• Canvas,  Educational Tools,  Teaching & Learning

    Canvas Update: New Method for Adding or Changing Due Dates 

    Reading Time: 3 minutesWe’re all familiar with how to change the due dates or availability dates for an individual assignment, discussion, or quiz – you go into the settings, scroll down, and add or modify the dates. Now, if you follow that exact same method, you find a “Manage Assign To” link that slides out a panel where you can update all the information. While this change may seem confusing, it enables Canvas to modify how and where the “assign” feature can operate – and it can simplify the processes we use to work with these dates.   With this feature update, you can now update dates directly from the Modules…

  • Educational Theories,  Podcast,  Teaching & Learning

    Transform Your Teaching: Active Learning in a Higher Education Library

    Reading Time: < 1 minuteWhat changes can libraries make for the benefit of students? What are the trends on library usage among higher education students? Join Dr. Rob McDole and Jared Pyles as they go local and chat with two friends—Josh Michael and Kirsten Setzkorn—from the Centennial Library at Cedarville University.   Podcast links Resources  Connect with us!  Connect with us via LinkedIn  Contact us at ctlpodcast@cedarville.edu with any questions

  • Canvas,  Educational Tools,  Teaching & Learning

    Canvas Update: Inbox Out of Office and Signature Settings 

    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…

  • Educational Theories,  Podcast,  Teaching & Learning

    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. 

  • Educational Theories,  Podcast,  Teaching & Learning

    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! 

  • Educational Theories,  Podcast,  Teaching & Learning

    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…

  • Educational Tools,  Teaching & Learning

    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…

  • Podcast,  Teaching & Learning

    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!

  • Educational Tools,  Teaching & Learning

    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.…