for authentic student engagement.

  • Facilitators: Monica Edwards, Sociology; Tiffany Jones, Anthropology 
  • Link to recording
  • CEUs: 0.1 – After watching the recording, please complete this personal action plan by July 23, 2021 to receive CEUs.
Understanding Latin@ Campus Experiences: Student Panel

Students are experiencing increased stress as a result of the pandemic and the social and political unrest in response to recent events. The Fall 2020 Bandwidth Recovery Series was designed to provide faculty with strategies to help students conserve bandwidth so that they can successfully engage in learning under these tense and trying circumstances. Each session provided attendees with a greater awareness of the underlying causes of bandwidth depletion and concrete, multi-disciplinary strategies to increase students’ cognitive and emotional bandwidth. This workshop reflects on the college experience through the testimonials of Latinx students.

Let’s Pause Right Here: Addressing Microaggressions in the Moment

Students are experiencing increased stress as a result of the pandemic and the social and political unrest in response to recent events. The Fall 2020 Bandwidth Recovery Series was designed to provide faculty with strategies to help students conserve bandwidth so that they can successfully engage in learning under these tense and trying circumstances. Each session provided attendees with a greater awareness of the underlying causes of bandwidth depletion and concrete, multi-disciplinary strategies to increase students’ cognitive and emotional bandwidth. This workshop identifies ways to reduce and address micro aggressions in the classroom.

  • Facilitators: Monica Shirley, Paralegal Studies; Stephanie Whalen, Academy Chair; Rob Hill, Inclusive Instructional Design Specialist
  • Link to recording
  • CEUs: 0.1 – After watching the recording, please complete this personal action plan by July 23, 2021 to receive CEUs.
Tools to Foster Connections in the Remote Environment

This workshop demonstrates technology tools that can be used to promote student-to-student and student-to-instructor connections in a remote learning environment. The session covers the “why” of using a tool and follow with a demonstration of its use in Blackboard from both the instructor and student perspective.

Understanding and Supporting Our Growing South Asian Student Population

Have you noticed our growing South Asian student population? Are you wondering how their various cultural and educational frameworks may affect their classroom experience? Please join us to learn more about the backgrounds and perspectives of some of our larger South Asian student groups so that we can increase our awareness and capacity to support all students’ learning needs. 

  • Facilitators: Malathy Chandrasekar, Seema Kurup, Maham Khan, Bhasker Moorthy, Ranjani Murali, Nupur Sharma, Silky Sharma, Stephanie Whalen 
  • Link to recording
  • CEUs: 0.15 – After watching the recording, please complete this personal action plan by July 23, 2021 to receive CEUs.
Creating Authentic and Educative Assessments

Assessments, including assignments, tests, and informal knowledge checks, allow instructors to measure student learning in their classes. Many traditional assessments focus on auditing students’ knowledge, rather than enabling students to apply and expand their understanding of course material. This workshop introduces the concept of educative assessment and gives participants a chance to transform an assessment into a more authentic and educative learning experience. This on-demand workshop is interactive. The recording includes pauses at various point during which you can write responses to prompts. The case studies, beginning at 28:10, correspond to a Padlet on which you can feel free to add your responses.

Questions? Please contact the Academy at academy@harpercollege.edu.