September 2015  Faculty News & Training

  
"The Secret Lives of Faculty" Pecha Kucha Session and Breakfast 
A Salute to Faculty Teaching Excellence 

                             Date/Time:   Monday, September 28, 2015
                             7:45 am - 9:15 am:   Full Breakfast & Gathering
                             8:15 am - 9:30 am:   Pecha Kucha Presentations 
                             Location:   Gateway Center Ballroom

To kick-off our 2015 Salute to Faculty Excellence Week, brave UNT faculty members will present Pecha Kucha sessions on the theme "The Secret Lives of Faculty".  Pecha Kucha is Japanese for "chit-chat" and describes a presentation format using 20 slides which advance automatically in 20 second intervals.  This will be the second year we've used this format for the event and the feedback from last year's attendees indicated the program was "funspiring" - both fun and inspiring.  To view the recordings from last year's Pecha Kucha, visit http://clear.unt.edu/2014sfew.  Don't miss out this year!

UPCOMING TRAINING
Blackboard Learn icon
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 ).
Panopto Overview Session #1 
Guest Speakers
Panopto representatives Kelsi Wren, Customer Success Advocate, and Dave Hannon, Vice President of Customer Support, are visiting UNT to provide an overview of Panopto's feature set as well as a roadmap for future enhancements.  This session will also include UNT Professor Eric Rapley, who will share his experience using Panopto with participants.  Breakfast will be provided, so please sign-up with the link provided so we have an accurate count for breakfast items.
  1. Recording and Viewing with Panopto
  2. Uploading Existing Content into Panopto
  3. Sharing Content with Blackboard
  4. Other Features:
    1. Dropbox
    2. Live broadcast
    3. Social Features
    4. Assessment
    5. Webinar access and support page
    6. Basic overview of compatible hardware
  1. Video Trends and Best Practices (flipping the classroom, engaging students)
     a. Session 1 - Eric Rapley will share his experience
  
Day/Date: Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Time: 8:30am-10:00am
Location: Discovery Park B158
 
 
Panopto OverviewSession #2 
Guest Speakers
Panopto representatives Kelsi Wren, Customer Success Advocate, and Dave Hannon, Vice President of Customer Support, are visiting UNT to provide an overview of Panopto's feature set as well as a roadmap for future enhancements.  Lunch will be provided, so please sign-up with the link below so we have an accurate count for lunch.
  1. Recording and Viewing with Panopto
  2. Uploading Existing Content into Panopto
  3. Sharing Content with Blackboard
  4. Other Features:
    1. Dropbox
    2. Live broadcast
    3. Social Features
    4. Assessment
    5. Webinar access and support page
    6. Basic overview of compatible hardware
  1. Video Trends and Best Practices (flipping the classroom, engaging students)
                  a. Session 2 - discuss UNT student surveys

Day/Date: Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Time: 11:30am-1:00pm
Location: BLB 050
 

Faculty/Staff Group Subscriptions offered by CLEAR
FREE ACCESS
20 Minute Mentor Commons has provided a listing of programs with links and descriptions:

Here are some programs which might prove interesting and helpful from 20 Minute Mentor Commons (you may view information on all 4 programs below under "4 Programs for Grading).

 
 
 
 
See their complete catalog/programs:  
   
*NEW*
Certificates of Completion are now available with all programs in 20-Minute Mentor Commons. Users can print them for verification of watching a program.
 
Please email  Amber Bryant
to obtain the campus voucher code and pin number if using an off campus machine.     
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/learn/workshops/ for the list of 2015 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
COURSE REMOVAL FROM BLACKBOARD
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Spring 2014 & Summer 2014 courses to be removed from Blackboard
 
On Saturday, October 3,2015, ITSS Enterprise Applications Services Team will remove the Spring 2014 and Summer 2014 sections from the Blackboard Learn server. If you still have student data or content files in those courses that you wish to retain, please do so by October 2nd.  Although your course materials have been archived,no student data will be retained so please double check that you have saved everything you need. This will not have any effect on courses taught during Fall 2014 or 2015 semesters.

Our policy regarding section deletion is required for compliance with the University's records retention policy  and can be viewed at https://bbsupport.unt.edu/content/section-deletion.

All student data and content files can be downloaded and opened in other common word processing or spreadsheet applications. Recall that some student data has different retention periods  such as the grade book and syllabus. CLEAR provides instructions for downloading grade books, assignment submissions, discussion posts, mail messages, etc. Contact our faculty helpdesk for specific instructions.
INFORMATION ON CLEAR INITIATIVES
 
Outstanding Online Course Awards 2015  

 
2015 Outstanding Online Teacher & Course Award
Dr. Stephen Garretson
Family, School and Community

 
2015 Exemplary Online Teacher & Course Designer Award
Dr. Royce George
Theories of Organizational Development and Reform

 
Award presentations will take place during the  "Salute to Faculty Excellence Reception Dinner", October 2, 2015. 

October 2, 2015
6:30 p.m. Reception
7:00 p.m. Dinner & Awards Ceremony
Club Level, Apogee Stadium
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.    

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.
CLEAR COLLABORATION - WILLIS LIBRARY & SGA


UNT Celebrates International Open Access Week, October 19-25, 2015

UNT Libraries is sponsoring a variety of events recognizing the Open Access movement, a global initiative to make scholarly research available online, fee-free, and without most copyright limitations.
Each October, university communities worldwide promote Open Access efforts during International Open Access Week. This year's theme is "Open for Collaboration." UNT will host a variety of programs to explore the complex issues around scholarly communication and highlight how Open Access facilitates the dissemination of research and fosters collaboration among researchers.
This year's events at UNT include:
  • Online Open Access Week Contest (Monday, 10/19)
UNT Libraries will kick-off the week with a prize awarding contest for the best short statement about the value of Open Access to UNT faculty and students. Visit our Facebook page on Monday for more information.
  • Open Access Outreach on the Library Mall (Tuesday, 10/20, 9 am - 12 pm)
Stop by our table outside Willis Library (or inside in case of bad weather) to get free Open Access information, buttons, t-shirts, and candy.
  • Open Access Workshop for Students (Wednesday, 10/21, 2 pm - 3 pm, Willis 250H)
This event will help you learn how to find resources and make your works of scholarship more widely available by using UNT's institutional repository, Creative Commons licensing, online resources about OA, and much more. Coffee and snacks will be available to attendees.
  • No Barriers for You or Your Students: Free Textbooks and Resources, With Access on Day One (Thursday, 10/22, 12:30 - 1:50 pm, Willis 140)
Join us for a streamed presentation by Nicole Finkbeiner (Associate Director, Institutional Relations, Rice University Center for Digital Learning and Scholarship & OpenStax College) exploring how you can use and create free textbooks and other educational materials. A light lunch will be provided. Please register online .
Online Open Access Contest ends Thursday, 10/22, at 5 pm.
  • Open Access Week Wrap-Up (Friday, 10/23)
Results of the contest will be announced on the UNT Libraries' Facebook page.
For more information about Open Access, visit https://openaccess.unt.edu/ .
 
Illuminate Good Ideas

CLEAR supports the SGA initiative known as the Illuminate Good Ideas campaign, with the intent of identifying then prioritizing good ideas for improving teaching and learning experiences at UNT.  President Smatresk has provided funding to pilot this initiative.  CLEAR is the administrative home, but the committee is led by students (2 undergraduates and 2 graduates).  Drs. Kimi King and Lee Hughes are serving as faculty representatives and Patrick Pluscht serves as the staff representative from Academic Affairs.  The ideation campaign launched April 1st and ideas are being submitted, commented on, and voted up or down.  We encourage you to login and review the ideas and comments.    

 

Login with your EUID and password at http://illuminate.unt.edu.

 
RECENT AWARDS & ACTIVITIES
CLEAR Presentations
CLEAR FACULTY HELPDESK
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Support line: (940) 369-7394
Support Email:  clearhelp@unt.edu
Blackboard Faculty Helpdesk Support Hours for Fall 2015

Monday - Thursday  8:00am - 9:00pm 
Friday - 8:00am - 5:00pm
Saturday - 11:00am - 3:00pm
Closed Sunday