**ONLINE** Creating Instructional Videos with Your Mobile Device
Monday, November 24, 2025 from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Are you interested in creating your own videos to connect and engage with your students? Instructional videos can be easy to create using your mobile device (like a smartphone) and can be used to deliver content, introduce students to each module, or document a field experience. In this hands-on workshop, we will discuss tips and tricks for creating videos that are both well done and engaging for your students, and practice recording video. Advance registration required.
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**ONLINE** VoiceThread Basics 3- Moderating Comments, Private and Threaded Replies, and Copying
Tuesday, November 25, 2025 from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM
In the third workshop in the series, you will learn how to give private feedback, use threaded commenting, copy VoiceThreads for use with multiple groups, and use comment moderation to formatively assess student work. This session is led by VoiceThread staff. Register Now!
**ONLINE** Calculating Overall Grades with Blackboard Ultra Gradebook
Tuesday, November 25, 2025 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM
In the Blackboard Ultra course view, the Gradebook is a useful tool for tracking student grades and helping students understand their progress throughout the semester on individual assessments, but it can also efficiently calculate an overall grade on an ongoing basis, as well as a final grade. The overall grade is visible to students on the Grades page in the base navigation and provides students with a sense of their current performance. At the end of the semester, NIU faculty can then use the Grade Submission tool to publish grades from the Gradebook directly to MyNIU, saving even more time. In this online workshop, we will discuss how to calculate overall grades, including how to use the weighted total feature, share best practices, and answer questions about specific grading systems. Advance registration required.
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**NEW - ONLINE** Design Made Simple: Enhancing Course Materials with Adobe Express
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 from 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM
Do your course materials capture attention and communicate your message clearly? This hands-on workshop helps faculty explore how Adobe Express can streamline the process of creating course visuals and media. Participants will discover easy ways to build graphics, videos, and short webpages that support student learning and communication. The session emphasizes practical applications, showing how to create new content and how to transform existing course materials into more engaging formats. Advance registration required.
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**ONLINE** Book Chat: Grading for Equity: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How It Can Transform Schools and Classrooms
Wednesday, December 3, 2025 from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM
In our book chats, we read the book so you don’t have to! Join us to discuss Joe Feldman's Grading for Equity, a guide to more accurate, bias-resistant, and motivational grading practices that empower teachers and enhance student learning. We will discuss how traditional grading can be detrimental, especially for underserved students. Let's connect and dive into practical strategies for a more equitable teaching and learning experience. NIU members with login credentials can access the e-book free online through the University Library. Advance registration required.
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** ONLINE** Designing a Course: Learning Outcomes, Learning Activities, and Scaffolding Techniques
Thursday, December 4, 2025 from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Effective course design begins with creating meaningful learning outcomes. The next step is aligning course activities with the learning outcomes. Incorporating the scaffolding instructional technique to provide students with temporary support while they learn a new concept also strengthens the course design. This workshop will cover strategies for applying course design principles and scaffolding techniques to your course. Advance registration required.
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**ONLINE** Show Your Work with Adobe Express Webpages
Tuesday, December 9, 2025 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM
Ready to showcase your work and personality online? This hands-on workshop will guide you through the intuitive process of building dynamic and visually appealing webpages using Adobe Express. Learn how to create engaging educational portfolios to highlight your skills and projects, or craft a compelling personal profile page to share your story and connect with others. We'll cover everything from layout design and multimedia integration to sharing your finished webpage with the world. Come discover how Adobe Express can help you make a memorable digital impression. Advance registration required.
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**IN PERSON** Create Engaging Content in the Digital Media Studio
Wednesday, December 10, 2025 from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM
CITL's Digital Media Studio features two innovative technologies designed to help you create engaging and effective video presentations and require minimum training or help. The One Button Video Studio allows you to create high quality videos with studio lighting, custom backgrounds, and presentation overlays. The Lightboard can be used to create recorded videos featuring handwritten presentation content, and unlike a classroom whiteboard, the lightboard allows users to face their audience. The lightboard can also host live sessions, using Collaborate, Microsoft Teams, or Zoom. In this face-to-face workshop, you will be introduced to tools and techniques that will engage your students with dynamic video content. Advance registration required.
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**ONLINE** Blackboard Office Hours: Calculating and Submitting Final Grades
Thursday, December 11, 2025 from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM
At the end of the semester, there is a short window to calculate grades and submit them by the due date. The Blackboard Grade Center can help you calculate final grades quickly, and then you can use the Blackboard Grade Submission Tool to publish grades directly to MyNIU, saving time and reducing the opportunity for data entry errors. During this session, staff from the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning will be available for you to ask questions individually about how grades are calculated and how to submit them automatically. And, if you already have grading done, you can submit while you are here! Pop-ins are welcome and advance registration is optional.
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**ONLINE** Navigating Tensions: Effective Strategies for Managing Hot Moments in the Classroom
Friday, December 12, 2025 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM
This workshop is designed to provide educators with practical tools and strategies for managing emotionally charged and tense situations in the classroom. Together, we will explore effective ways to prepare your students for challenging conversations and learn how to intervene and de-escalate heated moments, fostering a supportive and inclusive learning environment. We will also discuss ways to promote empathy and understanding in the classroom, encouraging students to listen to diverse viewpoints shaped by different cultural, social, and personal backgrounds. Advance registration required.
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**ONLINE** Using the NIU Quality Essentials to Plan and Evaluate Your Online Course
Wednesday, December 17, 2025 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM
Online learners are resilient, persistent, self-directed learners, but you have an important role to play in helping them be successful. In this workshop, we'll identify and discuss research based standards (NIU Quality Essentials) to enhance your course design. Whether you're developing a course or interested in assessing an existing structure, you can explore the key components that will enhance any online learning space. Advance registration required.
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**ONLINE** NAVIGATE New Users Introduction to Navigate's Functions
Tuesday, January 6, 2026 from 9:15 AM to 10:00 AM
In this virtual session, participants will learn Navigate360 Staff's core features, including text messaging, issuing alerts, and Student Searches. We'll also highlight how students use Study Buddies to engage outside of your class(es)
- Messaging (text and email)
Connect with students to instill a sense of care and belonging. Participants will have hands-on experience with sending a text and an email to the facilitator through Navigate.
- Alerts & Referrals
Identify students in need of additional support and connect them with their care team. Participants will create a plan for when to issue ad hoc alerts for students and plan when to issue the alerts for their classes based on their syllabi.
- Student Searches
Identify students for potential academic recruitment outreach, scholarship promotion, research fellows, etc. Participants will be able to (1) Conduct a student search in Navigate to identify students assigned to them who meet specific criteria and (2) Create a saved search to be used as a template to build additional searches.
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**ONLINE** Spring 2026 Teaching Effectiveness Institute - Teaching Beyond Perfection: Embracing Challenges, Inspiring Growth
Thursday, January 8, 2026 from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Ever had a class where the tech failed, an activity flopped, or your students looked utterly lost?? You're not alone - and that's the point. Teaching is a journey, not a performance. Join us in embracing imperfection as a catalyst for growth through a keynote by Dr. Jessamyn Neuhaus and dynamic sessions with NIU Faculty Teaching Mentors - empowering educators to build resilience, spark innovation, and create thriving teaching communities. Learn more at citl.niu.edu/spring-tei.
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**ONLINE** NAVIGATE Progress Reporting Campaigns: What's their Value and What Happens Next?
Tuesday, January 20, 2026 from 3:15 PM to 4:00 PM
With Navigate Progress Reporting Campaigns (PRCs), you can let NIU know which students in your class(es) are falling behind and need additional support. This session will present results data (AYs 23–25) on student response rates, grade distributions, and course-specific alert trends from AYs 23–25.
Find out the value of Progress Reporting Campaigns to you and to your students' success:
- How to respond to Progress Reporting Campaigns
- What happens after your alerts are posted in Navigate Staff
- Results data from alerts issued during prior terms
Register Now!
**ONLINE** NAVIGATE Progress Reporting Campaigns: What's their Value and What Happens Next?
Thursday, January 22, 2026 from 9:15 AM to 10:00 AM
With Navigate Progress Reporting Campaigns (PRCs), you can let NIU know which students in your class(es) are falling behind and need additional support. This session will present results data (AYs 23–25) on student response rates, grade distributions, and course-specific alert trends from AYs 23–25.
Find out the value of Progress Reporting Campaigns to you and to your students' success:
- How to respond to Progress Reporting Campaigns
- What happens after your alerts are posted in Navigate Staff
- Results data from alerts issued during prior terms
Register Now!
**IN-PERSON** Enriching the Design of General Education - February 2026
Friday, February 6, 2026 from 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM
The Enriching the Design of General Education (EDGE) initiative supports excellence in general education teaching by fostering a thriving and supportive community of practice among faculty and emphasizing the unique philosophy and practices that define general education courses. This in-person brown-bag event will be informal - feel free to bring your lunch!
In this session, we will focus on teaching in each of the three knowledge domains. Join us to engage in a lively discussion with faculty who are teaching in the same knowledge domain and to compare success, challenges, and strategies for addressing the same general education outcomes from different disciplines.
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**NEW - ONLINE** Assessment for Learning Improvement Showcase: Data Storytelling
Friday, February 13, 2026 from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM
A picture is worth a thousand words, but what story does it tell? Data storytelling is an engaging approach to gain insights and make meaning from program level assessments of student learning. Come learn how to facilitate continuous improvement efforts by engaging in productive discussions with colleagues using story elements, data visualization, and qualitative data. Advance registration required.
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**NEW - ONLINE** Community Engagement Brownbag: How to Create a Community Engaged Course
Thursday, February 19, 2026 from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM
If you're curious about how to get started teaching community engaged courses, join us on February 19, 2026 at noon, when Dr. Alicia Schatteman shares her experiences with community engaged teaching and learning at NIU. Learn about the new NIU community-engaged course designation and find out best practices to build and teach a successful community-engaged course. Register Now!
**IN-PERSON** Enriching the Design of General Education - March 2026
Friday, March 6, 2026 from 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM
The Enriching the Design of General Education (EDGE) initiative supports excellence in general education teaching by fostering a thriving and supportive community of practice among faculty and emphasizing the unique philosophy and practices that define general education courses. This in-person brown-bag event will be informal - feel free to bring your lunch!
General education courses provide opportunities for innovation at every turn including exciting topics, bold approaches to teaching, and unexpected perspectives on learning. This session will feature a panel of faculty who have taken new and fascinating approaches to teaching general education courses.
Register Now!
**IN-PERSON** Enriching the Design of General Education - April 2026
Friday, April 3, 2026 from 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM
The Enriching the Design of General Education (EDGE) initiative supports excellence in general education teaching by fostering a thriving and supportive community of practice among faculty and emphasizing the unique philosophy and practices that define general education courses. This in-person brown-bag event will be informal - feel free to bring your lunch!
Don't miss this exciting session!
Register Now!
**NEW - ONLINE** Community Engagement Brownbag: Engaged Classrooms, Stronger Research: Expanding Faculty Capacity Through Teaching
Tuesday, April 14, 2026 from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM
Discover how Professor Melani Duffrin integrates research and teaching — two pillars often viewed separately in academia. Over the lunch hour, we’ll explore how experiential learning can transform your research capacity while providing invaluable experiences for students. This approach not only enhances student learning but also expands your research capabilities, diversifies funding sources and brings fresh perspectives to your work. Register Now!
