BlackboardThe GPS Online Learning Team will be offering the following 30-minute workshops during the Winter break for instructors. These will be hosted on Zoom and will provide practical strategies for your online courses, demonstrations of the tools, and documentation so you can implement when ready.
- Incorporate Short Videos to Enhance Instructor Presence in Your Online Course
- Grade More Efficiently and Set Clear Assignment Criteria for Students with Rubrics in Blackboard
- Personal Interaction Through FlipGrid Video Discussions
- Blackboard Grade Center: Create a Weighted Total Column
Learn more and register below >>
Incorporate Short Videos to Enhance Instructor Presence in Your Online Course
Description: Instructor presence in asynchronous courses has been shown to improve student performance, engagement, and satisfaction. This workshop will provide a few practical strategies for increasing instructor presence in online courses, with a focus on DIY video using the UML-supported Echo Universal Capture tool.
Participants will be able to:
- Describe how the inclusion of simple videos can enhance instructor presence in online courses
- Understand how UML’s Echo Universal Capture tool can be used to record audio and video via Blackboard
- Apply and edit auto-generated captions to Echo Universal Capture videos
Date & Time: January 7, 11:00-11:30am (this is still ON despite the University closing 🙂
- This workshop is in the past, but you can watch a recording
Presenter(s):
- Patrick Connell, Executive Director, Online Learning
Grade More Efficiently and Set Clear Assignment Criteria for Students with Rubrics in Blackboard
Description: Rubrics are scoring instruments that faculty can use to grade student work and easily provide feedback. Rubrics can also be used to inform students of assignment expectations and criteria for grading. Their benefits are many, and Blackboard has a very powerful rubric tool that works seamlessly with assignments, tests and discussions.
Participants will be able to:
- Describe the benefits of using rubrics
- Create rubrics in Blackboard and associate them with assignments and discussion activities
- Grade student work and provide feedback through a rubric
Date & Time: January 10, 10:00-10:30am
- This workshop is in the past, but you can watch a recording
Presenter(s):
- Alena Woods, Mgr. of Advanced Rich Media for Faculty Development
- Michelle Scribner-MacLean, Ed.D., Clinical Professor Mathematics and Science Education
Personal Interaction Through FlipGrid Video Discussions
Description: When online instructors and students are asked what they miss about an in-person learning environment, it's likely that responses will mention a lack of personal interaction. This type of interaction is often created organically in an in-person environment, in which students have numerous opportunities to establish relationships through face-to-face discussions. Though there are various pathways to interaction in online courses, creating personal interaction, in which students see and hear each other, can be a challenge. In this session, we will explore Flipgrid, an application that allows students to quickly and easily create and share videos, leading to instances of personal interaction.
Participants will be able to:
- Identify the benefits of personal interaction in education
- Describe how Flipgrid develops personal interaction in online courses
- Set up a "Group" and "Topic" on Flipgrid with a shareable link
Date & Time: January 11, 11:00-11:30am
- This workshop is in the past, but you can watch a recording
Presenters:
- Scott Musfeldt, Online Course Design Specialist
- Leland Ackerson, Associate Professor, Zuckerburg College of Health Sciences
Blackboard Grade Center: Create a Weighted Total Column
Description: The Weighted Total Column in Blackboard's Grade Center will automatically calculate final grades for your course. There are many options to set, but it can be calculated according to the percentages that you choose, and you can calculate based on assessment categories. This tool will save you time, and provide your students with an easy way to see their status in your course throughout the semester.
Participants will be able to:
- Use the Categories feature in Blackboard’s Grade Center to organize similar assessments in their online course
- Create a Weighted Total column in the Grade Center that calculates the final grade for your course based on the percentages included in the syllabus and using Categories.
Date & Time: January 13, 11:00-11:30am
- This workshop is in the past, but you can watch a recording
Presenter: Carrie Powanda-Croft, Faculty Trainer