**ONLINE** Technology Thursday: Exploring Kaltura Features
Thursday, August 5, 2021 from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Learn about NIU's video platform, Kaltura! This workshop will provide a broad overview of the features and functions of Kaltura and strategies for incorporating these to meet your multimedia needs. Topics covered in this introductory workshop will include uploading videos, recording webcam video, screen recording, basic editing features, and more. This workshop will also prepare you for the next series of Kaltura workshops covering more advanced features. Advance registration is required.
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**ONLINE** Teaching Tuesday: Designing an Accessible Course Syllabus
Tuesday, August 10, 2021 from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM
The course syllabus is an essential component of your course and should be precise, clear and accessible. A syllabus is often the first means of communication between you and all of your students. A well-designed, accessible syllabus follows Universal Design Principles for Learning and benefits all students. In this workshop, you will be provided with tools to help you create a well-organized and accessible course syllabus. Advance registration required.
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**ONLINE** Wisdom Wednesday: Teaching the First Day of Class
Wednesday, August 11, 2021 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM
Whether you have been teaching for years or are about to teach your very first semester, being prepared for the first day of class takes planning. No matter how hard you try to find your course notes from last semester, discover a new technique to remember your students’ names, or begin using a new technology in the classroom, careful planning for the first day is critical to making a positive initial impression on your students (and making you feel good about the class, too). Advance registration is required.
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**ONLINE** Strategies for Managing a Hybrid Classroom
Thursday, August 12, 2021 from 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM
Faculty and students both look forward to in-person courses, but as COVID-19 case rates continue to change, our teaching strategies must also adapt to the current environment. Livestreaming or recording your in-person sessions, will offer students flexibility and control over their learning environment, but it creates challenges for you. In this workshop, we will discuss strategies to manage a hybrid classroom in which students are in-person and remote, and introduce the technologies to support their learning. Advance registration is required.
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**ONLINE** Technology Thursday: Introduction to Live Online Classes Using Blackboard Collaborate
Thursday, August 12, 2021 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM
Many faculty consider live, personal interaction to be the most valuable element of quality teaching and learning experiences. Blackboard Collaborate is web conferencing/collaboration tool that faculty and students rely on to provide opportunities for live interaction and personal connection in online and blended courses. In this workshop, you will be able to try the features of Collaborate first-hand, no previous experience needed. Advance registration required.
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Fall 2021 Teaching Effectiveness Institute - Small Teaching with James Lang
Friday, August 13, 2021 from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM
While large and complex teaching innovations can be exciting and effective, research from the learning sciences suggests that a few small, manageable changes can improve learning in almost any type of course, from traditional lectures to flipped classrooms. In this session, you will learn practical strategies that can have a positive impact on student learning and consider how you might apply them in your upcoming courses. This event will be held in-person and offered via livestream.
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Fall 2021 Teaching Effectiveness Institute - Teaching Distracted Learners with James Lang
Friday, August 13, 2021 from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM
We frequently express concerns about the distractibility of our students, but our real focus should be on how we help students achieve attention. Scholarship from history, neuroscience, and education suggest that distractions are endemic to the human condition and cannot be walled out from the physical or online classroom. Instead, in this session you will learn research-based strategies for cultivating and sustaining students' attention. This event will be held in-person and offered via livestream.
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**ONLINE** Fall 2021 Teaching Assistant Institute
Monday, August 16, 2021 from 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM
To be held August 16 - August 20, 2021
The Teaching Assistant Institute will be offered entirely online with a combination of live synchronous events and recorded videos to introduce graduate teaching assistants to critical principles for teaching and providing teaching-related support. Topics will include cultural competency and inclusive teaching, engaging students, and resources at NIU to support teaching and learning. More details available at citl.niu.edu/ta-institute
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**ONLINE** Getting to Know Blackboard Ultra
Monday, August 16, 2021 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM
The Ultra Experience of Blackboard Learn offers exciting new opportunities for teaching and learning while simultaneously maintaining the comfortable familiarity of our previous version of Blackboard Learn (now dubbed Original). Learn how to navigate an Ultra style classroom as we explore its unique functions and capabilities. Its simplified workflows and accessible, fully responsive design make it easier than ever to teach and learn, from any device. Advance registration is required.
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**ONLINE** Using LockDown Browser & Respondus Monitor: Preventing Cheating During Online Exams
Tuesday, August 17, 2021 from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM
This comprehensive training webinar delivered by Respondus staff. It is intended for instructors who plan to use LockDown Browser and/or Respondus Monitor with online exams. The session provides a detailed demonstration of both applications, including enhancements that make Respondus Monitor even more effective and easy to use. Register Now!
**ONLINE** Getting to Know Blackboard Ultra
Friday, August 20, 2021 from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM
The Ultra Experience of Blackboard Learn offers exciting new opportunities for teaching and learning while simultaneously maintaining the comfortable familiarity of our previous version of Blackboard Learn (now dubbed Original). Learn how to navigate an Ultra style classroom as we explore its unique functions and capabilities. Its simplified workflows and accessible, fully responsive design make it easier than ever to teach and learn, from any device. Advance registration is required.
Register Now!
**ONLINE** Strategies for Managing a Hybrid Classroom
Friday, August 20, 2021 from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM
Faculty and students both look forward to in-person courses, but as COVID-19 case rates continue to change, our teaching strategies must also adapt to the current environment. Livestreaming or recording your in-person sessions, will offer students flexibility and control over their learning environment, but it creates challenges for you. In this workshop, we will discuss strategies to manage a hybrid classroom in which students are in-person and remote, and introduce the technologies to support their learning. Advance registration is required.
Register Now!
**NEW - ONLINE** Technology Thursday: Creating Multimedia to Enhance Learning
Thursday, August 26, 2021 from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Incorporating multimedia into your course can be extremely valuable to your students' learning. Some multimedia technology can be complicated to use. In this workshop, you will learn about some available and easy to use tools and studio space to record and share videos for short lectures, demonstrations, and more. Discovery which tool is best for you and your students. Advance registration is required.
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**NEW - ONLINE** Teaching Tuesday: Getting Students to Read and Respond to Your Feedback
Tuesday, August 31, 2021 from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Feedback is meant to help students learn from their performance and apply what they have learned to revision, resubmission, and future assessment. Once we develop and implement strategies to encourage students to read and respond to our feedback, they will be more likely to see the value in that feedback and their learning will benefit as a result. Advance registration is required.
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**ONLINE** Technology Thursday: Blackboard: Assessment Tools to Measure Student Achievement
Thursday, September 2, 2021 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM
Blackboard Ultra offers instructors a variety of useful options for online assessment. Each tool can incorporate text, images, and multimedia into your assessments and student work is automatically available in gradebook for easy grading and feedback. In this workshop, you will have the opportunity to learn effective practices for using assignments, tests and graded discussions to measure student achievement. Advance registration is required.
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**ONLINE** Teaching Tuesdays: Facilitating Group Work Online
Tuesday, September 7, 2021 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM
Group work can be an excellent way to engage students in an online course. When effectively implemented, students working in groups or teams can foster critical thinking and dynamic interaction in an online environment. In this workshop, we will explore different types of group structures, identify the benefits and challenges of group work and discuss how to set up group online. Advance registration required.
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**ONLINE** Wisdom Wednesday: Humanize Your Course with VoiceThread
Wednesday, September 8, 2021 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM
Creating engaging online courses is not easy. In many discussion-board based courses, students feel isolated and disconnected from their instructors and classmates. VoiceThread bridges the gaps in social presence typically found in online courses. In this workshop, you will learn how to establish a social presence and connect with your students using VoiceThread to improve course satisfaction and student learning. Advance registration is required. Register Now!
**NEW - ONLINE** Technology Thursday: Integrating Technologies to Foster Inclusive Interaction in Your Course
Thursday, September 9, 2021 from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Bring your student engagement to the next level by choosing the right technology to integrate into your course. Students learn from you, other students and by engaging with the content. In this workshop, you will discover some strategies and tools to create an inclusive learning community enriched with the technologies that will fit your active learning classroom. Learn more about how to create interactive quizzes, video discussions and collaborative spaces, just to name a few. Advance registration is required.
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**ONLINE** Teaching Tuesday: Formative and Summative Assessment
Tuesday, September 14, 2021 from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Good assessment techniques are more than assigning a grade to your students. Formative assessments can be used throughout the semester to guide instructional decisions, while summative assessments truly measure students achievement of the course learning objectives. In this workshop, we will discuss multiple ways that assessment can be used within a course, a variety of assessment options, and some guidelines for designing effective assessments. Advance registration is required.
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**ONLINE** Wisdom Wednesday: Book Chat on From Equity Talk to Equity Walk: Expanding Practitioner Knowledge to Racial Justice in Higher Education
Wednesday, September 15, 2021 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM
In a book chat, we read the book so that you don’t have to! During our next book chat, we will be discussing From Equity Talk to Equity Walk: Expanding Practitioner Knowledge for Racial Justice in Higher Education by Tia Brown McNair, Estela Mara Bensimon, and Lindsey Malcom-Piqueux. We will discuss the authors’ practical guidance for achieving equitable outcomes. This book provides real-world steps that reinforce elements for equity in student achievement through a lens for institional and systemic change. You will have opportunities to share your own experiences, ask questions, and connect with your colleagues. Advance registration is required.
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**ONLINE** Technology Thursday: Blackboard Interactive Rubrics
Thursday, September 16, 2021 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM
The Interactive Rubric tool in Blackboard Ultra Course View makes it possible for rubrics with click-and-score simplicity to be built into the grading workflow, increasing efficiency while also supporting consistent and high quality feedback. During this workshop we'll explore the Interactive Rubrics tool in Blackboard Ultra Course View and sample interactive rubrics applied to various types of Blackboard assessments. We'll highlight the steps for creating an Interactive Rubric using percentages and applying it to an assignment for grading. We will also cover how to reuse a rubric within a Blackboard course or share with other faculty.
Advance registration is required.
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**NEW - ONLINE** Teaching Tuesday: Developing Fair, Consistent, and Transparent Grading Practices
Tuesday, September 21, 2021 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM
Each professor’s grading policies reflect their own beliefs about student learning, motivation, and success. Grading policies often vary across campus, within individual departments, and even between instructors in the same department teaching the same course. Faculty may believe that their grading practices are fair, but oftentimes policies inadvertently perpetuate achievement disparities. While grades can be more indicative of how an individual instructor grades than a valid assessment of student learning, there are more serious considerations to grading regarding equity. Traditional grading approaches often advantage privileged students while disadvantaging historically underserved students, which can interfere with retention and success efforts. In this workshop, explore research-based grading practices that promote equity and examine why certain policies may contribute to achievement gaps. Advance registration is required.
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**ONLINE** Teaching Tuesday: Using Rubrics for Assessment
Tuesday, September 28, 2021 from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Rubrics can help you grade more objectively, save grading time, and assist students in completing assignments. Using rubrics to provide feedback to your students is a great way to allow them to track their progress. In this workshop, you will learn to create and use rubrics for assignments, discussions, presentations, and even tests. Advance registration required.
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