Center for Teaching and Learning
Summer 2015 Newsletter
SCC's Center for Teaching and Learning Mission
Services
- Workshops
- Individual training
- Troubleshooting
The CTL Team
Sarah Risi is the Learning Facilitator of the Center for Teaching and Learning.
Pat Serrano is the Quality Matters Project Manager.
Ron Schilling is the Adobe Connect, Panopto and Voicethread Project Manager. Ron will be available until May 15.
Facilities and Tools Available
- The Technology Learning Center (IT110)
- Computers with Specialized SoftWare
- The Audio Booth (IT116)
- iPad Classroom Cart
- Short-term iPad Checkout
- Livescribe Pens
- Personal Response Systems/Clickers
Summer Support
Sarah Risi, the CTL's Learning Facilitator, will be available by appointment to help you explore new concepts, conduct unofficial QM reviews, and more.
Email her at Sarah.Risi@scottsdalecc.edu to schedule an appointment.
Tech Tips
Crossroads
The growing complexity of technology in education may make one feel they are alone pondering…
“What device and which Apps?”
Crossroads, a dynamic website, is where technology intersects with pedagogy; exploring, rating and sharing teaching and learning experiences through lesson design with a worldwide community for the 21st century classroom. Throughout this site you will find technology tools organized by lesson design standards. This framework gives educators a road to purposefully integrate technology to support learners.
Want to learn more about Crossroads, check out the TechTalk here.
Canvas - Check your Links
Canvas' new community launched April 15! What does this mean to you?
The single most important takeaway from this is any current links to Canvas Guides will no longer work after June 30. So, if you are using information (such as Getting Started modules, course templates, etc.) that links to Canvas guides, or if you have linked to Canvas materials to help students get started with how to do something in your course related to Canvas, you will need to update those links to the new community links.
Instructure will have redirects in place for the links until June 30, but after that time the redirects will no longer work.
Canvas - Deletion of Old Courses
To reduce the quantity of old courses on the server, Spring 2014 and older SIS courses will begin being deleted the third week in September. Here is MCCCD's official policy on records and information management. Here is what you can do to prepare. Begin exporting your old Canvas courses, you want to retain a copy of (the export file can be imported into another Canvas course at a later time). A course export does not include student records. Student grades and work should be downloaded at the end of each semester. Once the course deletions are finished, you can expect five semesters of courses to be retained.
Contact SCC's HelpDesk with any questions.
Resources
Syllabus Template
Please feel free to use, revise and share this Syllabus Template. The template has the latest language in regard to accommodations and Title IX/Sexual Harassment.
The syllabus template [NEED LINK] includes all of the required elements of a syllabus per the Syllabus Regulations, as well as recommended components, which are highlighted in green. The format of the syllabus template is a table format, rows can easily be deleted to remove information, added to include your own syllabus components, and border lines can be hidden for organizing the content of the syllabus.
Additionally, revisions will be made to the College Catalog and Student Handbook for the 2015-2016 Academic Year, and will be available the first week of July, so be sure to refresh your links. The template will be updated at that time.
Retention Efforts
Given that summer has fast-paced, condensed courses, it is important to implement measures to help our students succeed. Here are a few things you may want to try.
- Contact your students the week prior to class beginning to let them know of textbooks, and materials they need as well as where the class will be held (link to a campus map and provide tips on where to park for easy access), how to log in to Canvas or other technology sites to be used, etc.
- Send students a short list of success strategies for each class before it begins.
- Let students know about office hours and academic support services and encourage their use.
To encourage students to register for Fall classes:
- Send emails to former students in your program and who have completed your classes to encourage them to return.
Open Educational Resources (OER)
This flyer provides information on the basics of OER.
Want to learn more about OER? Check out this free, online Massively Open Online Course (MOOC) that will provide you with the basics of OER and Creative Commons licensing.
Scottsdale Community College is embarking on the journey to reaffirm our accreditation with the Higher Learning Commission. In the 2016-2017 academic year we will submit an assurance argument along with artifacts to support that we are meeting the components of the five criterion of accreditation as identified by the HLC. For more information regarding accreditation, please check out the SCC Accreditation website.
Criterion one focuses on the mission of the college. At SCC our mission centers on the students and support of their success. During the Fall of 2014 we enlisted the campus to participate in a video contest. We asked them to show in movie format how their office or department fulfills the mission of SCC. We received amazing and creative video submissions. The ultimate winning video was submitted by the Library Division and can be watched by clicking on the video below.
Online Support
SmarterMeasure - Online Readiness Survey
Students can take this survey, which will provide the student and the instructor with valuable feedback in the following areas.
- Personal Attributes
- Learning Styles
- Reading Comprehension
- Technical Competency
- Technical Knowledge
- Typing Speed & Accuracy
It takes 20-30 minutes to complete and gives the student and the instructor instant results. The survey is not designed to exclude students from courses. The survey is designed to provide valuable feedback for the student in regards to their strengths and weaknesses related to online learning. From this feedback students can work to strengthen their weaknesses and enhance successful learning.
Online Proctoring with ProctorU
ProctorU is a live online proctoring service that allows exam takers to complete their assessment at home while still ensuring the integrity of the exam for the institution. Using almost any webcam and computer, students can take exams at home, at work, or anywhere they have internet access.
SCC has an agreement with ProctorU, an online proctoring service, to provide online proctoring of tests. The cost, $25 per 2-hour exam, is paid by the student. Here is some more information on this service:
SCC's Online Proctoring Portal
If you are interested in learning more about this service or using this service as an option for students, please review the materials below and contact Lisa Young for more information.
Useful Tools
Adobe Connect
Synchronously connect to your students in a new way.
Adobe Connect is an online classroom/web conferencing tool recently purchased by Maricopa for use at all the colleges. Connect can be used to host online office hours, deliver virtual real-time class presentations or conduct a live exam review session. (The tool can also be used for employee web conferencing.)
Panopto - Capture audio, video, computer and more
Panopto is an easy-to-use audio/video capture system, which can be used in a classroom, in your office or at home.
Students can view the Panopto recordings anywhere; you can even set it up with your Canvas course!
Panopto can record your voice and picture, additionally you can capture PowerPoint slides, any computer screen image, and any peripheral device plugged into the computer (such as a document camera).
Voicethread
VoiceThread is an asynchronous, interactive, multimedia tool.
While Canvas provides a Discussions tool, VoiceThread expands on that concept, with greater convenience and functionality. SCC has a site-wide license for VoiceThread and it works within Canvas.
- Upload, share and discuss documents, presentations, images, audio files and videos.
- Comment on VoiceThread slides using microphone, webcam, text, phone, and audio-file upload.