{"id":2343,"date":"2021-03-11T16:38:51","date_gmt":"2021-03-11T21:38:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spsfaculty.commons.gc.cuny.edu\/?p=2343"},"modified":"2026-03-03T16:20:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T16:20:52","slug":"2343","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/openlab.sps.cuny.edu\/sps-faculty-community-hub\/2021\/03\/11\/2343\/","title":{"rendered":"OFDIT Newsletter March 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"March<\/a><\/p>\n

March 2021<\/h1>\n

Dear CUNY SPS Faculty,<\/p>\n

Spring is on its way! We hope you and yours are staying safe, and that your classes are going smoothly.<\/p>\n

In this month\u2019s newsletter, we invite you to join us for our Accessibility & UDL workshop in April and any of our upcoming training sessions. In addition, we share information about the new Reflective Reading Pedagogy Group, events hosted by CUNY\u2019s Transformative Learning in the Humanities, and highlights of our CUNY SPS ePortfolio work. We also debut our new \u201cFaculty Corner\u201d segment where faculty share a useful or interesting pedagogical tip (in 200 words or less!) that has worked well in their online classes. If you have an idea, we would love to hear from you! Please use our\u00a0Newsletter Suggestion\/Faculty Corner Submission Form<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/a>to submit your pitch.<\/p>\n

Last but not least, we are pleased to announce the dates for our next Faculty Development Day which will take place over two half days, April 15th and 16th — save the dates!<\/p>\n

\n

Accessibility & UDL Workshop (April 5th – April 18th, 2021)<\/h2>\n

There are still seats available for our Accessibility & UDL Workshop offered in April!\u00a0This two-week, online workshop provides an in-depth introduction to accessibility and Universal Design in Learning (UDL) for online and hybrid education. Participants will review the principles of UDL, learn about best accessibility practices in Blackboard, and get hands-on practice creating accessible documents and multimedia. In applying the skills acquired in this workshop to course design and your teaching, you will create an online experience that is welcoming to all learners, including those with disabilities. Please join us by registering\u00a0here<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

Reflective Pedagogy Reading Group<\/h2>\n

Below is an invitation to join the Reflective Pedagogy Reading Group:<\/p>\n

“We\u2019re excited to announce the Reflective Pedagogy Reading Group, which offers members of the CUNY SPS community a space to regularly meet and reflect on issues related to their teaching practice. We welcome all faculty\u2014full- and part-time\u2014and any staff who would like to engage in critical discussions about teaching and learning. Our focus for the current semester is on Anti-Racist and Inclusive Pedagogy. Please join us for our first meeting on Tuesday, March 23, at 2 p.m., for a discussion of Chapter 10 of bell hook\u2019s\u00a0Teaching to Transgress<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>(“Building a Teaching Community”) facilitated by Melanie Lorek, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Human Relations. For more information or to join our mailing list, please email\u00a0elizabeth.alsop@cuny.edu<\/span><\/a>.”<\/p>\n

\n

Upcoming TLH Events<\/h2>\n

CUNY has created the\u00a0Transformative Learning in the Humanities<\/a><\/span>\u00a0(TLH) Initiative to reimagine ways to make the humanities more accessible, engaging and imperative to students. The effort, funded with support from\u00a0the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation,\u00a0is part of the University’s renewed focus on pedagogy.<\/p>\n

TLH is co-sponsoring a series of events in the spring, organized by CUNY faculty, which covers an exciting range of topics including how to foster play in the classroom, facilitating difficult classroom conversations, and universal design. To see the full lineup of upcoming workshops and to register, please visit\u00a0here<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

ePortfolio Showcase<\/h2>\n

Karen Gonzalez, ePortfolio Program Assistant in OFDIT, is the featured educator in Episode 13 of Digication\u2019s podcast series. In her episode titled\u00a0\u201cMeeting Students Where They Are: Building Community in an Online World,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>Karen discusses the use of ePortfolios to integrate learning, describes how SPS meets support needs in an online environment, and shares examples of work by students across multiple programs including Rokshana Ali in Disability Services in Higher Education and Richard Shot in Communication and Media.<\/p>\n

Coming up soon, we will be honoring excellent student work in our ePortfolio Student Showcase. The ePortfolio Student Showcase gives students an opportunity to share their academic journey at SPS. Winners receive a $100 cash prize, a digital badge, are featured on the SPS website, and shared through social media feeds. Please help us by nominating outstanding student ePortfolios! Faculty can make nominations by May 4, 2021 via this link: https:\/\/bit.ly\/ePFacultyApplication<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

Faculty Corner<\/h2>\n

\"Faculty<\/p>\n

Walter Wang, who teaches Math 102: Math in Contemporary Society, shares this tip for helping students keep track of due dates and work coming up. He includes a list of all the due dates in his course via a direct link in the course menu (see the screenshot). He writes:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I taught face to face classes at Baruch College it was easy to remind students of their next assignment at the end of each class.\u00a0Students could also easily ask me about upcoming assignments so that they could better manage their time.\u00a0At SPS this is not possible since we meet asynchronously, on line with little direct communication.\u00a0Most of the SPS students are wearing multiple hats as employees, parents, students and other responsibilities so I thought reminders would be a good idea.\u00a0My first couple of semesters at SPS I would post an announcement reminding students of the upcoming assignment.\u00a0I found this strategy to be less effective as we all have too many emails and sites to review on the internet each day.\u00a0I thought the Summary of Assignment Due Dates would be easily available to students and they would be able to manage their time better each week.\u00a0Anecdotally, students have told me it is helpful but I have no data supporting its effectiveness.\u00a0[…] I think the ease of access and succinctness are the keys to having it used by students.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/a> Screenshot of the Summary of Assignment Due Dates course menu link in Prof. Walter Wang\u2019s Spring 2021 section of SPS Math 102: Math in Contemporary Society<\/p>\n

\n

Spring 2021 Trainings<\/h2>\n

Setting up the Grade Center in Blackboard<\/strong><\/p>\n

In this session, you will learn the basics of how to set up your Grade Center. We will cover the different parts of the grade center, the grade center icons, and how to ensure that your assignments are listed and properly categorized for computing students\u2019 final scores, whether you choose to use Total Points or a Weighted Total.<\/p>\n