Timely Tech Trainings: iCE (interactive Curricula Experience)
Instructor: Edward Everett
Date: 8/2/2017
Time: 9:30am – 10:30am
Location: Scott 405
(Register for this workshop)

A web-based platform and iPad app, iCE delivers faculty-generated content directly to students’ iPads, laptops or desktops for a connected learning experience. Faculty wishing to learn more or to adopt this interactive technology for storing, sharing and organizing instructional content must attend one of the iCE workshops.

Timely Tech Trainings: Blackboard Learn
Instructor: Edward Everett
Date: 8/2/2017
Time: 11:00am – 12:00pm
Location: Scott 405
(Register for this workshop)

Blackboard Learn is the course management system of the entire Jefferson campus. Explore the basic tools used to build a course in Blackboard Learn. This session is recommended for all faculty and organizational leaders new to Blackboard.

Timely Tech Trainings: NearPod
Instructor: Edward Everett
Date: 8/2/2017
Time: 1:00pm – 2:00pm
Location: Scott 405
(Register for this workshop)

This session will explore NearPod, an Audience Response System that allows you to easily upload an existing PowerPoint presentation and add activities slides (polls, quizzes, drawings). The presenter dashboard is web-based and no special software needs to be installed.

Timely Tech Trainings: Collaborate
Instructor: Edward Everett
Date: 8/2/2017
Time: 2:30pm – 3:30pm
Location: Scott 405
(Register for this workshop)

Collaborate is Blackboard’s virtual learning environment for courses, office hours, or conference calls. With a variety of audio and video communication tools, faculty and learners easily can join a session from almost any device with a wireless connection. Learn how to share content, demo an application or collaborate in real-time. Faculty can also establish virtual breakout rooms for learners to engage in small groups.

Creating and Managing Activities in Blackboard
Instructors: Sherri Place, MS; May Truong-Merritt, MS
Date: 8/2/2017
Time: 12:00pm – 12:30pm
Location: Virtual
(Register for this workshop)

Interested in keeping student work all in one place? Blackboard helps you collect assignments and create opportunities for student-student interaction.

At the end of this session, participants should be able to:
1) Build an Assignment so students can upload files for your review
2) Create a Discussion forum to keep classroom conversations going
3) Develop a short quiz to help students assess their own learning

Camp EdVenture
Date: 8/4/2017
Time: 8:30am – 3:15pm
Location: East Falls Campus
(Register for this workshop)

The Center for Teaching Innovation & Nexus Learning (CTINL) at Philadelphia University and the Center for Teaching & Learning (CTL) and Thomas Jefferson invite you to attend Camp EdVenture.

Camp EdVenture is an interactive day of exploring course design, active learning and assessment ideas to bring back to your classroom. This will be a place to stretch your imagination, consider new and engaging techniques, and learn more about the power of technologies that supports the learner experience.

Throughout the course of the day, participants will:

• apply backward design to construct or revise courses
  
• embed assessment tools to quantify students' learning outcomes
• use a variety of pedagogical tools for engaging students in active, collaborative, authentic learning
  
• employ technology tools, including Blackboard, that support the above strategies and tools

Camp EdVenture consists of:

• Three 45-Minute Morning Sessions
• Lunch + "Implementables"
• Afternoon Technology Sessions to Support Learning

INDIVIDUAL SESSION DESCRIPTIONS
Rethinking Course Design to Foster Increased Engagement and Deeper Learning
Sherri Place, Director of Instructional Design and Academic Technology, Philadelphia University
Mary Gozza-Cohen, Curriculum and Instruction Specialist, Center for Teaching and Learning, Thomas Jefferson University

Rethinking how you approach course design helps create courses that stick with students long after the course ends. By identifying what it is we really want students to be able to know, do, or value, we can build instructional experiences that not only sustain active, engaged learning but also allow students opportunities to connect course concepts with their personal and professional lives.

By the end of this workshop, you will be able to:

• Identify situational factors that affect course design
• Identify where programmatic and course objectives intersect with your instructional goals
• Develop next steps in rethinking your course design

To get the most out of this workshop, please bring the syllabus of a course you’d like to rethink. You may also wish to bring a laptop or other device.

Assessment: Not Just Another "A" Word
Julie Philips, Assistant Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning, Thomas Jefferson University

Assessment is essential to teaching and learning for learners and faculty alike. Assessment documents learners’ mastery of course material and competencies and also provides insight into one’s teaching practice. This session provides an introduction to the assessment process as it is grounded in the classroom. The session focuses on developing a shared vocabulary of assessment and three essential elements (timeliness, frequency, and tone). The workshop addresses the three elements as they apply to both formative and summative assessment. In this session, participants will apply the presented material to a specific course goal or objective, brainstorm potential formative and summative opportunities for learners and consider ways to integrate learning technologies such as rubrics, low-stakes Blackboard testing or surveys to facilitate learning.

Upon completion of this session, participants will be able to:

• Describe the differences between formative and summative assessment
• Explain three essential elements of any student learning assessment
• Identify an assessment strategy for a learning activity

Implementing Active Learning
Jeffrey Ashley, Director of the Center for Teaching Innovation and Nexus Learning, Philadelphia University
Anne Bower, Nexus Advocate for the College of Science, Health and the Liberal Arts, Philadelphia University

Active learning is about getting students to engage in doing and having them actively think about what they are doing. A variety of strategies may be employed to get students to engage with content and skill development while instilling the habits of self-reflection regarding the learning process. In this session, participants will identify a portion of their course to ‘activate’ using active learning strategies, design a lesson plan that mindfully incorporates active learning, and evaluate some of the challenges that may occur with an eye to developing solutions for ensuring student learning outcomes are attained.

Upon completion of this sessions, participants will:

• Understand what active learning encompasses and identify active learning strategies
• Develop a plan for incorporating an appropriate and doable active learning strategy within one of your courses to enhance a learning experience for your students
• Identify potential risks (and benefits) within that plan and formulate potential solutions (a ‘back pocket’ readiness plan)

Tech Tools 1 and 2
May Truong-Merritt, Instructional Designer, Philadelphia University
Kathleen Day, Instructional Technologist and Designer, Thomas Jefferson University

Tech Tools - Fostering Learner Interactions
In the earlier sessions attendees discovered active learning strategies and gathered various approaches to encourage engaged learning in the classroom. In this tech session, we will introduce Blackboard student engagement tools such as Discussion Boards & Groups. This session will provide attendees with the opportunity to easily facilitate and implement engaging student-to-student interactions and group collaboration within their courses.

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

• Identify the differences between discussion board, forum, thread and post
• Prepare and post to a discussion as a student and as an instructor
• Develop groups through manual, self or random enrollment
• Identify the various tools available within the Groups function

Tech Tools - Assessments & Feedback
In this morning’s Backwards Design & Assessment sessions, participants identified types of feedback that align with their student learning goals and objectives. In this tech session, we will present built-in Blackboard assessment and feedback features such as Assignments, Grade Center, Inline Grading and the Rubrics tool. Attendees will have a hands-on opportunity to create an assignment and an associated rubric as well as utilize the integrated grading features to provide students with timely and necessary feedback.

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

• Create and modify a Blackboard assignment
• Develop a rubric and associate rubric with course content
• Apply grading and related feedback for student work within Grade Center
• Implement in-line grading feature to provide annotated feedback on assignment submissions

Blackboard Learn: Essentials
Instructor: Kathleen Day, MS
Date: 8/8/2017
Time: 10:00am – 11:30am
Location: SML 307
(Register for this workshop)

Essentials focuses on the basic features of Blackboard giving faculty the tools to build a course in Blackboard Learn. This session is recommended for all faculty and organizational leaders new to Blackboard.

After completing the session, participants will be able to:

• Describe the function, purpose and access rights to the Content Collection (file management system)
• Identify steps to create and deploy Exams & Surveys in Blackboard
• Create and maintain a record of assessments in Grade Center
• Use Blackboard’s Communication Tools

Timely Tech Trainings: Collaborate
Instructor: Edward Everett
Date: 8/9/2017
Time: 9:30am – 10:30am
Location: Scott 405
(Register for this workshop)

Collaborate is Blackboard’s virtual learning environment for courses, office hours, or conference calls. With a variety of audio and video communication tools, faculty and learners easily can join a session from almost any device with a wireless connection. Learn how to share content, demo an application or collaborate in real-time. Faculty can also establish virtual breakout rooms for learners to engage in small groups.

ExamSoft Basics
Instructor: Kathleen Day, MS
Date: 8/9/2017
Time: 10:00am – 11:30am
Location: SML 307
(Register for this workshop)

ExamSoft is a web-based solution that supports the entire testing process including exam creation, administration, secure delivery, scoring, and analysis. This workshop focuses on the mechanics of creating and posting exams. It is essential for anyone using the product including Administrative Assistants, Faculty and Course Coordinators.

Topics include:

• Navigating the interface
• Adding/Importing questions
• Creating and posting exams

Timely Tech Trainings: Lecture Recording
Instructor: Edward Everett
Date: 8/9/2017
Time: 11:00am – 12:00pm
Location: Scott 405
(Register for this workshop)

The CTL offers a variety of tools to create instructor-recorded video content ranging from complex interactive learning modules to simple voice-over narrations. This session will demonstrate the various tools and techniques for recording and sharing video content.

Timely Tech Trainings: Blackboard Learn
Instructor: Edward Everett
Date: 8/9/2017
Time: 1:00pm – 2:00pm
Location: Scott 405
(Register for this workshop)

Blackboard Learn is the course management system of the entire Jefferson campus. Explore the basic tools used to build a course in Blackboard Learn. This session is recommended for all faculty and organizational leaders new to Blackboard.

Timely Tech Trainings: NearPod
Instructor: Edward Everett
Date: 8/9/2017
Time: 2:30pm – 3:30pm
Location: Scott 405
(Register for this workshop)

This session will explore NearPod, an Audience Response System that allows you to easily upload an existing PowerPoint presentation and add activities slides (polls, quizzes, drawings). The presenter dashboard is web-based and no special software needs to be installed.

Making Your Blackboard Course Visually Pleasing
Instructors: Sherri Place, MS; May Truong-Merritt, MS
Date: 8/9/2017
Time: 12:00pm – 1:00pm
Location: Virtual
(Register for this workshop)

Interested in adding more than just text to your Blackboard course content? In this session, we’ll explore strategies that enhance readability, reduce cognitive overload, and provide multiple means of representation to address the needs of all learners.

At the end of this session, participants should be able to:
1) Format text, images, and multimedia within your Blackboard course space
2) Create easy to follow navigation within your course
3) Develop strategies for embedding just-in-time help for your students

Creating and Managing Blackboard Groups and Discussions
Instructor: Mary Gozza-Cohen, PhD
Date: 8/10/2017
Time: 10:00am – 11:00am
Location: SML 307
(Register for this workshop)

In this session, we will explore the various uses of the Groups and Discussion Board features in Blackboard. New users and seasoned users will benefit from the tips and tricks presented for facilitating effective online discussions and group work. Bring some current or new ideas for group discussions and projects and we will explore ways to improve or create meaningful student experiences and a more manageable facilitation experience for faculty.

At the end of this session, participants should be able to:

• Explain the various uses of Groups and Discussion Board features
• Create and implement effective strategies for facilitating discussions and group work online
• Modify an existing discussion or group project using effective practices (if applicable)