NIU Faculty Development Faculty/Staff Program Schedule

NEW NING: Build Your Own Social Network

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:35:00 -0500

Tuesday, November 10, 2009 from 10:00 am to 11:30 am
Social networking technologies provide faster and more engaging online communication, help students and educators stay together, and offer a number of unique ways for students to enhance their learning experience through active communication and exchange of ideas. Ning is one of the social networking services that allows users to join and create personal networks around an area of interest. This hands-on workshop will walk participants through the steps of creating a social network for a course or around an area of interest or research. The presentation will also focus on the available Ning features and discuss how social networking technologies can be used to supplement the functionality of Blackboard. Advanced registration is required. Register Now!

Introduction to External Funding

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:35:01 -0500

Wednesday, November 11, 2009 from 10:30 am to 12:00 pm, HSC306
This workshop will introduce faculty and staff to the ins and outs of the external funding process. Topics covered will include: positioning yourself, your ideas, and your work before applying; searching for appropriate funding sources, proposal preparation (narrative, budgets, human subjects, other compliance issues), the submission process, learning from rejection, and how to work with the Office of Sponsored Projects. Presented by David Stone, Office of Sponsored Projects. Sponsored by Employee Relations and Training and Office of Sponsored Projects. Call 753-6000 or email hrstraining@niu.edu to register.

NEW Blended Learning: Finding the Right Mix

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:35:01 -0500

Thursday, November 12, 2009 from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm
In this workshop, we will introduce the unique components of blended course design and provide strategies for modifying traditional activities, assignments and assessments to fit a blended course environment. We will also share resources for further assistance with getting started teaching a blended course. Advanced registration is required. Register Now!

NEW Tips for Teaching with Blogs

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:35:02 -0500

**ONLINE** Friday, November 13, 2009 from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm
Blogs have become common tools for communicating and collaborating online. While setting up a blog takes only a matter of minutes, effectively incorporating blogs into online teaching requires purposeful planning and structuring of activities to leverage the power that blogging brings to the learning environment. This online session will share the experiences of incorporating instructor and student blogs into an online course as well as practical recommendations for those considering utilizing blogs in online learning. Advanced registration is required. Register Now!

ONLINE Tracking Student Performance in Blackboard

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:35:03 -0500

Tuesday, November 17, 2009 from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm
Blackboard provides a variety of tools that help faculty track student performance in the course. The Early Warning System is a feature integrated into Blackboard that allows faculty to monitor student performance proactively based on attendance, student assessment, and assessment due dates. This online workshop will focus on setting up and running the Early Warning System rules to generate performance notifications, using the Performance Dashboard to identify students who may experience performance problems, and viewing and interpreting performance-based statistics. Advanced registration is required. Register Now!

NEW Games and Simulations in the Classroom

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:35:03 -0500

Wednesday, November 18, 2009 from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm
What do Second Life, Civilization III, and Jeopardy all have in common? They have all been used in higher education to engage and teach students. While the primary function of games and simulations is to entertain, they also make effective teaching tools. In this workshop, we will discuss why games are so effective and explore several examples of games that can be used “as-is” or modified to be used in the classroom. Advanced registration is required. Register Now!

Advanced Short Focused Online Tutorials with Articulate Engage

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:35:04 -0500

Thursday, November 19, 2009 from 9:30 am to 11:30 am
This hands-on workshop will demonstrate how to easily add stunning interactive content to your online courses. We will be using the program Articulate Engage that allows users to integrate a number of compelling learning interactions without the need for expensive designs or programming. Although there are ten engaging interactions, we will focus on three (Process, Timeline, and Frequently Asked Questions). Advanced registration is required and seating is very limited. Register Now!

ONLINE Controlling Student Access to Materials in Blackboard

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:35:04 -0500

Friday, November 20, 2009 from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm
Course content does not always apply to all users in the course. Faculty at times may wish to create custom learning paths through course content and activities, displaying content to certain users for a limited period of time. This online session will walk participants through the process of managing course content, assessments, assignments, or other activities within Blackboard using the Adaptive Release feature to create personalized learning paths for students. Principles for effective implementation within existing Blackboard courses will be shared. Advanced registration is required. Register Now!

How to Avoid (and, if Necessary, Prevail in) Grade Appeals

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:22:17 -0500

Monday, November 30, 2009 from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm, Holmes Student Center, Room 505
Grade appeals can be time consuming for you, your chairperson, and your colleagues. But knowing what to do and who to contact can assist everyone involved. This interactive workshop will share suggested grading scales and methods, syllabus wordings, strategies to use during the semester, and how to most successfully respond to grade disputes should they arise. Tim Griffin has experience with hundreds of grade disputes at NIU and reflecting on these will identify proactive strategies that faculty can use to reduce the probability and frequency of appeals. Advanced registration is required. Register Now!

Learner-centered Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Feedback = Student Success

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 10:02:45 -0500

Workshop by Amy Driscoll, Ph.D., Consulting Scholar with the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and Senior Scholar at Portland State University
Executive Director, Office of Assessment and Quality Enhancement
Texas Christian University
Thursday, January 7, 2010, 8:00 am to 4:00 pm
Sky Room, Holmes Student Center
This workshop will integrate components of curriculum pedagogy and assessment with research on learner-centered education such as service learning, collaborative learning, project-based approaches, and learning outcome-based assessment. Examples and models of practice will be provided and learner-centered processes will be tailored for immediate use within a collaborative faculty/staff community directed to student success. Faculty are invited to bring their syllabus and program materials to apply a lens of learner-centeredness to the curriculum content, the pedagogical strategies, and assessment approaches used to promote student success in their courses and programs. Advanced registration is required. For registration or more information, please click here.

NIU Faculty Development Faculty/Staff Program Schedule

**NEW** NING: Build Your Own Social Network

Introduction to External Funding

**NEW** Blended Learning: Finding the Right Mix

**NEW** Tips for Teaching with Blogs

**ONLINE** Tracking Student Performance in Blackboard

**NEW** Games and Simulations in the Classroom