This week, LLCC Academic Innovation & eLearning is hosting an Online Faculty Roundtable on Wednesday, Feb. 21 from 2:30-3:30 p.m. in the Trutter Center. This session will be a great opportunity for faculty who teach online to come together and share their online teaching and learning experiences. The discussion will be led by Jason Dockter, Ph.D., professor, English. The discussion will focus on area such as:

• Student engagement – methods used for keeping online students involved
• Navigating the distance – helping students to overcome isolation
• Best Practices – what do you do in your online course that you find the most effective

Enjoy light refreshments while discussing online successes and challenges with other online faculty members.

To register: http://bit.ly/2EXJOsE.

*Current online faculty participating in the Online Proficiency Program can receive two points for successful completion of this workshop.

This week, LLCC Academic Innovation & eLearning is offering the workshops listed below.

Because Quality Matters! – Innovative Teaching Series
Rebecca Parton, dean, academic innovation
Tuesday, Feb. 13 – 2:30-3:30 p.m. – Robert H. Stephens Room
LLCC has become a Quality Matters institution. Quality Matters (QM) is a faculty-centered, peer review process that is designed to certify the quality of online and hybrid courses. This workshop will provide an overview of what LLCC’s QM membership means, what is being done now as well as plans for the future. This presentation will also include an introduction to the QM Rubric. Register at http://bit.ly/2E7Tvn7.
* Current online faculty participating in the Online Proficiency Program can receive one point for successful completion of this workshop.

Blackboard & SoftChalk – Open Lab
Gary Bach, instructional technology specialist
Wednesday, Feb. 14 – 10 a.m. to noon – Sangamon Hall 0119
Have you ever had questions about how to accomplish something in Blackboard but couldn’t attend a previously scheduled Blackboard workshop? Do you just want someone to sit down with you and go over a few Blackboard features that you haven’t used before? Maybe you are curious about what SoftChalk is and what it can do to help you and your students or you use SoftChalk and want to learn about the new features of SoftChalk Cloud. Now you can drop in to one of our open lab sessions and to get a little or lot of help with your Blackboard and SoftChalk questions. No registration is required to attend.

Join LLCC Academic Innovation & eLearning today from 1:30-2 p.m. in Menard Hall, Room 2260 for Navigating and Using the Blackboard Grade Center. Andy Mitkos, learning management systems coordinator, will provide a comprehensive, hands-on introduction to the Grade Center tool. Participants will first experience the student perspective by exploring the My Grades tool and becoming familiar with how grades will appear to their own students. Then, turning to the instructor perspective, you will learn how to navigate the Grade Center and customize it to suit your needs. Next, you will learn how to create columns to manage and calculate grades. Finally, you will learn how to enter and manage grades, including grading test and assignment submissions.

*Current online faculty participating in the Online Proficiency Program can receive one point for successful completion of this workshop.

Register for this session at http://bit.ly/2CFNFx1.

If you are unable to join in person, you can join via Facebook Live through the LLCC Academic Innovation & eLearning Facebook page. Like the page to receive a notification as soon as the live presentation starts.

Meet students where they live — in the digital world. Join LLCC Academic Innovation & eLearning today from 2:30-3:30 p.m. in the Robert H. Stephens Room for the first session in their Innovative Teaching Series: Teaching Generation Z. Learn specifically which students make up Generation Z, the ways in which you can use internet and digital platforms in your classroom to teach this generation of students and ways in which you can help students make connections between your classroom, their personal lives and their workplace. Register at http://bit.ly/2EYvCzA. Note: Current online faculty participating in the Online Proficiency Program can receive two points for successful completion of this workshop.

If you are unable to attend the workshop in person, you can join via Facebook Live! Like the LLCC Academic Innovation & eLearning Facebook page to receive a notification as soon as the live presentation is started.

This week, LLCC Academic Innovation & eLearning is offering the workshops listed below.

Navigating and Using the Blackboard Grade Center
Andy Mitkos, learning management systems coordinator
Thursday, Feb. 1, 1:30–2 p.m. in Menard Hall 2260
This workshop provides a comprehensive, hands-on introduction to the Grade Center tool.  Participants will first experience the student perspective by exploring the My Grades tool and becoming familiar with how grades will appear to their own students.  Then, turning to the instructor perspective, you will learn how to navigate the Grade Center and customize it to suit your needs.  Next, you will learn how to create columns to manage and calculate grades.  Finally, you will learn how to enter and manage grades, including grading test and assignment submissions.
Register for this session at http://bit.ly/2CFNFx1.
*Current online faculty participating in the Online Proficiency Program can receive one point for successful completion of this workshop.

Teaching Generation Z
Colin Suchland, Ph.D., professor, sociology
Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2:30-3:30 p.m. in the Robert H. Stephens Room
Join us for the first session of the Innovative Teaching Series with light refreshments. Learn specifically which students make up Generation Z, the ways in which you can use internet and digital platforms in your classroom to teach this generation of students and ways in which you can help students make connections between your classroom, their personal lives and their workplace.
Register at http://bit.ly/2EYvCzA.
*Current online faculty participating in the Online Proficiency Program can receive two points for successful completion of this workshop.

LLCC Academic Innovation & eLearning has a full workshop schedule this semester with a wide variety of sessions for everyone. Find the full schedule, session descriptions and registration links at http://www.llcc.edu/aiel/workshops-training. Session types fall into three different tracks to help you better determine the best professional development fit for your needs.

The Innovative Teaching series provides hour-long professional development sessions, which focus on best practices for pedagogy and instruction, as well as innovative teaching and learning solutions for today’s students and learning environments. Enjoy great conversations and light refreshments for each session.

• Teaching Generation Z – Jan. 31, 2:30-3:30 p.m.
• Because Quality Matters! – Feb. 13, 2:30-3:30 p.m.
• Online Faculty Roundtable – Feb. 21, 2:30-3:30 p.m.
• Connecting Compliance with Student Success – March 7, 2:30-3:30 p.m.
• Beyond Textbooks: Using Open Educational Resources in the Classroom – March 28, 11 a.m.-noon
• Collaborative Learning Techniques & Tools – April 18, 2:30-3:30 p.m.
• Dare to be Different! Active Learning Strategies for your Classroom – April 24, 2:30-3:30 p.m.

Teaching & Learning Technology micro-sessions will be 30-minute hands-on workshops focusing on current and trending instructional technology tools that promote student engagement and student success.

• Everyone’s got a Story to Tell: Using Story Maps in the Classroom – Feb. 28, 3-3:30 p.m.
• Exploring Flipgrid: Video for Student Engagement and Formative Assessment – March 5, 2-2:30 p.m.
• Closed Captioning your YouTube Videos – It’s Easier than You Think! – March 21, 10-10:30 a.m.

Advanced Blackboard Tools & Solutions micro-sessions will be 30-minute hands-on workshops focusing on Blackboards more advanced functions and methods to use these tools to improve course design and student success.

• Navigating and Using the Blackboard Grade Center – Jan. 29, 4-4:30 p.m. and Feb. 1, 1:30-2 p.m.
• Using Rubrics in Blackboard – Feb. 8, 2-2:30 p.m. and Mar. 6, 1:30-2 p.m.
• Using Blackboard Reporting and Statistics to Improve Student Success – April 11, 2-2:30 p.m. and May 1, 10-10:30 a.m.
• Exploring Open Educational Resources through Blackboard – April 25, 10-10:30 a.m.

There will also be Blackboard & SoftChalk – Open Labs throughout the semester – Jan. 22, 4-6 p.m.; Feb. 14, 10 a.m.-noon; March 19, 2:30-4:30 p.m.; and April 17, 2-4 p.m. No registration is required to attend.

Do you have questions about Blackboard? Are you curious about SoftChalk Software, or do you want to learn about the new features of SoftChalk Cloud? Now you can! LLCC Academic Innovation and eLearning is offering a Blackboard and SoftChalk open lab this week on Wednesday, Nov. 29 from 1-3 p.m. in S0119. Attend this open lab session to ask your questions and get help with your tasks. No registration is required to attend.

For its 20^th anniversary celebration of online learning, LLCC Academic Innovation and eLearning is releasing a series of web videos featuring online faculty members that will also be shared on social media. The fifth and final in this series is below, featuring Carmen Allen, professor of computer programming. NOTE: Use a browser other than Internet Explorer to watch this video (https://youtu.be/kOc0j7WthwI).

For its 20^th anniversary celebration of online learning, LLCC Academic Innovation and eLearning is releasing a series of web videos featuring online faculty members that will also be shared on social media. The fourth in this series is below, featuring David Leitner, professor of English. NOTE: Use a browser other than Internet Explorer to watch this video (https://youtu.be/nGtn_BFBjjg). Watch for the final video tomorrow!

In conjunction with National Distance Learning Week, LLCC observed the 20th anniversary of the first online class offered at LLCC.

“Two decades ago, LLCC took a bold step into the world of education via the Internet,” said Dr. Charlotte Warren, president of LLCC, at a ceremony yesterday. “One online composition class in the fall of 1997 has grown into more than 85,000 online class enrollments over the past two decades. Last year, 36 percent of LLCC students took at least one course online, and more than 1,500 students took all of their courses online.”

She congratulated those who helped the college reach this milestone. “We anticipate online education will continue to grow and evolve, and our outstanding online faculty and staff will be right there on the cutting edge.”

Becky Parton, dean of academic innovation and e-learning at LLCC, described the beginnings of online education at the college. “We celebrate the pioneering spirit of former LLCC Professor Lynn Pfannkuche, who developed and taught the first online course at the college, Introduction to Composition. That course has seen many changes as technology advancements have created a more dynamic online teaching and learning environment.”

Dr. Jason Dockter, professor of English, displayed images of Professor Pfannkuche’s first online course compared to his own today, demonstrating the advancements of online course design and development over the past 20 years.

Read more.

For its 20^th anniversary celebration of online learning, LLCC Academic Innovation and eLearning is releasing a series of web videos featuring online faculty members that will also be shared on social media. The third in this series is below, featuring Ashley Green, professor of English. NOTE: Use a browser other than Internet Explorer to watch this video (https://youtu.be/Q2RvFajQVB8). Watch for the next video tomorrow!