Reading Time: 2 minutesWith the adjustments and on-the-fly tweaks that have needed to be made over the past week, there’s no doubt that things are a bit hectic at the moment. And in times of great change, stress, and uncertainty, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Because of that, we’re not going to do any kind of deep dive into Canvas features or look ahead to shiny new tools on the horizon. We’re going to stand alongside you and remind you of the resources and groups here to help and support. Flexible Learning at CU Course The Flexible Learning at CU course covers a lot of the basics for tweaking your course to fit…
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Introducing Servant Teaching
Reading Time: 3 minutesLast year, we talked about Servant Teaching through a series of blogs posts, and we’re revisiting that concept today. For a bit of context: Servant Teaching’s more popular cousin Servant Leadership was first developed by Robert Greenleaf. In it, Greenleaf established ten characteristics of being a servant leader: Servant Leadership is a mainstay of most Christian organizations, including Cedarville University, as a way of modeling Philippians 2:3-8: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though…
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Servant Teaching: Listening and Learning
Reading Time: 2 minutesI was so grateful to have the opportunity to teach a face-to-face section of the ITM-2100 Database Management course this semester. When I was assigned to this class earlier this year, I thought that the pandemic would be gone by then. However, this was not the case. Thanks to Dr. John Delano, who designed the course to be hybrid and flexible so I could adjust the course for this semester quickly. But the challenge continued … This semester I had 24 students in the class. Students were from a variety of majors—accounting, economics, finance, IT management, etc. During the first couple of weeks, the class focused on the SQL query which is fundamental for data processing and management. I received many questions from the students and noticed two major problems: “Am I…
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Four Practical Steps for Servant Teaching
Reading Time: 3 minutesI don’t know about the rest of you, but this semester feels different. It’s either the weather or because it’s a leap year… Oh wait! It’s because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Right. The overcast on the skies of our lives. As part of my duties as an instructional designer at CTL, I teach a course during the academic year. This semester, I taught a face-to-face section of ENG-1400. Much like you, I began my semester with a bit of apprehension; I had a plan for face-to-face and hyflex. We would meet one day a week and then supplement the other day with online discussion, videos, and other activities. But after a…
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Servant Teaching with the Mind of Christ
Reading Time: < 1 minuteThose whom God has called to serve have an extraordinary calling – to be conformed to the image of Christ through the power of Christ’s Spirit. This calling is true of every person who confesses Jesus as Lord. Phil. 2:1-18 shows Christ as our example of humility and can be summed up in the phrase “seeking to serve.” While this phrase is simple, the concept is also nuanced – anyone acting on Christ’s model with Christ’s mind will encounter conflict both internal and external. These conflicts are humbling, and they require honest reflection which reveals the need for supernatural power to overcome the situation. But you may ask “What does that have to do with…
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How Can I Proctor an Exam for Students Unable to be in Class?
Reading Time: 3 minutesWith the pandemic and all the associated challenges, you may have students who are unable to take an exam in class. In those cases, you have options available to you – you could email the exam to students and have them complete it and upload it into Canvas, you could add your exam into Canvas using the quiz feature and have the students complete it there, or you could use another method that suits your needs. Whichever method you choose, you may want to proctor the exam. Proctoring the exam is not required – this is not a “thou shalt do this.” Using the method below to…
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TurnItIn: Feedback Studio Updates and Contract Cheating
Reading Time: 2 minutesWe’ve talked about TurnItIn before in our Three Tips for Accurate Similarity Report Assessment, where we discussed how to efficiently set up TurnItIn to easily interpret the Similarity Report. Today we’re going to look at some updates to the tool which make TurnItIn even more robust and useful. TurnItIn now flags replaced or hidden characters as well as equips instructors to address suspicions that a student didn’t write a submitted paper. Feedback Studio Flags This new section of the Feedback Studio marks items that you should review. A Flag does not guarantee a problem – it just identifies an item that warrants your attention. You can select…
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Hyflex Check-In: Classroom Technology
Reading Time: 2 minutesAs we get deeper into the semester, it’s the perfect time to pause and review the tech options available as we navigate the strange waters of the hyflex format. Today, we’re going to briefly talk about the classroom technology options, Zoom, Ensemble, and how they all fit together. Classroom technology There’s more technology than ever before available in your classrooms including document cameras, iPads, and Meeting Owls. If you’re running into issues with any of the tech pieces, check out the instructions and notes in our Fall 2020 Tech Instruction folder (note: you’ll need to be signed into your Cedarville Google account to access it). Some of…
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Three Reminders to Help Lower Hyflex Stress
Reading Time: 2 minutesCongratulations for making it through the first third of the semester! This semester has provided some unique challenges, and we’re here today with a couple reminders about techniques or tools you can use to help keep your courses running smoothly. 1. Use Canvas to your advantage. Canvas can be the central hub for your class. It contains your syllabus and gradebook, and you can take it a step further by using the Canvas Announcements to communicate with your whole class. If you aren’t currently using Quizzes in Canvas, consider using them to make it very simple for students to complete those assessments whether they’re in the classroom…
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What Do I Need to Know about Using Proctorio in Canvas?
Reading Time: 3 minutesIf you’re wanting to use a lockdown browser with your quizzes or exams in Canvas, Proctorio is the answer. It’s not hard to start using it, but there are a few things you need to know. You (and your students) must use Google Chrome. Proctorio works through a Chrome extension, so you cannot use any other browser when adding Proctorio to a quiz/exam or when students attempt the assessment. Before you can add Proctorio to a quiz/exam, you need to add Proctorio to your course and install the Chrome extension. Adding Proctorio to your course Since Proctorio is enabled at the course level, you will need to…