December 6

MOQI Webinars for Spring Semester 2018

MOQI Webinar LogoAre you looking for professional development opportunities without needing to leave your office? MOQI has just the thing for you. Check out the list of FREE webinars  scheduled from January through April. Review the list, find something of interest, and register today.  The MN Quality Online Initiative (MOQI) promotes quality course design through professional development and statewide collaboration. 

Wed. January 10, 2018

Noon- 1

MOQI Webinar: Mediaspace for Recorded Lectures

In this webinar, participants will learn how to capture a lecture using Mediaspace as well as how to integrate their lectures into D2L Brightspace. This webinar will focus on the technical aspects of recording lectures including audio levels, camera composition, capturing web camera and PowerPoint presentations, editing, machine-close caption the video and share this in D2L Brightspace. Step-by-step guides will be provided.

Register for webinar: https://mnquality.eventbrite.com
Wed. January 24, 2018

Noon -1

 

MOQI Webinar: Tips to Improve Navigation, Usability, and Organization in Your Online or Blended Course
This session will introduce you to different ways to create and organize your course content to improve the learning experience for your students. Tips will include different content creation strategies to improve accessibility and usability. Several different course organization approaches will be shared that will streamline the learning experience for your students including how to link other Brightspace and external tools into your course content area.

Register for webinar: https://mnquality.eventbrite.com
Wed. February 14, 2018

Noon – 1

MOQI Webinar: Increase Student Engagement Using Discussion Boards
In this webinar, you will be introduced to several, easy to implement discussion techniques that can be used for any class to increase student engagement.

Participants will be introduced to ways you can engage your students with icebreakers to get to know each other, team building, introduce new technologies, hands-on experience with the discussion tool.

Participants will also learn how to structure a debate online to increase student critical thinking skills and deepen their knowledge on course topics, incorporate scenario based learning as an effective way for students to apply what they are learning to realistic situation and participants will learn how to create a discussion board in which students can become the expert on a course topic requiring them research, apply concepts and examples. Templates, assignment directions and examples will be provided.

After this webinar you will be able to:

1.     Discuss techniques for increasing engagement using the discussion board.

2.     Utilize planning worksheets and templates to implement discussion board concepts.

3.     Increase student engagement with discussion boards.

Register for webinar: https://mnquality.eventbrite.com
Wed. February 21, 2018

Noon – 1

MOQI Webinar: Accessibility, UDL, and You
In this webinar, participants will learn the difference between the accessible course design and Universal Design for Learning (UDL).  They will review the important role faculty play in designing courses that are accessible and inclusive. Principles of UDL will be introduced.

Participants will learn about how to create accessible course content using Word, PowerPoint, Mediaspace, and D2L Brightspace files.  Handouts and guides will be provided.

After this webinar, you will be able to:

1. Explain the difference between and main concepts of accessible course design, accommodation, and Universal Design Learning principles.

2. Identify several strategies for implementing UDL principles in your own course.

3. Create accessible course content including course documents (Word, PowerPoint, PDF), video captioning in Mediaspace, and content pages in Brightspace.

Register for webinar: https://mnquality.eventbrite.com
Wed. February 28, 2018

Noon-1

MOQI Webinar: Learning Objectives: What, Why, Where, & How

Well-written learning objectives establish the foundation upon which courses are designed and delivered.  They form the basis for the instructional materials and assessments that are included in the course. Learning Objectives serve as an implied contract between the instructor and student by defining what is to be taught and what is to be learned, so communicating these objectives clearly is a crucial step in assuring an effective learning experience.

This session will review best practices for creating and sharing measurable learning objectives in your online or blended course.

Register for webinar: https://mnquality.eventbrite.com
Wed. March 7, 2018

Noon – 1

MOQI Webinar: The ABCs of Assessments

Assessment, Evaluation, and Testing are often used interchangeably.  What do we mean when we talk about formative assessment, summative assessment, aligned assessment, and evaluation?  Is that the same as testing?

Assessment is a crucial part of any course because it allows your students to demonstrate mastery of the learning objectives.  But how do you know what type of assessment to choose?

Register for webinar: https://mnquality.eventbrite.com
Wed. March 21, 2018

Noon-1

MOQI Webinar: Lights, Camera, Action…Recorded Lectures
This session will feature practical information and skills needed to produce high-quality and polished recorded lectures. In addition to a review of PowerPoint fundamentals and design, participants will learn what makes a clear and engaging recorded lecture, how to fine-tune delivery, what to capture and best practices from the broadcast industry and on-air presence. This session will focus on the pedagogy of recorded lectures not the technology. Templates and handouts for producing recorded lectures will be provided.

After this webinar you will be able to:

1.     Describe PowerPoint design elements: theme, images, accessibility features, and use of master templates.

2.     Create a video outline for instructional videos.

3.     Utilize a planning document to produce effective recorded lectures.

4.     Apply broadcast industry best practices for recorded lectures.

Register for webinar: https://mnquality.eventbrite.com
Wed. March 28, 2018

Noon – 1

MOQI Webinar: Accessibility, UDL, and You
In this webinar, participants will learn the difference between the accessible course design and Universal Design for Learning (UDL).  They will review the important role faculty play in designing courses that are accessible and inclusive. Principles of UDL will be introduced.

Participants will learn about how to create accessible course content using Word, PowerPoint, Mediaspace, and D2L Brightspace files.  Handouts and guides will be provided.

After this webinar, you will be able to:

1. Explain the difference between and main concepts of accessible course design, accommodation, and Universal Design Learning principles.

2. Identify several strategies for implementing UDL principles in your own course.

3. Create accessible course content including course documents (Word, PowerPoint, PDF), video captioning in Mediaspace, and content pages in Brightspace.

Register for webinar: https://mnquality.eventbrite.com
Wed. April 4, 2018

Noon – 1

MOQI Webinar: Mediaspace for Recorded Lectures
In this webinar, participants will learn how to capture a lecture using Mediaspace as well as how to integrate their lectures into D2L Brightspace. This webinar will focus on the technical aspects of recording lectures including audio levels, camera composition, capturing web camera and PowerPoint presentations, editing, machine-close caption the video and share this in D2L Brightspace. Step-by-step guides will be provided.

After this webinar you will be able to:

1. Utilize Mediaspace to record lectures including web camera and presentations.

2. Share recorded lectures in D2L Brightspace.

Register for webinar: https://mnquality.eventbrite.com
Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Noon – 1

MOQI Webinar: Tips to Improve Navigation, Usability, and Organization in your Online or Blended Course

This session will introduce you to different ways to create and organize your course content to improve the learning experience for your students. Tips will include different content creation strategies to improve accessibility and usability. Several different course organization approaches will be shared that will streamline the learning experience for your students including how to link other Brightspace and external tools into your course content area.

Register for webinar: https://mnquality.eventbrite.com

 

Category: Professional Development, Uncategorized | LEAVE A COMMENT
June 22

Respondus Assessment Tool

Respondus is a powerful tool for creating and managing exams that can be printed to paper or published directly to D2L Brightspace. Exams are created offline directly in the software, then quickly uploaded to your specific D2L course. This time-saver tool is available to St. Cloud State faculty, so if you wish to use it let us know and we will instal it and give you a quick tutorial on how to use it.

Here, I will list the major features and provide 5 minute video tutorials for creating your quizzes and publishing them to your D2L course.

Authoring Features

  • Create exams and assessments offline using a Windows interface
  • Supports up to 15 question types, including calculated and algorithmic formats
  • Import questions from MS Word (including embedded images), rich-text, QTI, and tab/comma delimited formats
  • Access to thousands of Respondus-compatible publisher test banks – FREE to instructors who adopt a participating textbook

Preview, Publish and Printing Features

  • Preview questions before publishing them to D2L
  • Publish exams and assessments directly to an online course (media files are automatically uploaded)
  • Determine point values and exam settings offline
  • Print exams/surveys directly from Respondus, or save files to MS Word or rich-text format

Retrieval and Reporting Features

  • Retrieve exams from the leading learning platforms, complete with media files*
  • Retrieve custom reports, such as student scores, summary statistics, and answer distributions*
  • Download answer databases for quizzes or surveys and save them in an Excel-compatible format*
  • Archive and restore exam/survey projects (including media content) with one click — ideal for providing a colleague with a ready-to-use exam
Category: Product Watch, Spotlight on Ed Tech | LEAVE A COMMENT
February 17

8 MOOCs that Support Technology in Teaching

online_livingroom 011An article written by Dian Schaffhauser on Campus Technology website has listed 8 MOOCs that can help faculty learn more on technology use in classroom (“8 MOOCs for Better Technology-Enhanced Teaching”). These professional development opportunities are, of course, open and offered through different universities. They are offered at different times, are self paced, and you can take what interests you the most from them. I will list them as they appear in the article.

1) Instructional Design Service Course: Gain Experience for Good    (starts February 22; runs 12 weeks; requires 2-3 hours of work per week, Canvas platform, Description: Learn how to create open educational resources (OER) for people in adult basic education programs.)

2) Becoming a Blended Learning Designer    (starts February 22; runs for 5 weeks; requires 2-3 hours of work per week, canvas paltform, Description: This MOOC will talk you through the Blended Learning Toolkit, a free, open resource for institutions that want to develop or expand their blended learning programs.)

3) Teaching with Tablets  (February 29, 2016; runs for 5 weeks; requires about 3 hours of work per week, Blackboard platform, Description: Intended for educators from elementary school through higher ed, this MOOC will cover the use of iPads and other tablets for teaching and learning.)

4) Accessibility: Designing and Teaching Courses for All Learners  (February 22, 2016; runs 6 weeks, Canvas, Description: Your chance to gain the knowledge and skills to design inclusive learning experiences, especially for students with disabilities.)

5) Disability Awareness and Support  (Timeline: Self-paced, Coursera, Description: Advance your understanding of accessibility issues in education, including legislation, universal design and assistive technologies.)

6) Prior Learning Assessment for Educators and Industry (February 22; runs 3 weeks; requires 2 hours of work per week, Canvas, Description: This course will teach you how to develop policies and articulations for credit for prior learning (CPL), explain the use of portfolios and assessments and introduce you to existing credit “crosswalks” and assessment resources.)

7) Blended Learning Essentials: Getting Started (March 7; runs for 5 weeks; requires about 4 hours of work per week, FutureLearn platform, Description: This UK-produced course covers multiple practices and pedagogies to help participants learn how to use blended or hybrid tools and technologies “with confidence.” The “getting started” session is followed by an additional series on “embedding the practices.”)

8) Leaders of Learning (May 2016; runs 6 weeks; requires 2-4 hours of work per week, edX platform, Description: Richard Elmore, a professor of educational leadership in the Harvard Graduate School of Education, takes participants on a tour of the “shifting landscape of learning.” You’ll explore how learning is changing in a digital culture.)

Category: Accessibility in Online Learning, Course Design, Online and Distance Education, Online Teaching Pedagogy, Open Educational Resources, Professional Development | LEAVE A COMMENT
September 8

TK20: A Summer of Fun!

Photo Credit: http://www.tk20.com/

By Holly Evers
Assessment and Accreditation Coordinator

What did you do on your summer vacation? Ask around and you will find that there was a buzz of Tk20 activity going on behind the scenes, while you were away this summer!

A large delegation of campus users presented at the Tk20 User Conference. A group from the Meta-assessment Faculty Learning Community talked about meta-assessment (the assessment of assessment) in TK20. There is an underutilized area of the system built specifically to provide feedback on assessment plans. SCSU and the Meta-assessment FLC are pioneering its use.

A second group from School of Health and Human Services presented on how to adapt Tk20 for use outside of Education. Much of the system was built for the specific needs of education and its rigorous accreditation, but other areas of study undergo just as much scrutiny from external agencies. SHHS explained to this national audience how they are adapting and using areas of the Tk20 system like Field Experience, Applications, and Surveys to fulfill the needs of their own accrediting bodies.

Finally, there is a plethora of TK20 training opportunities coming up this fall. The School of Education is doing a brown bag lunch series. I will be doing drop in sessions and formal system training. The School of Health and Human Services will be doing more Lunch and Learn sessions. Be on the lookout for announcements with dates, times and locations!

And as always: let us know if you would like additional information about the Tk20 system. We are here to serve!

Category: Do you Tk20?, Future Trends, How Does It Work? | LEAVE A COMMENT
May 21

What Tk20 Is, and What It Isn’t

Photo Credit: http://www.tk20.com/

Photo Credit: http://www.tk20.com/

By Holly Evers and Carol Kuhn

What Tk20 is

Someone once asked: what do you want to know about your students? What are you curious to find out about your program? Tk20, a comprehensive assessment tool used throughout the St. Cloud State campus, provides an opportunity for you and your colleagues to answer these, and other, questions.

Tk20 was purchased in 2013 in order to better manage assessment and assessment reporting—effectively leaping us from our paper-based reporting system into the 21st Century. We expanded the initial purchase for the University’s accredited programs. We now have a collection of tools to help us better manage both assessment and, for those that need it, accreditation.

We offer training and a myriad of supports—quick guides, videos, one-on-one sessions, and webinars. We do not want you to be afraid nor do we want you to feel abandoned. Tk20 isn’t hard to learn or hard to use. Believe us when we say: It is safe to go in and push buttons and see what happens. It might require some patience, but in return you get the tried and true honor of learning a new technology.

Some amazing features of Tk20 include:

• The ability to track your internships, student teaching or other field experience.
• Electronic portfolios
• An electronic CV feature with a PDP/PDR report (custom built for SCSU!)
• An accreditation report and website builder

This is a small slice of the system’s capabilities. Egon Guba, founder of Western Michigan’s Evaluation Center, suggests that “evaluation’s most important purpose is not to prove but to improve”. Tk20 provides the campus with systematic processes to track that improvement.

What Tk20 is not

We wish we could wave a magic wand and make stacks of paper disappear from your desk and re-appear in an amazing aggregated report. Oh wait! We can! Unfortunately, TK20 is not fully automated; it requires your input—mission, outcomes, assessment reports—which requires the most precious of all commodities: time*

The system is not going to replicate your current system of assessment exactly. Both TK20 and those of us on the implementation end are eager to work with you to re-frame and adapt both the system and your assessment measures to figure out what works. Who knows? It may do a few things you hadn’t thought of! And if we run out of ideas, we are tapped into a battery of users in Minnesota who regularly share thoughts and innovative system usage.

Tk20 is not magic, but we believe it can help.

We invite your questions and concerns under the ATTN bi-line, “The Rumor Mill”

*incidentally, I cannot magically give you time, either.

Category: Do you Tk20? | LEAVE A COMMENT