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Adjunct Faculty Teaching Excellence Award

On Wednesday, June 7, Interim Dean Jorge Silva-Puras presented the Adjunct Faculty Teaching Excellence Award to Neil Harbus of the Disability Studies program. Also attending the ceremony were SPS board members, OFDIT faculty advisory board members who served on the selection committee, and other administrators, faculty and staff.

About the award: CUNY SPS introduced this initiative in 2019 at the Student Association’s request to officially recognize faculty excel­lence, and the award includes a $1,000 prize. Candidates are nominated by students in undergraduate programs. Nominees must then be endorsed by their program directors and provide a statement of their teaching philosophy. A panel of students and faculty review the nominees and select the recipient. Please visit the award page to read more about the award and past recipients Emily Brooks (Disability Studies), Debra Schaller-Demers (Research Administration and Compliance) and Bradley Gardener (General Education, Communication and Media, and Information Systems).

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OFDIT Faculty Advisory Board: Nominations for 2023-25

Interested in serving on the Faculty Advisory Board in the next two academic years? Please fill out our nomination form. We are looking for new members to join our board in the fall and would value your participation. Thank you!

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OER & Open Pedagogy Workshop
(July 10-23)

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CUNY Open Publishing Collective: Request for Proposals (due July 17)

Dear Faculty,

We hope that the semester is winding up smoothly and that you’ll soon be celebrating the end of the school year as well as Commencement with this year’s graduates! There’s still time to sign up to participate in either the in-person ceremony on May 25 or the virtual ceremony on May 31. 

Check out this month’s newsletter highlights, including summer OFDIT workshop offerings, an upcoming Faculty Advisory Board information session about addressing DEI in the course review process, updates on our LMS transition, a tutorial for entering final grades in CUNYFirst, and more!

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Helpful CUNY Resources

Entering Final Grades in CUNYFirst

As you prepare for the end of the Spring semester, you can refer to this guide for entering final grades into CUNYFirst before the end of the semester. Please reach out to helpdesk.@sps.cuny.edu for any technical issues you may encounter with CUNYFirst.

Eduroam Wifi Access

Faculty, students, and staff now have free, secure Wi-Fi access at any CUNY campus –and many more institutions world-wide– using their CUNY login via Eduroam. Eduroam is a world-wide roaming Internet access service developed for the international research and education community.

You can connect to the eduroam wireless network on your device, or visit the CUNY CIS eduroam page for more details.

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LMS Transition News!

CUNY SPS has requested to be part of the second group of schools, who would transition in 2024. We are working to form a number of school-wide LMS transition teams (Communications, Pedagogy and Practice, Technical, and Training and Support) to ensure consultation and broad participation across the CUNY SPS community. Keep an eye out here for news about how you can join these teams as well as for further Brightspace timeline and training updates over the next few months.

In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to reach out to facultysupport@sps.cuny.edu or visit the CUNY transition website for more information.

Read More

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OFDIT Faculty Advisory Board Info Session

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the SPS Course Review Rubric
Wednesday, May 24, 12-1 pm

Your colleagues on the OFDIT Faculty Advisory Board invite you to an info-session on their work considering the role of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the SPS Course Review Rubric. This rubric determines the standards and criteria by which SPS courses are created, revised, and launched, thus faculty input on how it is used to create greater inclusion, access, representation, and authentic learning experiences for SPS students is important. Please join this discussion to make your voices heard in an on-going consultative process to improve the student experience and student learning outcomes at SPS.

Register Here

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OER@SPS Summer 2023 Workshops

OER & Open Pedagogy Training (1 Hour)

From Open Educational Resources (OER) to Open Pedagogy

Whether you’re looking to lower course costs for your students, update or customize instructional materials to make them more relevant and engaging, or empower your students to become active contributors to your field, Open Educational Resources (OER) and Open Pedagogy may be just what you’re looking for. In this one-hour session, we’ll introduce the why and how of OER—materials that are free and openly licensed for you or your students to reuse, retain, revise, remix, and redistribute. We’ll also explore how student-created or student-remixed OER can fulfill the goals of Open Pedagogy—an approach that invites students to create knowledge rather than to merely consume it. If you find this one-hour introduction inspiring, you might want to register for the two-week OER & Open Pedagogy Workshop in July (see below).

• Wednesday, June 7th, 5:30 – 6:30pm Register here
• Thursday, June 8th, 12:00 – 1:00pm Register here
• Friday, June 9th, 9:00 – 10:00am Register here
• Tuesday, June 20th, 5:30 – 6:30pm Register here
• Wednesday, June 21st, 12:00 – 1:00pm Register here
• Thursday, June 22nd, 9:00 – 10:00am Register here

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Open & Active Video Workshop (June 5-20)

The Open & Active Video Workshop is hands-on! Each faculty participant will create an accessible video, enhanced with an interactive element, to address a pedagogical need in their course, and then share the video and activity as an Open Education Resource (OER). In the first week, faculty discuss how to use video effectively and how to create a video that is OER. In the second week, they create a video and add interaction.

Eligible faculty participants are compensated 7 NTA hours by the OER Initiative upon completion of this workshop. (See Advanced Workshops for full description. Registration open through May 30.)

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OER & Open Pedagogy Workshop (July 10-23)

This two-week workshop introduces the theory and tools that support OER and Open Pedagogy in online courses. In the first week, participants investigate OER identification and adoption/adaptation, attributes and examples of Open Pedagogy, and how OER can be used as Open Pedagogy. In the second week, participants find, adapt, or build OER or Open Pedagogy lessons to implement in their own courses.

Eligible faculty participants are compensated 7 NTA hours by the OER Initiative upon completion of this workshop. (See Advanced Workshops for full description. Registration open through June 30.)

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OpenLab @ CUNY SPS

We’re excited about CUNY SPS OpenLab, coming fall 2023!

A new digital collaboration space will be launching this year for SPS students, faculty and staff. The CUNY SPS Open Lab is an open-source web platform that can host clubs, groups, projects, events and more.

Do you need a central hub site for your student club or organization? Planning your future collaborative projects? Thinking about what open digital pedagogy tools are available to collaborate, create, and explore?

You can contact our OpenLab Manager, Jesse Rice-Evans with questions or to brainstorm ideas about how OpenLab sites can foster creativity and collaboration at SPS!

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Faculty Corner Discussion with Curtis Izen

In this installment of the Faculty Corner Discussion, Matt Lewis talks to Curtis Izen, a full-time Senior Computer Information Associate at Baruch College and Adjunct Faculty with the CUNY SPS Online Business Program, about humanizing online learning. They define this topic as strategies that make the virtual learning experience more personal, interactive, and engaging for students.

Humanizing online learning is a vast topic, Curtis and Matt focus their discussion on one tool that can help build a sense of community and connection among students. Watch the interview to learn how Curtis converted traditional threaded discussions into asynchronous video discussion using VoiceThread and, according to Curtis, “never looked back.”

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OFDIT Faculty Advisory Board:
Faculty Survey and Nominations for 2023/24

If you haven’t responded yet, we would still like to hear from you! The OFDIT Faculty Advisory Board invites your feedback about faculty development needs through this short survey. Thank you for your time and suggestions!

Interested in serving on the Faculty Advisory Board in the next academic year? Please fill out our nomination form. We are looking for new members to join our board in the fall and would value your participation.

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As always, OFDIT is here to help! We are available for one-on-one support and are also happy to schedule a Zoom call to discuss any questions you may have. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us at facultysupport@sps.cuny.edu.

All the best,
Your OFDIT Team

Dear Faculty,

We hope that the break allowed for rest, productivity, or just time to recharge in some way!

In this edition of the newsletter, you’ll find an announcement about CUNY’s system-wide transition to a new LMS, Grade Center tips for final grade calculations, and a request for participation in FAB’s faculty development needs survey. We also invite you to join an upcoming SPS conversation about ChatGPT and other generative AI in the classroom. Finally, we share information about and registration links for OFDIT trainings and CUNY-wide professional learning sessions scheduled in April and May.

We’re excited to support your teaching, course design, and professional growth this spring!. Looking forward to seeing you at some of the events!

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LMS Transition News!

Executive Vice Chancellor and University Provost, Wendy Hensel, announced on April 3rd that after an extensive needs assessment and RFP process, CUNY will be transitioning to a new Learning Management System (LMS), D2L “Brightspace.” The transition will be phased over two years, and by Fall 2025, all courses will be delivered in Brightspace.

Preparatory work for the transition from Blackboard to Brightspace has begun, and information about the full governance framework, committee descriptions, an overview of the transition process, and a detailed timeline can be found on CUNY’s transition website.

OFDIT will be actively involved in the planning and transition, and will keep the CUNY SPS community informed as more information becomes available. We look forward to working with CUNY Office of Academic Affairs and Evan Silberman, CUNY Online University Executive Director, who is leading the transition. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to facultysupport@sps.cuny.edu or lmstransition@cuny.edu with questions, and keep an eye out for regular updates in our OFDIT newsletters.

Read More

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Survey from the OFDIT Faculty Advisory Board

The OFDIT Faculty Advisory Board invites your feedback about faculty development needs through this short survey.

The purpose of the survey is also to better understand your teaching experiences at our school. We realize that in the wake of the pandemic, there have been a lot of changes at our institution, and we want to be sure that programs and processes continue to meet your needs.

If you haven’t yet, please take a few minutes to make your voice heard!

Thank you!

Interested in serving on the Faculty Advisory Board in the next academic year? Please fill out our nomination form.

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Teaching with Intelligence: Navigating AI in the Classroom

Friday, April 28, 12:00-1:00pm (Virtual Event)

All SPS faculty are invited to a discussion on ChatGPT and other generative AI in our classes. How do we gauge our students’ temperature and talk to them about it? What approach can we take if students do use it? What might we want to adjust in our course design and assessments?

With:
Carolee Ramsay, Director of Student Conduct and Community Standards
Ruru Rusmin, Assistant Dean, Faculty Development and Instructional Technology

Register Here

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Engagement Opportunities for SPS Faculty

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Spring 2023 CITA Events

CUNY’s Innovative Teaching Academy will be offering the following opportunities:

Tuesday/Thursdays in April, 12:00 -1:00 PM (Partner Virtual Event)

Hunter College ACERT Presents: Lunchtime Seminars

“ChatGPT, what’s happening? Examples from the classroom (4/18)
“ChatGPT, what’s happening? An open conversation (4/20)”

Thursday, April 27: 4:00 – 6:00 PM (In-Person Event)

Transformative Learning in the Humanities, CUNY Graduate Center
“Transformative Power of Meaning: Poetics and Pedagogy with Tracie Morris”

Friday, April 28, 10:00 – 11:00 AM (Virtual Event)

CITA Teaching Matters presents:
“Environmental Justice Across Spaces”

Friday, May 12, 2:00-3:00 PM (Virtual Event)

Karin Beck, Mila Burns, Alyshia Gálvez, and Julie Maybee, Lehman College
“Teaching and Learning with Transformative Texts”

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Special CITA Sessions: Learning Disruption

CITA is hosting cross-institutional conversations about learning disruption and other experiences resulting from the pandemic. There will be two sessions in the Spring 2023 Learning Disruption and Recovery Discussion Series (Virtual Event)

Session 1: Student Perspectives on Learning Disruption (Register Here)

• Friday, April 21, 12-1pm
• Welcome Remarks: Wendy F. Hensel, Executive Vice Chancellor and University Provost
• Discussion Moderated by: Salimatou Doumbouya, Chairperson of the University Student Senate and Student Trustee

Session 2: Faculty/Staff Perspectives on Learning Disruption (Register Here)

• Friday, May 5, 12-1pm
• Opening Presentations: Andrea Soonachan, University Dean for K-16 Initiatives; Sarah Truelsch, University Assistant Dean for Policy Research
• Discussion Moderated by: Laura Baecher, Professor, School of Education, Hunter College

Please email innovative.pedagogy@cuny.edu if you have any questions.

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Calculating Final Grades using Total Points/Weighted Total

As you prepare for the end of the Spring semester, a reminder that in Blackboard you can use Total Points or Weighted Total to calculate your final grades.

The Total Points column, created by default in Grade Center, calculates final grades by adding up all the points a student earned. If you select “Calculate as Running Total” and “percentage” as the Primary Display for the column settings, the total points the student earns is divided by the total points possible for their graded work, yielding the percentage.

Tip: Total Points will display the student’s grade based on the points earned on the work they have submitted out of the points possible for those submitted assignments. If a student has missed submitting an assignment, this Total Points calculation won’t be accurate unless you enter a manual grade of zero for the student in the related column. 

The Weighted Total column calculates final grades based on respective percentages assigned to categories or to individual columns. The final grade is calculated using the total of the student’s earned points on submitted work weighted according to the respective category or column percentage weights assigned.

Tip: While the Weighted Total column is also created by default in Blackboard, it will not calculate a final grade based on the courses’s grade percentage breakdown unless you assign weights to all graded items or categories. See our linked guide below to learn how to do this!

Please visit our quick guides for further Grade Center help, or contact us with any questions!

• • Calculating Final Grades Using Total Points
  • Calculating Final Grades Using Weighted Total

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OFDIT Spring 2023 Trainings

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Don’t forget to sign up for OFDIT’s trainings this spring! Our sessions are designed to encourage all faculty to add skills and get inspired about the tools available for your teaching!

Making Your Course Content Accessible with Ally 

Want to make your documents and Blackboard course content accessible but don’t know where to start? Join us for a training session to learn how! We will cover accessibility principles and provide practical tips on how to use Blackboard Ally to make your course files (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and Blackboard content (such as font, headers, images, charts, graphs, hyperlinks) more accessible to all your students.

• • Wednesday, April 19 at 1pm Register Here

ePortfolio for SPS Faculty: An Introduction

If this is the first time you are using Digication’s ePortfolio in your course or if you need a quick refresher, this workshop will help both new and existing faculty get acquainted with ePortfolio. We will discuss the current practice of using ePortfolio at CUNY SPS, navigate through the tool in a course site, review the responsibilities of instructors when using ePortfolio, and showcase the various support resources available for both students and instructors. There will also be time to answer any questions you might have about ePortfolios at CUNY SPS.

• • Wednesday, April 26 at 4pm Register Here

VoiceThread for SPS Faculty

This training will introduce VoiceThread, an asynchronous video discussion board. VoiceThread allows faculty and students to create multimedia presentations that creates a classroom community through threaded audio and video discussions. You and your students can add commentary to a presentation by means of microphone, webcam, keyboard, or phone. The ensuing conversation feels like a live classroom, but in an online environment. In this session, SPS faculty will learn how to create a VoiceThread and integrate it into their Blackboard course.

• • Tuesday, April 18 at 4pm Register Here

Personalizing Your Panopto Video

As many of us have learned, using Panopto to create a video is a simple process. But many instructors have yet to unlock the powerful features inside Panopto that can transform video to maximize its impact. In this session, participants will look inside the Panopto video editor to discover tools for trimming or cutting video, adding additional content (ex. YouTube videos), or challenging students with in-video quizzes. Finally, we’ll review Panopto’s robust viewer analytics that tells us who has watched the video and for how long. Join us to make your next video go from good to great!

• • Tuesday, April 18 at 2pm Register Here

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As always, OFDIT is here to help! We are available for one-on-one support and are also happy to schedule a Zoom call to discuss any questions you may have. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us at facultysupport@sps.cuny.edu.

All the best,
Your OFDIT Team

Dear Faculty,

We are excited to share a variety of engaging learning opportunities, from our spring faculty development workshops to additional CUNY professional development events scheduled in the coming weeks!

We encourage you to check out the our latest feature on video feedback in our Faculty Corner as well as the upcoming Open for All Discussion Series focusing on the themes of representation, inclusion/accessibility, and student agency through the lens of OER and Open Pedagogy approaches.

Don’t forget to register for OFDIT’s Spring 2023 faculty trainings, which feature some new topics such as Blackboard Ally, sessions on Panopto, OER, ePortfolio, and more!

Looking forward to seeing you at some of the events!

Engaging Opportunities for SPS Faculty

Open for All Discussion Series

Our discussion series on increasing inclusion in online courses continues this Friday, March 17, with the topic of Inclusion & Accessibility. How do students access content? How do they access concepts? Does everyone have equal and equitable access to the full range of materials and ideas in your course? Speakers will include Andrew Marcum, Academic Director and Distinguished Lecturer for Disability Studies at SPS, on the relationship between accessibility and equity, and OFDIT’s Jesse Rice-Evans and Kathryn Larkins introducing some of the features of Ally that go beyond basic accessibility and allow students to choose how to interact with online course content.

On Friday, March 24, our discussion will focus on Student Voice and Choice. How are students invited to represent themselves within the course? Within the field? How can they be given the chance to contribute to the knowledge community of the classroom and of the field at large? Kate Moss, Doctoral Lecturer in General Education and Liberal Studies at CUNY SPS, will share an open pedagogy assignment that exemplifies how students can be knowledge creators in the context of a course.

Discussion sessions are held from 12-1:30pm. All are welcome!  Register Here

Zotero Citation Management

Thursday, March 16, 12:30-1:30 pm

This workshop provides a hands on introduction to Zotero, a free open-source, bibliographic citation management tool that allows you to collect, store, and organize information as you research, and to rapidly generate citations and bibliographies with your word processor in a variety of styles as you write.

You will learn to install Zotero, capture items into your personal library, generate in-text citations and bibliographies, sync to the cloud and utilize many of the software’s functions.

This workshop is open to all CUNY SPS students and faculty
Register Here

CIED: Hidden Figures

Wednesday, March 22, 11:00am – 1:00pm

The Committee on Institutional Equity and Diversity (CIED) is proud to present a panel discussion on Hidden Figures: Developing Student Identity within a Discipline. Attend to learn ways in which a student’s identity can be fostered and supported within a discipline; the tools to develop the identity within the discipline; and how to align a student’s identity with a balanced learning experience and professional success. Register Here

Teaching with Intelligence: Navigating AI in the Classroom

Friday, April 28, 12:00-1:00pm

All SPS faculty are invited to a discussion on ChatGPT and other generative AI in our classes. How do we gauge our students’ temperature and talk to them about it? What approach can we take if students do use it? What might we want to adjust in our course design and assessments?  With: Carolee Ramsay, Director of Student Conduct and Community Standards. Ruru Rusmin, Assistant Dean, Faculty Development and Instructional Technology

Register Here

Upcoming CUNY Events

SPRING 2023 CITA Events

CUNY’s Innovative Teaching Academy will be offering the following opportunities:

Hunter ACERT Presents: March Lunchtime Seminars
Tuesday/Thursdays in March, 12:00-1:00 PM (Partner Virtual Event): Please register here.

• March 21: Integrating career exploration and preparation into the curriculum
• March 23: Global Learning Experiences- live from New York
• March 28: Attention! The art and science of student engagement

Environmental Justice Across Spaces
Friday, April 28, 10:00-11:00 AM (Virtual Event) -Please register here.
Rebio Diaz Cardona, Nathan Hosannah, Tomo Imamichi, Ryan Mann-Hamilton, and Ingrid Veras, LaGuardia Community College

Teaching and Learning with Transformative Texts
Friday, May 12, 2:00-3:00 PM (Virtual Event) – Please register here.
Karin Beck, Mila Burns, Alyshia Gálvez, and Julie Maybee, Lehman College

Faculty Corner: Providing Video Feedback

Dr. Sarah Ruth Jacobs, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Communication and Media and Liberal Studies discusses building rapport with her student using video feedback. Take a look!

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Video feedback has a few advantages to traditional feedback: it conveys tone better than the written word, it can show how a reader or viewer is interacting with the student’s work in real time, and it can make it easier to show a student the overall flow and structure of his or her work.

The first step to incorporating video feedback is to consider what assignment(s) would most benefit from such feedback. I personally choose to give video feedback on a one-page writing assignment that I think would benefit from students hearing my encouraging tone (despite a lot of otherwise critical feedback). Even though it is asynchronous, video feedback gives students the sense of a shared experience where I conversationally look over, point out, and discuss different portions of the assignment in an in-depth way.

When I give video feedback, I use Screencast-O-Matic, and I select the screen only option, so that the student’s work is what is visible. Prior to giving feedback, I read over and highlight different parts of a student’s work that I want to touch on—the good, the bad, and what is promising but needs work, using different colored highlights. This prevents me from having to read over the assignment in its entirety while giving feedback, though that could be an option if you want a student to hear his or her words. For a one-page assignment, I usually give 1 to 3 minutes of video feedback. I then upload the video using Panopto, and I will submit the video for captioning and transcripts.

Generally, video feedback works better for shorter assignments, or for multimedia assignments. Longer assignments may require more extensive line-by-line criticism, which can render video feedback a little bit awkward when students are revising. I therefore tend to give video feedback for assignments that do not require extensive revision. So far my students have responded positively to my feedback, and I believe that it helps to establish and improve my rapport with students.

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If you are interested in learning how to give video feedback, you can sign up for one of our OFDIT workshops on Panopto, VoiceThread or Screencast-O-Matic, or contact us for more information.

If you have a useful or interesting pedagogical or technical tip (in 200 words or less!) that you are excited about, we would love to hear from you and add your submission to our next Faculty Newsletter. Please use our Faculty Corner Submission Form to submit your pitch. Your submission can be in text or video format – whatever you prefer!

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OFDIT Spring 2023 Trainings

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Don’t forget to sign up for OFDIT’s trainings this spring! Our sessions are designed to encourage all faculty to add skills and get inspired about the tools available for your teaching! You may register using our public calendar or learn more below:

Introduction to Blackboard Ally
Learn how our new tool, Blackboard Ally, can increase access and improve the overall learning experience in your course by providing choice and flexibility for how students consume content and access media. We will cover both alternative file formats and the accessibility gauge features that are now available to all in your courses and the support Ally provides in addressing any areas where accessibility can be improved, often very quickly!

Thursday, March 16 at 10am Register Here
Monday, March 20 at 1pm Register Here

Making Your Course Content Accessible with Ally
Want to make your documents and Blackboard course content accessible but don’t know where to start? Join us for a training session to learn how! We will cover accessibility principles and provide practical tips on how to use Blackboard Ally to make your course files (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and Blackboard content (such as font, headers, images, charts, graphs, hyperlinks) more accessible to all your students.

Monday, April 3 at 10am Register Here
Wednesday, April 19 at 1pm Register Here

Getting Started with Blackboard Mobile
In this session, we will explore the Blackboard Mobile application and gain an understanding of how students experience learning on the go. We will also discuss the major interface differences between Blackboard Mobile and Blackboard for Desktop and best practices for online course design for mobile devices.

Thursday, March 23 at 11am Register Here
Thursday, March 30 at 2pm Register Here

Panopto for SPS Faculty
Creating video content just got much easier! Whether you need to record a welcome message, a lecture, or a recorded announcement for your class, Panopto, the SPS Blackboard-integrated video platform, can make it happen in a few clicks. Participants will learn how to access Panopto and its many features through Blackboard, and how to develop a workflow to create, organize, and publish your video content. Special attention will be paid to viewing permissions, sharing content between courses, and captioning. Join us to boost your video-making skills!

Thursday, March 23 at 10am Register Here
Monday, March 27 at 11am Register Here

A Cut Above: Making Your Videos More Professional
Learn simple steps to present yourself on video to enhance your connection with your students by looking more professional. Nowadays, we have multiple opportunities to be on camera for synchronous virtual meetings or recording content for our classes. Having your students see and hear you builds rapport and sparks excitement for learning. Whether you are trying this for the first time, or have been creating media for a while, this session will give you a set of guides to help make your videos look and sound professionally produced.

Thursday, March 23 at 4pm Register Here

ePortfolio for SPS Faculty: An Introduction
If this is the first time you are using Digication’s ePortfolio in your course or if you need a quick refresher, this workshop will help both new and existing faculty get acquainted with ePortfolio. We will discuss the current practice of using ePortfolio at CUNY SPS, navigate through the tool in a course site, review the responsibilities of instructors when using ePortfolio, and showcase the various support resources available for both students and instructors. There will also be time to answer any questions you might have about ePortfolios at CUNY SPS.

Friday, March 24 at 10am Register Here
Wednesday, April 26 at 4pm Register Here

 

Screencast-O-Matic: Effective Editing Techniques
Screencast-O-Matic (SCOM), a powerful video creating and editing tool, is available to SPS Faculty. In this session, participants will learn effective editing techniques that will direct your audience’s attention to what’s important. Used in conjunction with Panopto, the SPS video hosting platform, SCOM makes advanced editing features simple. The result, you can produce a polished video with a few simple steps.

Tuesday, March 28 at 3pm Register Here
Wednesday, April 5 at 4pm Register Here

VoiceThread for SPS Faculty
This training will introduce VoiceThread, an asynchronous video discussion board. VoiceThread allows faculty and students to create multimedia presentations that creates a classroom community through threaded audio and video discussions. You and your students can add commentary to a presentation by means of microphone, webcam, keyboard, or phone. The ensuing conversation feels like a live classroom, but in an online environment. In this session, SPS faculty will learn how to create a VoiceThread and integrate it into their Blackboard course.

Monday, April 3 at 4pm Register Here
Tuesday, April 18 at 4pm Register Here

Personalizing Your Panopto Video
As many of us have learned, using Panopto to create a video is a simple process. But many instructors have yet to unlock the powerful features inside Panopto that can transform video to maximize its impact. In this session, participants will look inside the Panopto video editor to discover tools for trimming or cutting video, adding additional content (ex. YouTube videos), or challenging students with in-video quizzes. Finally, we’ll review Panopto’s robust viewer analytics that tells us who has watched the video and for how long. Join us to make your next video go from good to great!

Tuesday, April 18 at 2pm Register Here

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As always, OFDIT is here to help! We are available for one-on-one support and are also happy to schedule a Zoom call to discuss any questions you may have. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us at facultysupport@sps.cuny.edu.

All the best,
Your OFDIT Team

February 2023

Dear Faculty,

We at OFDIT are excited to share our spring faculty development calendar, along with other opportunities for professional learning and dialog in the coming weeks!

In this edition we feature the upcoming CUNY Mindset Summit, with a session led by our own Assistant Dean Angela Francis. We also share information about our CUNY SPS Open for All Workshop (registration open until Feb. 24), on using OER and Open Pedagogy to support inclusive teaching, and an update on the SPS Reflective Pedagogy Reading Group.

You can also browse OFDIT’s Spring 2023 faculty training calendar, which features some new topics such as Blackboard Ally and an OpenLab info-session, along with sessions on Panopto, OER, and ePortfolio, and more!

Last, check out the many events offered this month and next by the CUNY Innovative Teaching Academy (CITA), including a session on ChatGTP coming up Friday, Feb. 17 and the CITA Summer Institute 2023 (with registration due March 10).

Looking forward to seeing you at some of the events as you hone your professional practice!

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CUNY Mindset Summit 2023

Friday, March 3, from 9:30am-12:30pm bit.ly/3HJK2WQ

Assistant Dean of General Education and First Year Experience, Angela Francis, will be leading a breakout session on Growth Mindset Beyond the Classroom.

ALL CUNY COLLEAGUES ARE WELCOME including faculty, staff, and administrators – those who are new to the area, and those who are familiar with the concept of learning mindsets!

This inaugural CUNY-wide summit will be an opportunity to review the three learning mindsets, collectively called Mindset GPS: Growth Mindset, Purpose and Relevance, and Sense of Belonging, and discuss how to translate the framework into equity-focused practices. The event will kick off with a plenary panel discussion featuring nationally renowned experts in the field of learning mindsets and equity, followed by three concurrent workshops facilitated by colleagues from across our campuses who have been serving as CUNY’s mindset leaders.

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Join our growing community of open practitioners for Open Spring!

Open for All Workshop (March 2023)

Open Spring at CUNY SPS 2023 will cover the intersection of Open Educational Resources (OER), Open Pedagogy and Inclusive Pedagogy through the implementation of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility (DEIA) educational practices. The Open for All Workshop (March 3-31), built around a series of five live online discussions with a supporting Blackboard course and resource site, is a process-based workshop focusing on how to evaluate a course for inclusivity along different dimensions (ex., representation, accessibility, and student voice and choice), and how Open Pedagogy and OER can be leveraged to increase inclusivity. As a final workshop project, participants will conduct a review of an SPS course that they have developed or taught and present a proposal for increasing inclusivity in the course using specific DEIA and open practices. All SPS faculty and course developers are invited to participate in the workshop, whatever their level of experience with DEIA pedagogies, OER, or Open Pedagogy.

See our Open Spring at CUNY SPS page for more info.

Workshop Registration open now through Friday, Feb. 24.

Spring is a great time for Open! We are offering our one-hour training on OER and Open Pedagogy at the end of February, and Jesse Rice-Evans, manager of our soon-to-come Open Lab, will be introducing that platform in early March, coinciding with OE Global’s Open Education Week, March 6-10. See info and registration links for those two SPS sessions below.

Open Education Week is a celebration of the global movement of OER and Open Pedagogy educators. It’s an opportunity to share your own open projects and to see how OER and Open Ed are being implemented by colleagues all over the world. The call for submissions is open now! Also, be sure to check the OEWEEK site March 6-10 to see all of the activities and resources that are shared.

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Reflective Pedagogy Reading Group

The SPS Reflective Pedagogy Reading Group kicks off its spring meetings on Tuesday, February 28, 2-3pm with a discussion of ChatGPT. For more information, email Elizabeth Alsop (elizabeth.alsop@cuny.edu).

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OFDIT Spring 2023 Trainings

For more information and to register for any of the trainings below, please see Training Sessions for SPS Faculty.

Panopto for SPS Faculty

Creating video content just got a whole lot easier! Whether you need to record a welcome message, a lecture, or a recorded announcement for your class, Panopto, the SPS video platform integrated into Blackboard, can make it happen in a few clicks. Participants will learn how to access Panopto and its features through Blackboard, focusing on a workflow to create, organize, and publish your video content. Special attention will be paid to viewing permissions, sharing content between courses, and captioning. Join us to boost your video skills!

• Thursday Feb 16 at 4pm Register here
• Tuesday Feb 21 at 3PM Register here
• Thursday March 23 at 10am Register here
• Monday March 27 at 11AM Register here

A Cut Above: Making Your Videos More Professional 

Learn simple steps to present yourself on video to enhance your connection with your students by looking more professional. Nowadays, we have multiple opportunities to be on camera for synchronous virtual meetings or recording content for our classes. Having your students see and hear you builds rapport and sparks excitement for learning. No matter if you’re trying this for the first time or have been creating media for a while, this session we’ll give you a set of guides to make your videos look more professional.

• Friday February 17 at 10am Register here
• Thursday March 23 at 4pm Register here

Personalizing Your Panopto Video

As many of us have learned, using Panopto to create a video is a simple process. But many of us have yet to unlock the powerful features inside Panopto that can transform video to maximize its impact. In this session, participants will look inside the Panopto video editor to discover tools for trimming or cutting video, adding additional content (ex. YouTube videos), or challenging students with in-video quizzes. Finally, we’ll review Panopto’s robust viewer analytics that tells us who has watched the video and for how long. Join us to make your next video go from good to great!

• Wednesday Feb 15 at 11AM Register here
• Wednesday March 1 at 10AM Register here
• Tuesday April 18 at 2PM Register here

From Open Educational Resources (OER) to Open Pedagogy

Whether you’re looking to lower course costs for your students, update or customize instructional materials to make them more relevant and engaging, or empower your students to become active contributors to your field, Open Educational Resources (OER) and open pedagogy may be just what you’re looking for!

• Wed. Feb 22 at 6pm Register here
• Thursday Feb 23 at 12 pm Register here
• Friday Feb 24 at 9 am Register here

ePortfolio for SPS Faculty: An Introduction

If this is the first time you are using Digication’s ePortfolio in your course or you need a quick refresher, this workshop will help both new and existing faculty get acquainted with ePortfolio. We will discuss the current practice of using ePortfolio at CUNY SPS, navigate through the tool in a course site, review the responsibilities of instructors when using ePortfolio, and showcase the various support resources available for both students and instructors. There will also be time to answer any questions you might have about ePortfolios at CUNY SPS.

• Monday Feb 27 at 12pm Register Here
• Friday March 24 at 10am Register Here
• Wednesday April 26 at 4pm Register Here

OpenLab Info Session

Planning your future collaborative projects? Curious about what digital tools will be available at CUNY SPS in the near future? Thinking about what open digital pedagogy tools are best to collaborate, create, and explore? In this one-hour informational session, we’ll introduce the CUNY OpenLab. We’ll explore projects on other CUNY-based OpenLabs and take an informational tour of other OpenLab sites to explore the possibilities of a new, open-source platform coming soon to CUNY SPS. At the end of this interactive info session, we’ll share upcoming opportunities to participate in other workshops geared toward open digital pedagogy.

• Monday, March 6, 2023, 12:30-1:30PM Register here
• Thursday, March 9, 2023, 6-7PM Register here

Introduction to Blackboard Ally

Learn how our new tool, Blackboard Ally, can increase access and improve the overall learning experience in your course by providing choice and flexibility for how students consume content and access media. We will cover both alternative file formats and the accessibility gauge features that are now available to all in your courses and the support Ally provides in addressing any areas where accessibility can be improved, often very quickly!

• Thursday, March 16 at 10am Register Here
• Monday, March 20 at 1pm Register Here

Making Your Course Content Accessible with Ally

Want to make your documents and Blackboard course content accessible but don’t know where to start? Join us for a training session to learn how! We will cover accessibility principles and provide practical tips on how to use Blackboard Ally to make your course files (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and Blackboard content (such as font, headers, images, charts, graphs, hyperlinks) more accessible to all your students.

• Tuesday, April 4 at 10am Register Here
• Wednesday, April 19 at 1pm Register Here

Getting Started with Blackboard Mobile

In this session, we will explore the Blackboard Mobile application and gain an understanding of how students experience learning on the go. We will also discuss the major interface differences between Blackboard Mobile and Blackboard for Desktop and best practices for online course design for mobile devices.

• Wednesday, March 23 at 11am Register Here 
• Thursday, March 30 at 2pm Register Here

Screencast-O-Matic: Effective Editing Techniques

Screencast-O-Matic (SCOM), a powerful video creating and editing tool, is available to SPS Faculty. In this session, participants will learn effective editing techniques that will direct your audience’s attention to what’s important. Used in conjunction with Panopto, the SPS video hosting platform, SCOM makes advanced editing features simple. The result, you can produce a polished video with a few simple steps.

• Tuesday March 28 at 3pm Register here
• Wednesday April 5 at 4pm Register here

VoiceThread for SPS Faculty

This training will introduce VoiceThread, an asynchronous video discussion board. VoiceThread allows faculty and students to create multimedia presentations that creates a classroom community through threaded audio and video discussions. You and your students can add commentary to a presentation by means of microphone, webcam, keyboard, or phone. The ensuing conversation feels like a live classroom, but in an online environment. In this session, SPS faculty will learn how to create a VoiceThread and integrate it into their Blackboard course.

• Monday April 3 at 4pm Register here
• Tuesday April 18 at 4pm Register here

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Upcoming CITA Events

CUNY’s Innovative Teaching Academy will be offering the following opportunities:

Friday, February 17, 2-3pm (Virtual Event)

Introduction to ChatGPT

Laura Baecher, School of Education, Hunter College and Jack Kenigsberg, Acting Coordinator Rockowitz Writing Center, Hunter College will be leading an overview of ChatGPT’s implications and possibilities for higher education.

To find out more about what ChatGPT is capable of and to consider ways you might create assignments keeping ChatGPT in mind, check out the event page on Eventbrite for more information and to register.

Friday, March 10, 2:00-3:00 PM (Virtual Event)

The New College Classroom

Cathy Davidson and Christina Katopodis, CUNY Central Office

March 14, 1:59 PM (3.14159) (Virtual Event)

Sharing a Slice of Pi: Pi Day Celebration

Mathematics and pastry chef faculty will join efforts in this interdisciplinary presentation to celebrate Pi Day. The presenters will share fun facts about pi and pie with the goals of generating interest and motivating learning. The participants will have the opportunity to try a hands-on activity and to share their favorite pi/pie activity or story. All are welcome!

Friday, April 28, 10:00-11:00 AM (Virtual Event)

Environmental Justice Across Spaces

Rebio Diaz Cardona, Nathan Hosannah, Tomo Imamichi, Ryan Mann-Hamilton, and Ingrid Veras, LaGuardia Community College

Friday, May 12, 2:00-3:00 PM (Virtual Event)

Teaching and Learning with Transformative Texts

Karin Beck, Mila Burns, Alyshia Gálvez, and Julie Maybee, Lehman College

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CITA Summer Institute 2023

Interested in promoting equitable and inclusive STEM teaching and learning? The CITA Summer Institute will be held from May 30 – June 5th, 2023 (2 days in-person, 3 via Zoom) in support of projects which implement high impact practices at the classroom, department, or school/college level that promote equitable and inclusive teaching and learning in undergraduate STEM.

Project proposals could include curriculum development, new course proposal, course redesign, student learning activities, or student support activities. Collaborative projects are encouraged! Selected participants who complete the program will receive a $1000 stipend and the opportunity to present their developed projects.

Click here to learn more and apply. Applications are due March 10th, and applicants will be notified of acceptance by March 31st.

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Call for Faculty Corner Submissions

If you have a useful or interesting pedagogical or technicall tip (in 200 words or less!) that you are excited about, we would love to hear from you and add your submission to our next Faculty Newsletter. Please use our Faculty Corner Submission Form to submit your pitch. Your submission can be in text or video format – whatever you prefer!

 

 

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As always, OFDIT is here to help with any questions you may have. We are available for one-on-one support and would be happy to schedule a Zoom call to discuss any questions you may have. You can contact us at facultysupport@sps.cuny.edu.

All the best,

Your OFDIT Team

January 2023

Dear Faculty,

Happy 2023 from your OFDIT team!

This month’s newsletter includes updates about Ally, a new accessibility tool enabled across all SPS course sites in Blackboard. We also share some details about the upcoming CUNY Games Network as well as Teaching Matters workshops, along with information to assist with your Spring course preparation.

We hope you had a wonderful break, and look forward to supporting your work with students in the coming year!

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Course Accessibility with Ally

We’re excited to announce that Blackboard Ally, an accessibility tool, was enabled for all CUNY SPS course sites on January 3, 2023.

Ally provides the following:

Alternative content formats for a variety of devices and assistive technologies, available to all course users. Alternative formats can be accessed for both students and instructors by clicking on the Ally icon found to the right of the item, and includes format options such as HTML, ePUB, audio (MP3), electronic braille, and translated language versions, among others.

Accessibility scores and accessibility improvement guidance, for instructors only. Instructors will see an accessibility gauge icon next to all individual attachments and files in their courses, which indicates the accessibility score for that item. If the gauge icon indicates a low accessibility rating, clicking the icon gives instructors access to a Feedback Panel for detailed explanations and how-to steps for making that item more accessible.

Accessibility Report, for instructors only. Instructors can view a summary of the accessibility scores and issues for their course site via Ally’s Accessibility Report, available under Control Panel – Course Tools on the course menu. It includes a list of the course’s content items, accessibility scores, and issues.

Ally Resources and Support

See our Blackboard Ally Resource Page for more details, helpful links and resources, or watch this recording of an Ally instructor training.

OFDIT will also be offering Ally trainings for SPS faculty next month; details will be announced at the start of Spring semester.

Questions regarding Ally can be directed to Faculty Support (facultysupport@sps.cuny.edu). We are pleased about the tools Ally provides for creating more accessible courses for all at SPS, and know you will be, too!

Announcing Ally to Your Students

Below we’ve drafted some language explaining Ally, which you can share with your students via an announcement in your course, if you would like (please edit as you see fit):

Dear students, I have some exciting news: CUNY SPS now has a Blackboard accessibility tool called Ally. You may have noticed the Ally icon next to course content text and attachments. You can click on this icon to access available alternative formats for the course material. For example, you can convert a PDF into an HTML document for easier reading on mobile devices, or into an MP3 audio file for a text-to-speech version. You are welcome to explore this tool at your convenience but please note you are not required to do so.

For more details, see the resources listed below, or contact the Office of Disability Services (disabilityservices@sps.cuny.edu) with any questions about this new tool.

• Ally for Students in Blackboard Learn (Video – 0:45)
• Ally Quick Start for Students
• Alternative Formats in Ally
• Student FAQs about Ally

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Upcoming CUNY Events

Interested in game-based pedagogies? Want to learn more about using observation and dialogue-based inquiry to connect with your students and extend their critical thinking skills? The following hybrid and online events are open to CUNY instructors:

CUNY Games Conference 

January 23 and 24, 2023 (Hybrid – in-person and online) the CUNY Games Conference 9.0 will be presented by the Games Network of the City University of New York. See the CUNY Games Conference website for more information and to register.

Art as a Tool for Empathic Teaching 

Teaching Matters Professional Development Series:

Friday, February 3, 10:00-11:00 AM (Virtual Event)

Art as a Tool for Empathic Teaching, presented by Cris Scorza and Dyeemah Simmons, from the Whitney Museum of American Art. See the event page on Eventbrite for more details and to register.

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Preparing Course Sites for Spring

Our Course Site Checklist for Faculty can be helpful when prepping your online course for the new semester.

You will find useful SPS quick guides from our OFDIT team and links to Blackboard Help pages, as well as a checklist of all the elements that need to be updated in a live course site for an upcoming semester, including:

• Welcome announcement
• Instructor card
• Syllabus/Course Schedule
• Due Dates

Ensuring that all dates for your course are accurate for the new semester is especially important; this includes dates mentioned in text items as well as assignment and folder availability.

Though you will need to manually update any dates mentioned in any text, Blackboard availability and due dates can be reviewed and updated via Blackboard’s Date Management tool, either individually, as a group of items, or all of the dates at once. This is a great option if you are using content from a previous semester and would like to adjust your dates for the new semester. To learn more about how to use this tool, please see our quick guide, or contact our team for assistance.

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Making Video for your Online Class

As the new semester approaches many of you will be recording video introductions and overviews. Making a video for your online class is really about making a connection with your students. Seeing and hearing their professor builds community in the classroom and increases engagement. If you’ll be making a video, please check out our guide: Making Video for your Online Class. This 2-page guide offers tips on increasing the production value of your recording, or in other words, how you can look more professional on camera. Alternatively, faculty are welcome to visit us on campus to use the OFDIT Media Studio for full video support.

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Call for Faculty Corner Submissions

If you have a useful or interesting pedagogical or technical tip (in 200 words or less!) that you are excited about, we would love to hear from you and add your submission to our next Faculty Newsletter. Please use our Faculty Corner Submission Form to submit your pitch. Your submission can be in text or video format – whatever you prefer!

 

 

 

 

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As always, OFDIT is here to help with any questions you may have. We are available for one-on-one support and would be happy to schedule a Zoom call to discuss any questions you may have. You can contact us at facultysupport@sps.cuny.edu.

All the best,

Your OFDIT Team

December 2022

Dear Faculty,

As you work to wrap up the semester, OFDIT is here with support and resources for you! January is a great time for reflection on pedagogy and for learning new teaching practices. In this month’s newsletter, we feature opportunities for professional development coming up: CUNY Central OAA’s Innovative Pedagogy team is offering their very popular Growth Mindset workshop and we at OFDIT are offering our Open and Active Video workshop. In other news, we share an exciting announcement about Blackboard Ally at SPS. Finally, don’t miss a fabulous video introduction to the resources and faculty support available through OFDIT’s Media Studio! Sit back, press play, and enjoy the tour!

We wish you a wonderful break and all the best in the coming year!

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Faculty Professional Development Opportunities

In January 2023, CUNY Central OAA’s Innovative Pedagogy Team will offer a learning mindset course for 100 CUNY faculty from all CUNY schools. This 2-week, 15-hour asynchronous course will be online and run January 12-27, 2023. In this course, designed and led by the University of Virginia’s Motivate Lab, full and part-time faculty are invited to further explore evidence-supported tools and techniques that can help students succeed. The discussion portion of the course will be facilitated by Motivate Lab experts and the CUNY Faculty Mindset Fellows who have been chosen based on their experience with learning mindsets.

If you are interested in participating in the course, submit the following form by the end of Friday, December 16: Motivating Learners Course (MLC): Starting Strong — Mindset Course

Selected participants will be notified by Thursday, December 22. For any questions, email CUNY Central OAA’s Mari Watanabe-Rose and Dominique DiTommaso at CUNYMindset@cuny.edu

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Blackboard Ally

We’re excited to announce that starting with courses in the Winter/Spring 2023 semester, Ally for LMS, an accessibility tool, will be available for CUNY SPS courses in Blackboard. Ally will be launched in all course sites on January 3rd, 2023.

Ally provides instructors with guidance on how to correct accessibility issues with digital course content. For students, the tool provides access to alternative content formats for a variety of devices and assistive technologies.

See Blackboard’s Ally support page for more details and links to helpful resources for instructors, or watch the recording of the Ally instructor training from November 2022.

Questions regarding Ally can be directed to

• Instructors: Faculty Support at facultysupport@sps.cuny.edu
• Students: Office of Student Disability Services at disabilityservices@sps.cuny.edu

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Open and Active Video Workshop   

Looking to increase student engagement and lesson effectiveness? Don’t miss the hands-on SPS Open & Active Video Workshop, Monday, January 9 to Monday, January 23, 2023.

This workshop combines the pedagogical why and the practical how to help you generate an interactive video to use in your courses. We start by identifying a course need that can be addressed by the addition of multimedia content presented in an active learning context. Then we’ll train you on how to script, record, and edit your video, adding interactive elements. In the second week, you’ll work independently (with our support) to create the video and accompanying activity.

Thanks to the SPS OER Initiative, eligible faculty participants will be paid for 7 Non-Teaching Adjunct hours upon successful completion of the workshop. To be eligible, faculty must be first-time participants in the workshop, be within their workload restrictions with an additional 7 NTA hours in the semester they complete the workshop, and have approval from their Academic Director.

See the full workshop description including learning objectives and workshop requirements on our Advanced Workshops page.

Registration is open through Wednesday, January 4: https://forms.gle/nBWwT62HLYge3doB8

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OFDIT Media Studio

As most of us are teaching online, it may not surprise you to learn that student engagement and satisfaction increase when students feel a sense of connection, or ‘human touch,’ in an online environment. Using instructor-created video has a particular strength in conveying social connections across vast distances. For this reason, at SPS we encourage faculty to add video elements to their courses to build a stronger community of learners. The OFDIT Media Team is here to support you by helping with all aspects of video production, especially time-consuming technical aspects, so that you can focus on creating content and connection.

To learn more, watch our studio orientation to see how we help:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Faculty Corner: Grade Center Tip

The Blackboard Grade Center has several tools that help manage your course grades. In my BUS 325, Principles of MIS course, I use the Grade Center’s color coding feature to get a “birds-eye” view of my assignments and the entire class.  With just a glance at the Grade Center, this feature lets me see if a student needs additional help with a topic, is struggling in the course, or if the class is struggling with a particular assignment. I’ve set up color coding to display high or low scores and the status of a grade. To get started with Color Coding in the Grade Center, I’ve prepared this brief tutorial. – Curtis Izen, Online Business Programs

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Call for Faculty Corner Submissions

If you have a useful or interesting pedagogical or technical tip (in 200 words or less!) that you are excited about, we would love to hear from you and add your submission to our next Faculty Newsletter. Please use our Faculty Corner Submission Form to submit your pitch. Your submission can be in text or video format – whatever you prefer!

 

 

 

 

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Faculty Support Drop-In Hour

Need live faculty support? Stop by during our Faculty Support Drop-In Hour every Tuesday 3-4pm to speak to an OFDIT team member who can help.

You can access the drop-in hour session via the Zoom link.

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As always, OFDIT is here to help with any questions you may have. We are available for one-on-one support and would be happy to schedule a Zoom call to discuss any questions you may have. You can contact us at facultysupport@sps.cuny.edu.

All the best,

Your OFDIT Team

 

November 2022

Dear Faculty,

Winter is coming! As you cozy up with your hot beverage of choice, we invite you to read this month’s newsletter and catch up on the latest OFDIT and CUNY-wide news.

First, we share information about the many faculty development opportunities that are taking place soon, including the CUNY IT conference, the Teaching Matters series, and events from the CUNY Innovative Teaching Academy.

Please read on for tips on setting up your Final Grades column, as well as information about our captioning and transcription service which we encourage you to use for the instructional videos in your course.

Speaking of videos, we invite you to watch Dr. Jennifer Sparrow, CUNY SPS’ Interim Senior Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, speak with Jeffrey Yan of the Digication Scholars Conversation Podcast. Last but certainly not least, don’t miss this month’s Faculty Corner! In this video, Dr. Linda Paradiso talks with OFDIT’s Matt Lewis about the benefits of incorporating reflective learning opportunities into your course.

Thank you for reading and happy sipping!

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Faculty Professional Development Opportunities

The CUNY IT Conference, whose theme this year is “The Power and Perils of Scripting,” will be taking place in-person at John Jay College from December 1-2, 2022.

CUNY SPS speakers include conference co-chair Bronwen Stine (IT), as well as Tara Barca, Joe Foy, Ed Knox (all of Business) and Ruru Rusmin (OFDIT), who will be presenting “Paving the Path: Online Course Frameworks for Consistent, Frictionless Curriculum Delivery.” To register for this free event, please visit the CUNY IT Conference Events page.

Continue expanding your instructional practice with events from the Innovative Teaching Academy (ITA) as well as the Teaching Matters Series. Upcoming workshops include:

• Teaching Matters: Modeling Your Assignments after Your Own Writing Practices with Karen Miller. Friday, December 2, 2022, 10 – 11 AM ET. Register here.
• Community Inside and Outside of the Classroom (Online). Friday, December 2, 2022, 12—1:30 PM. Register here.
• Not the Master’s Tools: Building Community in the Classroom (Online). Tuesday, December 6, 2022, 4—5 PM. Register here.
• Equity through Creativity: Examples of Transformative Teaching Across Disciplines (Online). Wednesday, December 7, 2022, 4—5 PM. Register here.

Training is also available on Ally, a Blackboard tool which evaluates content uploaded into a course and provides instructors with steps on how to improve the accessibility of that file. In addition, Ally provides students with multiple formats of the original content so students can select a format which best fits their needs.

• Friday, December 2nd – 12:00-2:00pm. Register here (Registration closes November 30th)
• Tuesday, December 6th – 12:00-2:00 pm. Register here (Registration closes December 4th)

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Open Pedagogy in the Teaching Matters Series

On Friday, September 16 from 2 PM – 3 PM, Shawna Brandle from Kingsborough Community College will present “Choosing Your Own Adventure: Increasing Student Engagement with Open Pedagogy.” For more details and to register, click here! To read more about Teaching Matters offerings, or to submit a proposal for a workshop, please see Teaching Matters – The City University of New York.

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Calculating Final Grades Using Total Points or Weighted Total

Blackboard allows you to use Total Points or Weighted Total to calculate your final grades.

The Total Points column is created by default in Blackboard. The Total points column will calculate final grades by simply adding up all the points a student earned. If you have selected “Calculate as Running Total” and percentage as the Primary Display for the column, the total points the student has earned is divided by the total points possible for their graded work, displaying the student’s average grade on the work they have submitted. If a student has missed an assignment submission, this average won’t be affected unless you enter a manual grade for them in that column.

The Weighted Total column calculates a final grade based on the respective percentages assigned to categories or individual columns. The final grade is calculated independently of the points assigned to each graded item. It is important to note that the Weighted Total column is created by default in Blackboard, but it is empty unless you set it up.

Please keep in mind that you can change the format in which grades are displayed in both the Total and Weighted Total columns. When you change the Primary Display, this is the format that appears in the Grade Center and My Grades area for students. When you change the Secondary Display, this is only visible to you as the instructor in the Grade Center. Students do not see a secondary display. We recommend changing your Secondary Display to either SPS Undergrad Letter or SPS Grad Letter, whichever is appropriate, as this converts the final grade into the appropriate letter grade which you’ll have to enter into CUNYfirst.

Please visit our quick guides for further Grade Center help, or contact us for any questions!

• Calculating Final Grades Using Total Points
• Calculating Final Grades Using Weighted Total

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Captioning Videos in SPS Courses

This may not be a big surprise to the SPS community, but captioning a video benefits everyone. At SPS we would like every video added to a course to have captions and/or a full transcript. SPS has contracted a professional captioning service, 3Play Media, to make the addition of captions as easy as possible. Recently, OFDIT updated our caption request form to allow for multiple video submission pathways.

No matter the location (YouTube, Panopto, Dropbox, etc.), you may submit videos used in SPS courses for professional captioning. You may also submit dual language videos (Spanish/English) for captioning. You can even submit videos for captioning that you did not create, such as YouTube links created by a 3rd party.

Get your videos captioned today using the OFDIT Caption Request Form. Please bookmark this link and in the future, when you need a video captioned, you’ll know where to go to get professional captions!

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Dr. Jennifer Sparrow interviewed for the Digication Scholars Conversation Podcast

In this episode, “How to Make the Student Experience Better with Outcome-Driven Assessment” on the Digication Scholars Conversation podcast, Jeffrey Yan chats with Dr. Jennifer Sparrow on topics such as outcome-driven education with an emphasis on the use of teaching and learning technologies to improve the student experience.

Highlights include:

• The Need For Outcome-Based Education
• Use of Technologies in Education (Teaching and Learning) for Improving the Student Experience
• The Benefits of Going Online with Educational Technology
• Measuring the Student Experience Through an Outcome-Driven Assessment

And more…

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Faculty Corner Discussion on Reflective Learning

In our first ever Faculty Corner video, Dr. Linda Paradiso speaks to Matt Lewis about the use of reflective learning in the Nursing Organizational Leadership Program. Click on the image to view the video.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Call for Faculty Corner Submissions

 

If you have a useful or interesting pedagogical or technical tip (in 200 words or less!) that you are excited about, we would love to hear from you and add your submission to our next Faculty Newsletter. Please use our Faculty Corner Submission Form to submit your pitch. Your submission can be in text or video format – whatever you prefer!

 

 

 

 

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Faculty Support Drop-In Hour

Need live faculty support? Stop by during our Faculty Support Drop-In Hour every Tuesday 3-4pm to speak to an OFDIT team member who can help.

You can access the drop-in hour session via the Zoom link.

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As always, OFDIT is here to help with any questions you may have. We are available for one-on-one support and would be happy to schedule a Zoom call to discuss any questions you may have. You can contact us at facultysupport@sps.cuny.edu.

All the best,

Your OFDIT Team

September 2022

Dear faculty,

We hope your semester is off to a great start!

In this month’s newsletter we share info about OER and Open Pedagogy opportunities you might be interested in, as well as our full schedule of faculty trainings for Fall. Whatever online teaching skill you want to pick up next, we’ve got you covered! And remember, Faculty Support Virtual Drop-In Hours are every Tuesday 3-4 pm via this Zoom link.

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Open & Active Video Workshop Registration Extended through Friday!

Register by Friday, September 16, at noon

Looking to increase student engagement and lesson effectiveness? Don’t miss the hands-on Open & Active Video Workshop, Monday, September 19 to Monday, October 3, 2022.

This workshop, sponsored by the CUNY-SPS OER Initiative, involves one week of asynchronous discussions on the pedagogical role of video, active learning, and OER, and training on how to create a video. In the second week participants create a video activity to complement the materials in their courses. See the full workshop description including learning objectives and workshop requirements on our Advanced Workshops page. Eligible faculty who complete the OAV Workshop are compensated with 7 NTA hours and are eligible for OER Initiative funding to create an additional video during the semester.

Registration extended through Friday, September 16, at noon: https://forms.gle/nBWwT62HLYge3doB8

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Open Pedagogy in the Teaching Matters Series

On Friday, September 16 from 2 PM – 3 PM, Shawna Brandle from Kingsborough Community College will present “Choosing Your Own Adventure: Increasing Student Engagement with Open Pedagogy.” For more details and to register, click here! To read more about Teaching Matters offerings, or to submit a proposal for a workshop, please see Teaching Matters – The City University of New York.

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OER and Open Pedagogy

(Oct 17-20, 2022)

October is a big month for the Open community. OpenEd22 takes place Oct. 17- 20 online. This is a great conference for anyone interested in OER or Open Pedagogy, with talks from experts in the field, higher ed leadership, open activists, and faculty sharing their experiences of implementing, revising or creating OER with their students. Early registration rates run until Thursday, Sept. 15 & the CUNY SPS OER Initiative can support a few early registration fees for part-time faculty. If interested, please contact Sarah Kresh (sarah.kresh@cuny.edu).

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Our OER & Open Pedagogy Workshop for SPS Faculty runs Monday, October 24 to Sunday, November 6, 2022. This workshop introduces the theory and tools that support OER and Open Pedagogy in online courses. Extending on the content of past sessions, this workshop is open to all SPS faculty, even those who’ve previously completed the OER Workshop or who’ve developed OER or ZTC courses. If you’re interested in creating materials with your students, giving them a more authentic way of demonstrating their learning, or simply replacing expensive materials with ZTC content and activities, this is the workshop for you!

Eligible faculty who complete the OER & Open Pedagogy Workshop are compensated with 7 NTA hours thanks to the CUNY SPS OER Initiative. More information and eligibility criteria can be found on our SPS Faculty Community Site’s Advanced Workshops page.

Registration open through Monday, October 17: https://forms.gle/SVZJuSVHxyRh4yYs8

We’ll be offering a short intro to OER and Open Pedagogy in early October as well, so if you are curious about the subject but would like to know more before enrolling in a two-week workshop, check out the Fall Trainings listed below.

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Fall Trainings for SPS Faculty

Panopto for SPS Faculty 

Creating video content just got a whole lot easier! Whether you need to record a welcome message, a lecture, or a recorded announcement for your class, Panopto, the SPS video platform integrated into Blackboard, can make it happen in a few clicks. Participants will learn how to access Panopto and its features through Blackboard, focusing on a workflow to create, organize, and publish your video content. Special attention will be paid to viewing permissions, sharing content between courses, and captioning. Join us to boost your video skills!

• Weds, September 21, 4-5pm (Register Here)
• Thurs, September 29, 10-11am (Register Here)
• Tues, October 18, 1-2pm (Register Here)
• Weds, October 19, 4-5pm (Register Here)

A Cut Above: Making Your Videos More Professional 

Learn simple steps to present yourself on video to enhance your connection with your students by looking more professional. Nowadays, we have multiple opportunities to be on camera for synchronous virtual meetings or recording content for our classes. Having your students see and hear you builds rapport and sparks excitement for learning. No matter if you’re trying this for the first time or have been creating media for a while, this session we’ll give you a set of guides to make your videos look more professional.

• Fri, September 30,10-11am (Register Here)
• Thurs, October 20, 4-5pm (Register Here)

Personalizing Your Panopto Video

As many of us have learned, using Panopto to create a video is a simple process. But many of us have yet to unlock the powerful features inside Panopto that can transform video to maximize its impact. In this session, participants will look inside the Panopto video editor to discover tools for trimming or cutting video, adding additional content (ex. YouTube videos), or challenging students with in-video quizzes. Finally, we’ll review Panopto’s robust viewer analytics that tells us who has watched the video and for how long. Join us to make your next video go from good to great!

• Mon, October 17, 4-5pm (Register Here)
• Mon, November 14, 4-5pm (Register Here)

VoiceThread for SPS Faculty

This training will introduce VoiceThread, an asynchronous video discussion board. VoiceThread allows faculty and students to create multimedia presentations that creates a classroom community through threaded audio and video discussions. You and your students can add commentary to a presentation by means of microphone, webcam, keyboard, or phone. The ensuing conversation feels like a live classroom, but in an online environment. In this session, SPS faculty will learn how to create a VoiceThread and integrate it into their Blackboard course.

• Thurs, September 22, 10-11am (Register Here)
• Tues, October 11, 4-5pm (Register Here)

Screencast-O-Matic: Effective Editing Techniques

Screencast-O-Matic (SCOM), a powerful video creating and editing tool, is available to SPS Faculty. In this session, participants will learn effective editing techniques that will direct your audience’s attention to what’s important. Used in conjunction with Panopto, the SPS video hosting platform, SCOM makes advanced editing features simple. The result, you can produce a polished video with a few simple steps.

• Fri, November 11,10-11am (Register Here)
• Mon, December 5, 4-5pm (Register Here)

Getting Started with Blackboard Mobile

In this session, we will explore the Blackboard Mobile application and gain an understanding of how students experience learning on the go. We will also discuss the major interface differences between Blackboard Mobile and Blackboard for Desktop and best practices for online course design for mobile devices.

• Tues, September 27, 12-1pm (Register Here)
• Tues, October 18, 10:30-11:30am (Register Here)

Making your Blackboard Course Content Accessible

Want to make your documents and Blackboard course content accessible but don’t know where to start? Join us for a training session to learn how! We will cover accessibility principles and provide practical tips on how to make your documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and Blackboard course content (such as font, headers, images, charts, graphs, hyperlinks) accessible to all your students.

• Thurs, October 27, 3-4pm (Register Here)
• Thurs, November 10, 10:30-11:30am (Register Here)

Accessible Multimedia

In this session, we will discuss tools for multimedia such as Collaborate and Zoom. We will cover tips such as how to add captioning and transcription for audio and video as well as how to write alt-text for images.

• Wed, November 2, 11-12pm (Register Here)
• Wed, November 16, 10:30-11:30am (Register Here)

From Open Educational Resources (OER) to Open Pedagogy

In this one-hour session, we’ll introduce the why and how of OER—materials that are free and openly licensed for you or your students to reuse, retain, revise, remix, and redistribute. We’ll also explore how student-created or student-remixed OER can fulfill the goals of open pedagogy—an approach that invites students to create knowledge rather than to merely consume it. If you’re curious about OER & Open Pedagogy, but aren’t sure you want to commit to the two-week workshop, this training offers an intro to the topic and the types of projects possible in the workshop.

• Frid, Oct 7, 12-1pm (Register Here)
• Wed, Oct 12, 9-10am (Register Here)
• Thurs, Oct 13, 5-6pm (Register Here)

ePortfolio for SPS Faculty: An Introduction

If this is the first time you are using Digication’s ePortfolio in your course or you need a quick refresher, this workshop will help both new and existing faculty get acquainted with ePortfolio. We will discuss the current practice of using ePortfolio at CUNY SPS, navigate through the tool in a course site, review the responsibilities of instructors when using ePortfolio, and showcase the various support resources available for both students and instructors. There will also be time to answer any questions you might have about ePortfolios at CUNY SPS. Click here to register for this workshop.

• Thurs. Sep 29, 1-2pm
• Weds. Oct 12, 10-11am
• Tues. Oct 25, 6-7pm

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Faculty Support Drop-In Hour

Need live faculty support? Stop by during our Faculty Support Drop-In Hour every Tuesday 3-4pm to speak to an OFDIT team member who can help.

You can access the drop-in hour session via the Zoom link.

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As always, OFDIT is here to help with any questions you may have. We are available for one-on-one support and would be happy to schedule a Zoom call to discuss any questions you may have. You can contact us at facultysupport@sps.cuny.edu.

All the best,

Your OFDIT Team