Reading Time: < 1 minuteWhat did Rob and Jared learn about Competency-Based Education? Is Jared fully on board with it? What questions remain? Listen to hear their lessons learned as they wrap up the series. Podcast links Resources Acton Academy 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!
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Transform Your Teaching: Competency-Based Education with Dr. Aleda Chen
Reading Time: < 1 minuteWhat impact is competency-based education currently having in the pharmacy education world? Dr. Rob McDole and Jared Pyles chat with Dr. Aleda Chen—Associate Dean and Professor in the School of Pharmacy at Cedarville University—about the possibilities of CBE curriculum in training future pharmacists. Podcast links Resources Join us on Flip to discuss this series! Contact us at ctlpodcast@cedarville.edu with any questions. You can also visit our blog at cedarville.edu/focusblog for additional resources. Want to never miss a post? Subscribe here!
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Canvas Update: Discussions Enhancements
Reading Time: 4 minutesLast week, we talked about the updates Canvas is making to assignments. This week, we’re turning our focus to the discussions redesign in preparation for the changes to go live this weekend. These updates go a little deeper and have some added functionality. Let’s jump in and see what’s changed! 1. You can mention users in your posts! Canvas has added the ability for you to mention specific people in your posts. Simply type the @ symbol, and Canvas will give you a drop-down of all the people able to be tagged. 2. Canvas collapses threads automatically Canvas will collapse discussions threads so you only see the…
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Transform Your Teaching: Competency-Based Education with Dr. David Croteau
Reading Time: < 1 minuteWhat does Competency-Based Education look like in theological education? What does CBE look like in a hybrid format? What are some of the ground-floor decisions that need to be made when starting a CBE program? Dr. Rob McDole and Jared Pyles cover this and more with Dr. David Croteau, the Dean of the Seminary and School of Counseling at Columbia International University, as they talk about the origins of CIU’s Competency-Based Theological Education program. Podcast links Resources Join us on Flip to discuss this series! Contact us at ctlpodcast@cedarville.edu with any questions. You can also visit our blog at cedarville.edu/focusblog for additional resources. Want to never…
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Canvas Update: Assignments Enhancements
Reading Time: 3 minutesCanvas has been working on modifications to both assignments and discussions – and the changes are now ready to be live! In these two weeks leading up to the release of the updated assignments and discussions, we’ll be going through everything you need to know about the changes. This week, we’re looking at the assignment enhancements. These are primarily student-facing interface adjustments to track the “life cycle” of an assignment more easily. Let’s take a look! Here’s a screenshot of an updated assignment page. With the update, Canvas has moved or added a few things: The next chunk of the page is very much the same as…
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Transform Your Teaching: Competency-Based Education – A Student Perspective with Genny McDole
Reading Time: < 1 minuteIn this episode, Dr. Rob McDole and Jared Pyles chat with Genny McDole who has an MEd in Instructional Design from Western Governors University. Check out the episode to hear a student’s perspective on competency-based education and how CBE has influenced her teaching practice. Podcast links Show notes Genny was drawn to CBE courses because of the flexibility it provided. During that season of her life, she needed a flexible option that fit their family, could be done quickly, and would fit within their budget. CBE allowed her to take as many courses as she wanted, access all the resources she needed, and show mastery of…
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Transform Your Teaching: Competency-Based Education with Nate Brock
Reading Time: < 1 minuteIn this episode, Dr. Rob McDole and Jared Pyles chat with Nate Brock, Lead Evaluator in the Science Education Department at Western Governors University. Check out the episode to hear WGU’s approach to Competency-Based Education and the key features that make WGU’s programs distinct. Podcast links Show notes Western Governors University is a fully competency-based institution that designs their courses with a student-centered mindset. If a student can complete a course in a shorter amount of time, that benefits the student as they progress through the degree. This competency-based approach enables a student to progress at their own rate while ensuring they have mastered the course’s…
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Transform Your Teaching: Designing Competency-Based Education Curriculum
Reading Time: 2 minutesIn this episode, Dr. Rob McDole and Jared Pyles continue talking about Competency-Based Education, specifically what the design process looks like in developing a CBE course. Check out this episode to hear about the different considerations when creating a CBE course and how that affects planning. Podcast links Show notes Designing a Competency-Based Education (CBE) course is similar to designing a traditional course. The goal is still to design with the end in mind—paying close attention to the course objectives and module objectives, how the assessments give students the opportunity to show mastery of the objectives, and the course content that prepares them for those assessments. The…
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Generative AI, In Practice: ALT Text, Part II
Reading Time: 5 minutesLast week, we looked at some examples of alt text that Copilot generated for us and evaluated what we’d need to change before using them. It had done a good job with simple graphics, though the nuance of having elements faded more to the background and the meaning of that was lost on it. Copilot did not do a good job describing a still shot from a movie. But today, we’re going to look at this from a different angle – what can we do to help GAI create better alt text for us? Are there ways to prompt or feed it context to get drafts more…
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Transform Your Teaching: What is Competency-Based Education?
Reading Time: < 1 minuteIn this episode, Dr. Rob McDole and Jared Pyles kick off a new series on Competency-Based Education. Check out the episode to hear the characteristics of CBE and how it compares with traditional educational practice. Podcast links Show notes In traditional educational models, time is the constant and education is the variable. With Competency-Based Education (CBE) models, time is the variable and education is the constant. In the current educational landscape, CBE is commonly seen in apprenticeships and in trades. Typically, it involves an instructor coming alongside a student to help them achieve mastery of content. Jared is currently apprehensive about CBE because it turns time…