Reading Time: < 1 minuteCanvas is rolling out new features and changes July 20, and we’ll be discussing two of them today – Canvas Inbox out of office and signature settings. While messages through the inbox are still rather bare-bones (the RCE is not used there, so messages are text-only – font styling cannot be changed and hyperlinks cannot be added), Canvas is now giving instructors some additional control over their inboxes. Both the out of office and signature settings are easy to set up! In your Canvas inbox, click the gear icon at the top right to open the Inbox settings. You’ll instantly see your options for both “Out…
-
-
Transform Your Teaching: Designing an Active Learning Space
Reading Time: < 1 minuteHow does one begin designing an active learning space? What resources can be of help in this process? What are the necessary considerations for creating an active learning space? Dr. Rob McDole and Jared Pyles talk through some of the design principles, the necessary considerations, and the best practices of designing an active learning space. Podcast links Resources Connect with us! Join us on Flip to discuss this series! Contact us at ctlpodcast@cedarville.edu with any questions.
-
Transform Your Teaching: Building a Better Direct Instruction (Coffee Drop Edition)
Reading Time: < 1 minuteWe are taking a break from the Active Learning series for July 4th week. Join Rob and Jared as they share some tips to enhance your direct instruction or lecture skills. Check our previous episodes for other Coffee Drops! Podcast links Connect with us!
-
Transform Your Teaching: Engagement, Motivation & Active Learning
Reading Time: < 1 minuteWhat role does a student’s self-determination play in active learning? What role does space play in a student’s learning? Dr. Rob McDole and Jared Pyles chat with Dr. Chantal Levesque-Bristol who says that active learning is all about engagement and motivation. Dr. Levesque-Bristol is the Executive Director in the Center for Instructional Excellence at Purdue University. Podcast links Resources Student-Centered Pedagogy and Course Transformation at Scale – Dr. Chantal Levesque-Bristol Connect with us!
-
Transform Your Teaching: What Does Active Learning Look Like?
Reading Time: < 1 minuteIs there one definition for active learning? Or does it vary for every teacher and every class? Dr. Rob McDole and Jared Pyles ask Dr. Tracey Birdwell—a self-proclaimed “teaching nerd”— to help pinpoint a true definition for active learning. Dr. Birdwell is the Assistant Director for Faculty Support in the Center for Instructional Excellence at Purdue University. Podcast links Resources What is Active Learning? – CRLT of the University of Michigan Connect with us! Transform Your Teaching is also launching a monthly newsletter where we reflect on the past series, preview our upcoming content, and share an exclusive article. Subscribe today to get our inaugural June…
-
Generative AI, In Practice: Assignment Creation
Reading Time: 4 minutesLast spring, I taught an online course. In the middle of the semester, a student did not do well on one assignment and asked if I could give him another set of questions to review. I said yes. The assignment was a database design task that involved a business case and a dozen sample data rows – for example, a fictional medical clinic that uses Excel sheets to manage its appointments. The table in the image below contains sample data from last year. The most time-consuming aspect of creating a similar assignment was developing a new case and generating sample data which must represent as many unique…
-
Transform Your Teaching: Understanding Active Learning
Reading Time: < 1 minuteRob and Jared start a new series on active learning and active learning spaces. They begin by setting a foundation by defining key terms (or at least attempting to) and previewing what’s coming up in the series. Podcast links Connect with us! Transform Your Teaching is also launching a monthly newsletter where we reflect on the past series, preview our upcoming content, and share an exclusive article. Subscribe today to get our inaugural June issue!
-
Generative AI, In Practice: Using GAI for Course Planning
Reading Time: 10 minutesRecently, I was tasked with creating a remedial English course for dual-credit students – but for this course, I needed to expand beyond my standard role as the instructional designer and also be the subject matter expert. Playing both roles is difficult, so I decided to employ ChatGPT to help with parts of the design. I started with what I knew. Because this is a dual-credit course, I knew there would be English content the students were passing over and, as a result, not getting in their high school courses. I also knew that the learners in this course would go directly into another college writing course.…
-
Transform Your Teaching: A Conversation with Dr. Jeff Guernsey and Dr. Kyung-Hwa (Christine) Kim
Reading Time: < 1 minuteWhat is a servant teacher? How does someone practice servant teaching? Rob McDole and Jared Pyles chat with two professors at Cedarville University—Dr. Jeff Guernsey who teaches in the School of Business and Dr. Kyung-Hwa (Christine) Kim who teaches in the History and Government Department—about their professional development through multiple sessions on servant teaching. Transform Your Teaching has also launched a monthly newsletter where we reflect on the past series, preview our upcoming content, and share an exclusive article. Subscribe today to get our next issue! Podcast links Resources Connect with us! Transform Your Teaching is also launching a monthly newsletter where we reflect on the past series,…
-
Generative AI: Current State and Future State (e.g., tomorrow)
Reading Time: 3 minutesWriting a blog post detailing the current state of Generative AI (GAI) feels like a futile exercise. Why? During the writing of this post, the state of the industry will change. So, read with caution because like GAI, I can make mistakes. Having dispensed with the disclaimer, let’s get into what you are looking for in this post—the current state of GAI. First, OpenAI’s ChatGPT continues to lead the GAI industry, but Microsoft and Google are making advances with Copilot and Gemini, respectively. Amazon, Mistral, Facebook, and other open source models continue to push OpenAI to innovate and produce more value, but they cannot compete with ChatGPT.…