February 2015  Faculty News & Training
April 10, 2015 -- SAVE THE DATE! 

University Forum on Teaching & Learning
8:30am to 12 Noon (Breakfast will be provided.)
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UNT's University Forum on Teaching and Learning (UFTL) is a half-day event designed to enable faculty, graduate teaching fellows, and staff involved in support teaching and learning to engage in open dialogue about the challenges of teaching and to share ideas and practices that improve teaching effectiveness.  The keynote speaker for the 2015 UFTL is George Siemens, Ph.D., an internationally known educator, theorist, and researcher on learning in the digital age.  In addition to authoring numerous articles on open education, ePortfolios, and learning analytics, he has published two books: Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age and Knowing Knowledge.  Since 2013, Siemens has served as the Executive Director of the LINK Lab at the University of Texas at Arlington, where he and participants explore how traditional universities' role is affected by online learning and the growing influence of data and analytics on higher education practices. UFTL announcement page 
UPCOMING LECTURE OFF CAMPUS AT TWU
What: TWU's Annual Academic Success Lecture 

UNT faculty/staff are invited to TWU's Annual Academic Success Lecture.  Dr. Rena Palloff of Fielding Graduate University will be the speaker.  The lecture will be in the morning.  TWU is providing lunch (along with a presentation from Blackboard) and then Dr. Palloff will give a hands-on workshop that afternoon.  Registration and details are provided at http://www.twu.edu/TLT/events.asp.

 

When: Friday, March 27, 2015; 9:30am - 3:30pm

Where: TWU Denton: ACT 301, Dallas: IHSD 4302, Houston: IHSH 3310

Registration Deadline: Monday, March 23, 2015

UPCOMING TRAINING
Blackboard Open Lab
ONGOING
FRIDAYS  1:00pm - 4:00pm 
Chilton 112K (UNT - Denton Campus / Faculty) 

No Registration Required!  Feel free to come by our open labs every Friday from 1pm-4pm to receive some one-on-one Blackboard assistance from our instructional support team.

For faculty or teaching assistants who are new to Blackboard Learn, we recommend scheduling an appointment with an instructional consultant ( http://clear.unt.edu/consulting).

Check out our self-help guides and tips on the Blackboard Faculty Support Site or view our training sessions on the CLEAR calendar ( Blackboard Open Labs Dates ).
FACE-TO-FACE Sessions

 

What: Discussions, Forums, Blogs & Wikis

Participants will learn about the importance of maintaining continual student-to-student/student-to-faculty interaction through the use of discussion forums, blogs, and wikis.  Differences among each tool will be highlighted, as will the pragmatic mechanics of implementation in Blackboard.

When: Thursday, February 19, 2015; 10am-11:30am

Where: Chilton 245

EIS Course ID:UA15DB / Section #: 0001 / EIS Course Title: BbL: Discussions, Forums, Blogs

 
 

Webinar Session

What: Retention Center 

 

This short webinar will go over the basics of how to use Blackboard's Retention Center.

When: Wednesday, February 25, 2015; 12 pm-12:30 pm

Where: Online webinar

Register for webinar: https://attendee.gototraining.com/r/4942157796468176130 

 

Sign-up Instructions for Face-to-Face sessions   

 

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CLEAR Course Design Institute 2015
Dates:  June 15-18, 2015      
Times:  9:00am - 4:00pm 
Location:  Willis Library Forum 
  
Are you interested in designing or redesigning a course? Do you need a space with support, tools, and resources to design and develop your course? Then, make sure to put CLEAR's Course Design Institute on your calender. CLEAR CDI will involve a week of face-to-face interaction proceeded by online modules in the TREE program. You must apply to attend and financial support is available.

Click here to see the different ways you can participate and apply.  
INFORMATION ON CLEAR INITIATIVES

2015-16 Call for Proposals 
NextGen Course Redesign Grants

 

The UNT Center for Learning Enhancement, Assessment, and Redesign (CLEAR) invites proposals from faculty or teams of faculty for the NextGen Course Redesign Grant 2015-16.

 

How do you know if your students are learning? How do you know what your students are learning? NextGen utilizes an innovative three-tier model of student learning outcomes, outcome-based instruction, and assessment that promotes deeper connection with course content, instructors, and peers. 

 

Click here to see the different ways you can participate and apply.

Important Dates:
  • April 26, 2015: Last Day to Apply
  • June 15 - 18, 2015: CLEAR Course Design Institute, UNT Campus, Willis Library (Note: participants must complete approximately 15 hours of online work prior to attending.)
For additional questions or concerns, please contact the NextGen Program Manager
Jenna Ledford at jenna.ledford@unt.edu or at 940.369.7243.
Requests for proposals will be sent out in February.
CLEAR Initiative:  Learning Catalytics --
Engaging and Interacting

CLEAR is working with Pearson as part of our ongoing exploration of increased student engagement.  We are partners with faculty in Biology, Anthropology, BCIS, Political Science and Math to test a classroom engagement tool called Learning Catalytics (https://learningcatalytics.com/). This tool allows faculty and students to interact in a variety of ways using student devices such as smartphones, tablets and laptops.  Participating faculty with the help of CLEAR and Pearson, will develop scenarios and implement the tool in a variety of class sizes and settings.    

Graduate Student Excellence Teaching Program (GSTEP) news
GSTEP has 92 participants enrolled in Stage 1: Introduction to Teaching for Spring 2015.  Stage 1 participants will complete online training modules on topics such as supporting engaged learning and seminars focused on developing professional peer mentor networks.  Thirty-eight participants are enrolled in Stage 2: Developing Your Teaching Skills.  Stage 2 participants will complete in-depth training modules and conduct classroom observation and teaching practicum experiences with UNT faculty.  They will also develop teaching demonstrations for a micro-teaching workshop in which they will give and receive peer feedback.
Teaching Resources for Engaged Educators (TREE)

 

Want to maximize your impact on student learning?  Do you look for ways to connect with other committed educators?  Are you looking for ways to document your efforts to improve your teaching?  If so, the Teaching Resources for Engaged Educators (TREE) initiative, developed by CLEAR, is for you.  TREE leverages online training modules focused on 10 important teaching proficiencies (e.g., engaged learning, assessment, course design) that allow you to move at your own pace through three levels of proficiency (introductory, intermediate, and advanced). The TREE program will appear in your list of Blackboard courses and is available for everyone who teaches at UNT.  To participate, simply select the course and then the modules you would like to complete.  You will receive badges for completing each module and a Certificate of Teaching Distinction when successfully completing all three levels of a proficiency.  For more information, please refer to the CLEAR website:  http: clear.unt.edu/tree.
FACULTY SPOTLIGHT - CLEAR planted the seeds from which this grew:
Judy Bradetich (TII Faculty Fellow) and Jo Monahan (CLEAR's library liaison)  
Jo Monahan, the College of Education's embedded librarian, was among hundreds of librarians from around the world who gathered in Limerick, Ireland for an International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) satellite convention last semester. The topic for this meeting was information literacy in a changing landscape. Monahan presented a poster session called the "Journey to the Essence of Research," based on a research project she completed with Judi Bradetich, a lecturer in the Department of Educational Psychology.

Judi Bradetich (left) and Jo Monahan  

See the full article here:  COE librarian presents collaborative research on information literacy at a conference in Ireland.
RECENT AWARDS & ACTIVITIES
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CLEAR Presentations/Achievements

CLEAR congratulates Dr. Mike Simmons  who recently joined the Cengage Learning Higher Education National Advisory Board.

Dr. Mike Simmons  recently published an online article:  Defining Characteristics of the Future University.
Faculty/Staff Group Subscriptions offered by CLEAR
Teaching Professor
FREE ACCESS
The Teaching Professor &
Online Classroom

CLEAR provides Free Access (through a group subscription) to Magna Commons, 20 Minute Mentor Commons, Distance Education Report, Online Classroom,Online Classroom and The Teaching Professor.  These electronic newsletters provide the information faculty, deans, chairs, and other academic decision-makers use for effective leadership within their colleges or departments as they fulfill their institution's mission of teaching and scholarship. 

  
To subscribe, go to www.magnapubs.com/group to view our active subscription.  There is no need to create an account or log in when accessing the subscription on campus.  If you wish to access these publications from off campus or if you would like to receive an email message each time a new issue is posted, you will need to register and enter a campus voucher code and pin number. Please email  Amber Bryant to obtain this information.   

FREE ACCESS
Online Learning Consortium

CLEAR provides Free Access (through a group subscription) to Online Learning Consortium (formerly Sloan-C) http://onlinelearningconsortium.org.  

 

The University of North Texas is a member of the Online Learning Consortium.  As a member, you will receive OLC's workshop, conference and publications discounts, research, and interaction with other members.  To receive account set-up and login instructions, please contact  Amber Bryant at Amber.Bryant@unt.edu.

 

Membership includes workshop membership pricing.  Visit http://onlinelearningconsortium.org/institute/workshops/2014/upcoming-by-date for the list of 2014 workshops. Additional workshops are added throughout the year, so please make sure to check the schedule often. The member price for a workshop is $169. Non-member pricing is $269. If you and your faculty have set up your accounts or affiliated your existing accounts properly, you will automatically see the member price.

 

 OLC Membership Resources include:

  • Webinars
  • Conference Discounts  
  • Publications Discounts  
  • Website Resources 
  • Monthly Newsletter