We found 283 results that contain "virtual events"

How many times have you been on campus at MSU - using a restroom, walking by a bulletin board in a hallway, waiting for an elevator - and saw a flyer or poster for an upcoming event. "Ooo, that sounds super interesting!" You scan the printed sheet of paper for details. "Bummer! I missed it." I have been at MSU in a variety of capacities since 2008 and I cannot count the number of times this has happened to me. If I happened to walk through a building that was outside my usual route and see a program or event of interest, it usually had already passed. Once I began my work in educational development, alongside with my doctoral studies in HALE, this became increasingly frusterating. I saw really cool topics, relevant across disciplines, being offered to limited groups - or even worse, being open to all MSU educators but not being promoted broadly. I was missing out so I knew others were as well. So when I saw the #iteachmsu Commons Educator Events Calendar, I was super excited. There is now a common calendar that, just like all of the #iteachmsu Commons, is for educators by educators. Anyone with MSU credentials can log in to iteach.msu.edu and share an event on the calendar. From unit, college, or organization-sponsored programs like educator trainings and workshops, to individual initatives like communities of practice, coworks, or meet-ups, any scheduled activity with an intended/open audience of folx who support the teaching and learning, student succes, and/or outreach mission of the university can be shared here!
      
From a self-proclaimed lifelong learner, I'm really excited to have a "one stop shop" where I can determine MSU personal growth and professional development activities, but as an educator at the Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation I am also thrilled about some of the ways the new #iteachmsu site functionality supports program facilitators. The "Going" button on an event details page can be linked directly to your event's registration. You can upload supporting materials or pre-activity details. There are easy ways to designate both face-to-face and virtual events. There's even a discussion thread for comments on each event!            If you have events that support MSU educators, start sharing them on the #iteachmsu Events Calendar today!Article cover photo by Windows on Unsplash

Just as in-person events need to accommodate diversity and special needs factors, virtual events present similar challenges and calls-to-action for your team. Tackling accessibility issues (e.g., screen reader compatibility, proper contrast, WCAG compliance, etc.) will ensure that everyone can partake of the event equally and protects the university from legal ramifications.
Examples of key accessibility-related topics include, but are not limited to the following:

Effort:

Closed captioning is needed for live presentations and
Website images must include alternative
Contrast should be evaluated to confirm WCAG AA
Content should be tested to confirm screen reader
Color choices must support colorblindness


Audit:

The Hub can assist with accessibility
Third-party support teams can be secure to assist with



To learn more about accessibility and virtual events, visit the following:

An Accessibility & Inclusion Checklist for Virtual Events
Accessibility: Resources to Help Ensure Accessibility of Your Virtual Events for People with Disabilities
Ensuring Virtual Events Are Accessible For All

The MSU Museum has a variety of great online resources that you can integrate into your teaching! Options include object-based activities, museum exhibition materials, and links to collection databases. Check out the options and let us know if you would like to consult with a museum staff member, to help with course activity design. Contact campus liaison Elesha Newberry (newber39@msu.edu).
 
 

Topic Area: Information Session
Presented By: Erica Shifflet-Chila, Gary Anderson, Gretchen Sheneman
Abstract:
This session will detail a pilot program used by The School of Social Work to begin studying the use of Virtual Reality as a supplement to current methods of child welfare training for both students and currently practicing professionals. Recruiting, orienting, training and retaining a competent workforce in the field of child welfare is serious business. Social workers, and other child welfare professionals, are responsible for investigating reports of child abuse and neglect, assessing the safety and well-being of children, and potentially removing children from their parents temporarily or permanently. Creating and supporting a workforce able to make good decisions requires careful training and that is the challenge. Training professionals typically relies on classroom teaching methods or shadowing veteran workers in the course of their work in the community. Classroom role-playing and case discussions lacks authenticity and shadowing provides limited exposure to family circumstances and minimal responsibility for assessing family strengths and risks. Immersive scenarios delivered through virtual reality technology introduces the powerful learning environment lacking in the traditional training room and provides an intense and realistic experience that can be explored beyond job shadowing. So, MSU School of Social Work invested in a pilot program: licensing virtual reality equipment and an actor-staged immersive home visit for training purposes. The goal for this round-table session is to offer an introduction to this learning tool, and lead discussion on how this technology could be incorporated into other fields.
Session Resources: VR as a Teaching Tool (PowerPoint)

Topic Area: Pandemic Pivot
Presented by: Carrie Hauser
Abstract:
COVID unexpectedly challenged us all to truly assess the needs of our students, what it means to have a campus environment, and how to develop that in a virtual space. The Michigan School of Psychology (MSP), a small graduate program in Farmington Hills, is known for having a very personal and connected environment. Faculty and staff know almost the entire campus by name and students are truly invested in each other’s lives. When the school changed to remote teaching in March, 2020, the Student Engagement Office went to work to figure out how to offer anything virtual that would create that same feeling of care and nurture that the campus typically provided. This presentation will discuss how MSP developed an online supportive culture, how student needs were assessed, and how creativity helped save the day. It will also cover programming ideas for faculty and staff members that can be implemented at all types of institutions and how to remain creative with programming in the face of adversity. The presentation will finally discuss how COVID will impact the future of student programming.
Session Resources:A PDF of Carrie's presentation can be accessed here. 

Use this checklist to keep track of progress and support the management of your event.

Conducting evaluations, especially at strategic times, can help optimize attendee experiences — for upcoming, current, and future events. Consider the following approaches:

Pre-Event: Surveying interested parties can help further understand of attendee needs and expectations. After identifying the needs and expectations, you can make changes to your approach for the
In-Event: Collecting feedback during the event can provide you with actionable data and apprise the team of any issues that need
Post-Event: This traditional approach of collecting data after an event is critical to understanding and analyzing how success the event was, including focusing on specific aspects.

Each of these approaches can help develop mental models for your current and future events, driving more rewarding experiences for attendees and stakeholders alike.

The pandemic presented several challenges across the landscape of academia. Continuity for classrooms, events, and conference were an absolute must, but there was a need to advance beyond our prior modes of operation. We answered the call over the past year, but now realize that it is in our best interest to plan for the possibility of hybrid and virtual events going forward. Most notably, embracing proper strategies can help foster a strong user-centered approach for said events.
Knowing that preparedness yields tremendous dividends for the institution, staff, and participants, The Hub for Innovation in Learning and Technology is happy to present a new set of guidelines to support planning efforts for future events. The guidelines are divided into two groups: 1) Strategy and Empathy and 2) Execution. The first group will help establish a strong foundation for your event, while the second group helps streamline execution of how the event will be experienced.
The two groups are presented in this document as follows:

Strategy & Empathy

Vision & Purpose
Understanding Attendees
The Benefits of Design Sprints




Execution

Event Promotion
Event Structure
Engagement Opportunities
Virtual Solutions
Accessibility
Evaluation



You can also download the full document here.Also, to help support your efforts and to help you keep track of progress, a checklist is included on the last page. Happy planning!