The pivot to online learning requires faculty to gain additional pedagogical tools to engage learners. It is easy for students to hide behind the screen and get lost in the cloud. However, creating a sense of belonging in your classroom can encourage students to come out of hiding. Based on research and personal experience, this workshop shares practical ideas that help faculty create a sense of belonging in the online environment from the beginning to the end of the semester. Creating an inclusive classroom allows students to feel valued, appreciated, and part of the learning community. Maya Angelou states, “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Join the facilitator as she shares strategies for creating a positive, inclusive learning environment for students.
Since the founding of the first American community college in 1901, community colleges have served the important purpose of bridging the gap between the academic skills students bring to the table and the academic rigor required to be successful in college. Although research has indicated a positive correlation between academic support and learning, many students are unable to take advantage of such services due to outside obligations such as family care or work, being unaware that such services exist, or because they’re afraid of being deemed inferior for needing extra help. Due to these obstacles, it is imperative that educators tailor their curriculum to the needs of their students.
Students are often tasked with navigating their work/life balance without fully realizing the community resources that are available to assist them. Faculty and staff are on the front line to assist and identify students who have greater needs as they navigate their pathways to success. Unfortunately for some students, their needs extend far beyond the help of classroom assistance. Often, faculty and staff do not know about the community resources that can assist students along their journey. Participants in this workshop walk away with an understanding of the key resources available to assist their students.
Do you want to grow and develop professionally but are not sure how? Do you feel stuck in your position or career? Do you feel that you have unfulfilled potential? It is easy to get comfortable with your current position, be overwhelmed with the thought of shifting to something new, and feel scared about getting out of your comfort zone. Through John Maxwell's 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth, the facilitator discusses growth-identifying intentional actions you can take. The facilitator works with you to develop the right attitude, help you learn your strengths, find your passion, identify your purpose, and develop your skills so you can be all you can be.
The Leadership Program to support faculty development is designed to present information on higher education qualification standards, leadership competencies and skill sets, activities to develop these competencies and skill sets, and an introduction to an individual learning plan.
Now more than ever, students are choosing to take their courses online, often enticed by access, flexibility, and the desire to continue their studies while working and raising families. As institutions and individual faculty members, we can collectively respond to this trend with well-designed courses that are delivered in engaging ways and that leverage evidence-based pedagogies for the virtual learning environment. During this workshop, specific approaches to structuring online courses that align with best practices for quality online teaching are shared. These approaches traverse Learning Management Systems such as Canvas, Blackboard, and D2L. Through hands-on activities, participants are exposed to examples and models that highlight several relevant and engaging delivery methods. The workshop ends with a summary of the next steps via an action plan that details what faculty can specifically do to develop their online courses.
Through four separate workshop modules, participants gain knowledge and skills to build their own HyFlex course using specific learning theories, instructional design models, and assessment frameworks that align with the flexible course modality. This workshop is designed for HyFlex beginners, but will be differentiated to also provide valuable insights to instructors who are already implementing the course modality. The goal of the workshop is to equip participants so they leave confident and satisfied they can effectively and efficiently implement HyFlex within their own courses.
Would you like to explore some strategies for fostering inclusiveness in online pedagogy? A growing body of literature highlights the need for faculty-student and student-student interaction in order to create an inclusive atmosphere and to establish a sense of belonging in the classroom. Differences in communication styles often pose some challenges in class participation, collaboration, and interpretation of information in an online environment. Cultural factors have a significant impact on students’ self-learning, group interaction, and communication styles. By creating an inclusive atmosphere, faculty can promote greater self-awareness, deepen intercultural sensitivity, and encourage meaningful interaction and collaboration among diverse groups. An understanding of diverse communication patterns is critical to the academic success of culturally and linguistically diverse student population.
Have you ever wished you could change your students’ attitudes toward more positive engagement in their learning? YOU CAN! The secret rests in appreciating that all of us have a profound impact upon the emotional state of the students that we engage with every day. Whether interacting with individuals or groups, the neuroscience is clear: The affective domain powerfully impacts student cognition, persistence, motivation, efficacy, and performance. During this multidimensional, highly-interactive, experiential, and fun workshop, participants explore ways to promote positive, enthusiastic, and engaged collaboration with their students. We also explore how to encourage student learning in a manner that maximizes motivation, a sense of inclusion, and improved equity within the learning environment!
Have you been scratching your head about how to rekindle students’ excitement about learning and increase their engagement with your course? This workshop not only expands participants' understanding of intrinsic motivation but also invites them to leverage this knowledge to best support their students. Participants walk away with a repertoire of quick, high-impact strategies that they can immediately implement in their college classrooms to activate autonomy, cultivate confidence, and boost belonging.
