John Spencer
The Shift from Engaging Students to Empowering Learners -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYBJQ5rIFjA&t=13s
10 Ways to Empower Students with Choice -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L08wNizulOY&t=12s
Empowering Students to Own the Assessment Process -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WxvVgXC_NY&t=84s

The New EdTech Classroom
Hybrid Teaching? Use These Programs! -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2eASibkQYM&t=66s

In Person and Remote at the Same Time...

John Spencer
The Shift from Engaging Students to Empowering Learners -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYBJQ5rIFjA&t=13s
10 Ways to Empower Students with Choice -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L08wNizulOY&t=12s
Empowering Students to Own the Assessment Process -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WxvVgXC_NY&t=84s

The New EdTech Classroom
Hybrid Teaching? Use These Programs! -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2eASibkQYM&t=66s

In Person and Remote at the Same Time? No Problem! -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFRLzQVxa6Q

#iteachmsu Release Notes: Sep 1st , 2020 [production ] version- V1.12.0(2)

This release related to the changes of #iteachMSU site new upgrading. New
theme setup according to the iteach-Wizdn Hybrid version. The whole site
changes its new look and feel.

#iteachmsu Release Notes: Sep 1st , 2020 [production ] version- V1.12.0(2)

This release related to the changes of #iteachMSU site new upgrading. New
theme setup according to the iteach-Wizdn Hybrid version. The whole site
changes its new look and feel.

Have just finished putting the final touches on the first episode in a new podcast series -- created using Audacity and AnchorFM -- that is intended to support the learning of students in my face-to-face, hybrid, and online courses from Fall 2022. . . WSTKS-FM Worldwide: Podcasts for Digital Collaborative Learning in the 21st Century. Here is a link for anyone who might find this of interest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01UohhFXXCI

Additional interesting apps for creating podcasts th...

Have just finished putting the final touches on the first episode in a new podcast series -- created using Audacity and AnchorFM -- that is intended to support the learning of students in my face-to-face, hybrid, and online courses from Fall 2022. . . WSTKS-FM Worldwide: Podcasts for Digital Collaborative Learning in the 21st Century. Here is a link for anyone who might find this of interest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01UohhFXXCI

Additional interesting apps for creating podcasts that are worth exploring further include:

RiversideFM -- https://riverside.fm/

Soundtrap -- https://www.soundtrap.com/

Headliner -- https://make.headliner.app/create

How to Start a Podcsat -- https://www.thepodcasthost.com/planning/how-to-start-a-podcast/

New Ed Tech Classroom YouTube Channel (Lots of cools stuff, including information on creating podcasts for and by students -- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd6vizTYlSgpR6zJ8j5KiyA

Hope this is the right place to share this:

10 Individual Reflections @ two points each (essentially “Gimmes”).
Starting in Week Two, students are asked to develop (guided) reflections on their independent and (starting in Week Three) collaborative coursework for a given week. Not only do they articulate their new learning, they connect that to prior knowledge as well as examine their work habits and related choices. Students have the following options for these reflections:
• Tradit...

Hope this is the right place to share this:

10 Individual Reflections @ two points each (essentially “Gimmes”).
Starting in Week Two, students are asked to develop (guided) reflections on their independent and (starting in Week Three) collaborative coursework for a given week. Not only do they articulate their new learning, they connect that to prior knowledge as well as examine their work habits and related choices. Students have the following options for these reflections:
• Traditional 2-3 page essay
• 5-6 minute Voice Recording or Video
• Sketchnotes (a hybrid of note-taking and creative doodles that presents students’ grasp of new information, gleaned from scholarly reading, and connection of those ideas to specific novels, plays, or films in the course)

Collaborative Project #1 @ 20 possible points (Due at the end of Week Five)
Student learning teams review and evaluate two recent journal articles (less than ten years old) on material presented during the first third of the course. The project also includes a works cited or bibliography page and collaboratively written (guided) reflection on team work habits and related choices. Teams can choose between:
• TV Newscast (WeVideo)
• TV Talkshow (WeVideo)
• Podcast -- starting in Fall 2022 – (anchor.fm)

Collaborative Project #2 @ 20 Possible Points (Due at the end of Week 10)
Student learning teams review and evaluate two books, two journal articles, and two digital sources to have to do in some way with intersections between course material on one hand, and systems of power, oppression, equity, and justice on the other AND create a readers’ guide based on that work. The project also includes a works cited or bibliography page and collaboratively written (guided) reflection on team work habits and related choices. Teams can choose between:
• Readers’ Guide Flipbook (Flipsnack)
• Reader’s Guide Infographic (Canva)

Collaborative Project #3 @ 20 possible points (Due at the end of Week 14)
Student learning teams 1) revisit five to six novels, plays, or films presented in the course, 2) examine them in terms of power, oppressions, equity, and justice, AND 3) brainstorm practical solutions to how we might better address similar longstanding ills in 21st century society. The project also includes a works cited or bibliography page and collaboratively written (guided) reflection on team work habits and related choices. Teams can choose between:
• Interactive Academic Poster (Power Point or Prezi)
• Interactive Digital Scrapbook (Canva)

Capstone Project – Individual Semester Reflection @ 20 Possible Points (Due at the end of Week 15)
Students develop a guided reflection in which they revisit and evaluate their learning for the course. Students have the following options:
• Traditional Five to Six-page Self-Assessment Essay
• Five to Six-minute Self-Assessment Video


Questions for “Guided” Individual or Team Reflection
• For you introduction, describe your work and related activities for the week/semester in general.
• Briefly describe the projects, processes, and skills you will discuss.
• Discuss three points/projects you found most enjoyable and explain why.
• Explain three processes for the projects described above. Describe how the processes were challenging and rewarding.
• Explain three skills you gained or improved upon during the week/semester. These do not have to relate to what you have discussed already, but they can.
• Describe why you find these new or improved skills interesting, useful, enjoyable, and/or challenging.
• How might you improve your independent and/or collaborative work habits and related choices in the course?
• Describe your biggest “A-ha Moment” this week/semester.
• How does that same “A-ha Moment” connect to something you have learned in other courses?
• In your conclusion, do not simply summarize what you have already said. Answer the implied “So, what?” question.
• Leave yourself (and your reader) with something to think about.
• Remember, this is not a forum to complain about team members, assignments, the course, instructor, or previous grades.

Another interesting piece on Faculty Focus this morning that provides additional tips for [motivating] and engaging our students in class. I hope to try a few of these next fall when I return to the (hybrid) classroom. Hope you might find these tips useful in your own journey to motivate and engage undergrads.

Kind Regards,

Stokes

https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/engaging-students-at-a-deeper-level/?st=FFdaily%3Bsc%3DFF220330%3Butm_term%3DFF220330

Another interesting piece on Faculty Focus this morning that provides additional tips for [motivating] and engaging our students in class. I hope to try a few of these next fall when I return to the (hybrid) classroom. Hope you might find these tips useful in your own journey to motivate and engage undergrads.

Kind Regards,

Stokes

https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/engaging-students-at-a-deeper-level/?st=FFdaily%3Bsc%3DFF220330%3Butm_term%3DFF220330

Here is a very interesting piece on [motivating] and engaging students from Faculty Focus: https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/engaging-students-at-a-deeper-level/?st=FFdaily%3Bsc%3DFF220330%3Butm_term%3DFF220330

I hope you might find it interesting. I did, and there are some ideas here that I'll use early in the semester next fall when I return to the (hybrid) classroom.

Kind Regards,

Stokes

Here is a very interesting piece on [motivating] and engaging students from Faculty Focus: https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/engaging-students-at-a-deeper-level/?st=FFdaily%3Bsc%3DFF220330%3Butm_term%3DFF220330

I hope you might find it interesting. I did, and there are some ideas here that I'll use early in the semester next fall when I return to the (hybrid) classroom.

Kind Regards,

Stokes

Recently, I have been working on how we might provide instruction in DEI principles to the students in our courses. Here is what I have come up with:

"Timely Team Tips: Stealthy DEI Instruction through Brief Animated Explainer Videos

Fostering Inclusive Practices within the Student Learning Teams Organized for My IAH Courses"

Timely Team Tips #1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sa18WLyz3tQ
Timely Team Tips #2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLzV0yFgX6E
Timely Team Tips #3 - ht...

Recently, I have been working on how we might provide instruction in DEI principles to the students in our courses. Here is what I have come up with:

"Timely Team Tips: Stealthy DEI Instruction through Brief Animated Explainer Videos

Fostering Inclusive Practices within the Student Learning Teams Organized for My IAH Courses"

Timely Team Tips #1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sa18WLyz3tQ
Timely Team Tips #2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLzV0yFgX6E
Timely Team Tips #3 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOGTEdf54CI
Timely Team Tips #4 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7wemM9h2zk
Timely Team Tips #5 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITKHb5TtdV4
Timely Team Tips #6 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GHwB3Dw8vc&t=7s
Timely Team Tips #7 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjwCSyHhTKs&t=5s
Timely Team Tips #8 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG53U-5QYe4
Timely Team Tips #9 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxngV78pgsU
Timely Team Tips #10 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwuikDDsRSI

The recently created explainer videos above are now embedded into my online course modules for Week 3-Week 12 and are presented to students in the context of fostering student learning team “cohesion” (I have made to conscious decision to avoid the terms diversity, equity, and inclusion in most instances) during weekly collaborative assignments and three larger digital projects students are asked to complete as part of my currently asynchronous online courses.

Part of my thinking behind this project has been to help prepare students for professional life after graduation – think 21st century employability skills -- given the attention paid to DEI principles and practices within the business and corporate world. The information presented in these animated explainer videos is a synthesis of other information from many different academic and corporate sources online by the way. I take no credit for it other than in the way I present it to my students, using the Doodly app. The project is developing, so I anticipate adjustments as I continue the work.

When I move to a hybrid modality as we transition back to the physical classroom next fall (???), I plan to keep and retain all of the online materials developed during the last two years of the pandemic to better support, motivate, and engage the students in my (gen. ed.) courses, another ongoing project of long standing.

If ever you would like to talk in more detail about my ongoing work with this, just drop me a line. As difficult as the last couple of years have been for everyone, I have really enjoyed the turbo charged push forward it has provided when t comes to how I think about my courses, teaching, and related points here at MSU.

If we are completely honest with ourselves, many students come into our courses lacking basic planning and organization skills. Even when armed with a syllabus, course schedule, or online course modules, many still have difficulty planning for and carrying out weekly assignments and/or projects by designated due dates.

To assist them, I suggest that we include due dates for assignments, projects, quizzes and exams not just in our syllabi or online course modules, but that we should also...

If we are completely honest with ourselves, many students come into our courses lacking basic planning and organization skills. Even when armed with a syllabus, course schedule, or online course modules, many still have difficulty planning for and carrying out weekly assignments and/or projects by designated due dates.

To assist them, I suggest that we include due dates for assignments, projects, quizzes and exams not just in our syllabi or online course modules, but that we should also include what I call an 'Important Due Dates' tab in the D2L pages we set up for our courses. Likewise, I suggest we do so whether we teach in a traditional face to face setting, hybrid, or online.

A quarter century of teaching undergraduates leads me to conclude that few consult the syllabus (or online modules) in more than a cursory way after Week One. More generally, when people have to search for something, they are less likely to find it. So, be sure to drag your 'Important Due Dates' tab to the very top of all other tabs on the left side of your D2L course content page, making it as easy as possible for students to find.

They will then be able to access all of the dates for assignments, projects, quizzes, or exams in one place without the need to wade through denser, text heavy syllabi, course schedules, or weekly course modules. At a glance, they can find what they need to know and prepare accordingly.

Given the various challenges so many young people seem to face in 2021, why not make things as easy as we can for the students in our courses?

Hello again everyone! Here are some talking points to think about in the run up our 10am meeting tomorrow (Friday, November 05, 2021).

Recurring Zoom Link: 951 4830 7886
Passcode 432210


Student Engagement in Higher Education, ch. 2-3

Chapter 2: “Engaging Students of Color”Samuel D. Museus, Kimberly A. Griffin, Stephen John Quaye [MGQ - “Magic”]

1) How would you describe the campus racial climate and/or culture of the schools where you got your degrees and/or have previously t...

Hello again everyone! Here are some talking points to think about in the run up our 10am meeting tomorrow (Friday, November 05, 2021).

Recurring Zoom Link: 951 4830 7886
Passcode 432210


Student Engagement in Higher Education, ch. 2-3

Chapter 2: “Engaging Students of Color”Samuel D. Museus, Kimberly A. Griffin, Stephen John Quaye [MGQ - “Magic”]

1) How would you describe the campus racial climate and/or culture of the schools where you got your degrees and/or have previously taught? Do any institutions in your background for having been successful in instilling a positive racial culture? Do any notable failures or struggles stand out in your memory? It may be helpful to recall: climate is shaped by five internal dimensions: (1) an institution’s history and legacy of inclusion or exclusion, (2) compositional diversity, (3) psychological climate, (4) behavioral climate, and (5) organizational/structural diversity (Milem, Chang, & Antonio, 2005). [p. 19]

2) Museus, Griffin, and Quaye note that “two concepts provide a useful backdrop for the current discussion: campus racial climate and campus racial culture” (18). What knowledge or familiarity do you have of/with the racial climate or culture at MSU? How would you describe the local manifestation of the framing concepts Museus, Griffin, and Quaye provide?

3) What concrete steps could you take to alleviate cultural incongruence (21) and cultural dissonance (ibid) while boosting cultural engagement (22) for Students of Color in your courses?

4) The “proactive philosophies” indicator of the CECE model describes “Educators who use proactive philosophies [to] go above and beyond to actively reach out, encourage, and sometimes pressure students to take advantage of available information, opportunities, and support” (23). What does being such a faculty member/administrator look like? How does one responsibly and equitably pressure students to pursue opportunities?

5) Practical question: In several places, MGQ advocate for community-based opportunities, but also caution against the tendency towards siloing. Practically, what does/should it look like to provide opportunities for this type of contact among students that is supportive and culturally responsive, without siloing them, or making students of color serve as “ambassadors of their community”?


Chapter 3: “Engaging Multiracial Students”
C. Casey Ozaki, Marc P. Johnston-Guerrero, Kristen A. Renn [OJGR - “Jogger”]

1) It seems like today’s college students often have to enter the classroom already knowing who they are and who they will be. We can likely point to any number of institutional practices/requirements that reinforce that pressure. How can we create spaces for hybridity, ambiguity, uncertainty in our students’ perceptions of self?

2) OJGR note that “median age of the mixed race individuals is 19, compared to single-race individuals with a median age of 38” (39), which means that our students represent the age cohort closest to the “center,” so to speak, of multiracial identity discourse. What pressures might this present to college-aged students? What opportunities?

3) Studies show that “biracial students at HBCUs and non-HBCUs had poorer quality of interactions with faculty, staff, and students than Black and White students at both institutions” (40). What incentive/impetus/motivation does/should a finding like this make for us as educators? How could we productively address situations in which multi-racial students might approach us with complaints about feeling isolated and alienated from classmates in our courses?

4) The most provocative element of OJGR’s chapter comes in their final suggestion, which is to “Create a Campus Culture of Boundary Crossing.” What does this mean for you, and what would it look like at Michigan State?

MULTIMODAL BLENDED EVENTS HANDBOOK

Ever wish you had some guidelines and references to tap into when planning a hybrid or virtual event? Well, now it's available! Check out the new Multimodal Blended Events Handbook from The Hub! The handbook includes several topics and reference points to help optimize and execute the best event planning possible. Looking forward to your feedback on the document.

MULTIMODAL BLENDED EVENTS HANDBOOK

Ever wish you had some guidelines and references to tap into when planning a hybrid or virtual event? Well, now it's available! Check out the new Multimodal Blended Events Handbook from The Hub! The handbook includes several topics and reference points to help optimize and execute the best event planning possible. Looking forward to your feedback on the document.

iteachmsu Release Notes: Sep 1st , 2020 [production ] version- V1.12.0(2)
 
This release includes updates related to Updating the IteachMSU platform with a new look and feels for the Website This release related to the changes of #iteachMSU site new upgrading. New theme setu...

iteachmsu Release Notes: Sep 1st , 2020 [production ] version- V1.12.0(2)

 

This release includes updates related to Updating the IteachMSU platform with a new look and feels for the Website This release related to the changes of #iteachMSU site new upgrading. New theme setup according to the iteach-Wizdn Hybrid version. The whole site changes its new look and feel. (Approved changes from UAT Version: V1.10.0 (1), V1.10.0(2), V1.11.0, V1.12.0(1), and V1.12.0(2) )

Are you looking for locations for the Hybrid Technology Classrooms? Check out this link: https://remote.msu.edu/teaching/hybrid-support.html#what-is-hybrid

Are you looking for locations for the Hybrid Technology Classrooms? Check out this link: https://remote.msu.edu/teaching/hybrid-support.html#what-is-hybrid" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://remote.msu.edu/teaching/hybrid-support.html#what-is-hybrid