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Celebrate #NDLW2019 with Open SUNY!

National Distance Learning Week – November 4-8, 2019
Open SUNY is pleased to host and showcase the following presentations in celebration of National Distance Learning Week (NDLW) 2019. Registration is not required for these free webinars. Webinar slides and recordings are listed below each session.

Monday, November 4, 2019

Time: 12:00-12:30PM 

Title: The Win-Win-Win Using the R2T (Ready to Teach) Model for Online Programs

Presenter: Jennifer Austin, University at Buffalo

Description: Win-Win-Win: Using the R2T (Ready to Teach) Model to Build a Strong Online Program, Deliver Great Classes and to Help New Faculty to Teach Successfully Online

Learn how a department at the University at Buffalo leveraged the R2T (Ready to Teach) model to develop and launch a new minor in the Fall of 2015. 

      • A win for the department – a new program generating revenues with 182 current students in the minor, over 675 program completions in the first four years, and more than 1000 enrollments each Fall and Spring semester (plus Winter and Summer). 
    • A win for the student – students get a high quality online learning experience every time – using content experts and an instructional designer to create engaging online courses and using PhD students and adjunct faculty to facilitate student learning have led the university in course evaluations and
    • A win – for PhD students and new adjuncts who are learning to teach online using a mentored model, gaining valuable online teaching experience and a paycheck to boot.

Recording
Slides

Time: 1:00-1:30PM  

Title: Enhancing online and traditional classes using Zoom and VoiceThread

Presenter: Gina Giuliano, University at Albany

Description: Team projects can be difficult in the classroom, especially when the room is too small and the furniture is not conducive to it. The challenges of teamwork, mobility issues, a desire to increase class community and to push students out of their “comfort zones” sparked using Zoom web conferencing, VoiceThread, Ensemble and Blackboard to transform all my classes, online and traditional, into blended delivery. In this session, I’ll share the mostly positive lessons learned.  

Recording
Slides

Tuesday, November 5, 2019 

Time: 11:00-11:30AM 

Title: Sharing Stories from Buffalo to East Africa

Presenter: Drew Kahn, Buffalo State College

Description: Buffalo State’s Anne Frank Project (AFP) uses the power of stories to share valuable lessons in conflict management, community building and identity exploration.  AFP trains teachers (locally, nationally and internationally) to utilize stories in their classrooms and schools–story-based learning. With strong partnerships in East Africa, AFP has successfully trained hundreds of teachers in Rwanda and Kenya.  After establishing the work in person, the training continues weekly via virtual e-training, thus 90% of the training is accomplished through distance learning.

Recording
Slides

Time: 12:00-12:30PM

Title: Highlights from the ICDE World Conference on Online Learning

Presenter: Phylise Banner, SUNY Poly

Description: Join in for a live commentary from the 28th ICDE World Conference on Online Learning, taking place in Dublin. Phylise Banner will be bringing you highlights from the conference, with the theme of “Transforming Lives and Societies”. Join in to hear highlights from presentations focusing on contemporary problems and opportunities facing today’s educators in this globally connected digital era.

Recording
Slides

Time: 1:00-1:30PM 

Title: Simulation & Gamification in Online Education

Presenter: Samy Garas, SUNY Plattsburgh

Description: The use of digital games and simulations in online courses seems to assume a laggardly adoption rate reflecting the spread of knowledge about game-based learning as well as gamification in the context of higher education.  This presentation addresses the following research questions to uncover knowledge and familiarity with gamification and simulations in an online education.

Q1: How common is knowledge of gamification and simulation among online instructors?

Q2: In which courses have digital or non-digital games and simulations been used?

Q3: What is the current rate of usage of gamification and simulations in online classrooms and what is the likelihood of usage in the future?

Q4: How have digital or non-digital games or simulations been used as graded assessments?

In this context, I argue that while the term gamification is novel, the approach is not. Moreover, current gamification strategies appear to be a repackaging of traditional instructional strategies.  This presentation provides insights to online instructors on how to include gamification/simulation into their course materials and how to use them as graded assessments.

Recording
Slides

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Time: 12:00-12:30PM 

Title: Teaching Sensitive Topics Online

Presenter: Andrea Nikischer, Buffalo State College

Description: Understanding and addressing the challenges associated with teaching sensitive and/or distressing topics online, such as domestic and sexual violence. This presentation will focus on strategies to create safe online learning communities which encourage student engagement through and peer-to-peer and student-to-instructor interaction. Specific examples from online courses on family violence and diversity issues will be shared.

Recording
Slides

Thursday, November 7, 2019 

Time: 12:00-12:30PM 

Title: What we did this summer: Our eight week journey to creating a fully on-line graduate engineering management program

Presenter: Sabrina Casucci, Lisa Stephens, and Amy Moore, University at Buffalo

Description: In the summer of 2019, UB’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering launched an initiative to transform a traditional classroom based graduate program to a completely on-line environment. We will introduce our approach and emphasize the importance of effective leadership, school wide collaboration, and faculty engagement to create an innovative program for a diverse audience in such a short time. This talk will include perspectives from multiple individuals and roles involved in this initiative.

Recording
Slides

Time: 1:00-1:30PM 

Title: Exploring Emerging Technologies for Lifelong Learning and Success (#EmTechMOOC): experiences of student learners for course requirements

Presenters: Roberta (Robin) Sullivan, University at Buffalo and Cherie van Putten, Binghamton University

Description: The State University of New York (SUNY) has launched “Exploring Emerging Technologies for Lifelong Learning and Success” (#EmTechMOOC), an online learning opportunity to enhance 21st-century skills, including communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. Through the MOOC, participants explore established and emerging technology tools for career and personal advancement. Students in both traditional and online courses have recently participated in the MOOC as a part of their required course activities. Learn how this usually voluntary learning opportunity has impacted students’ MOOC activities.

Recording
Slides

Friday, November 8, 2019 

Time: 12:00-12:30PM 

Title: The UX / UI of an Online Course

Presenter: Adele Merlino, SUNY Maritime

Description: Online courses and degree programs are becoming more and more prevalent in Higher Education. Quality Matters (QM) recommends online courses are structured and establish a social presence and interactions among students and the instructor. This requires a shift in instructional tactics from the instructor’s point of view where implementing these recommendations is often met with skepticism without consideration of the user experience’s online experience.  This instructor resistance is detrimental to the quality of the online course design and, consequently to student learning outcomes. A correlation has been found between students’ grades and the resources accessed in online environments (Crampton et al., 2012, as cited in Redmond, P., et. al, 2018), as well as the emotional and intellectual investment made by students when studying online (Pittaway & Moss, 2014, as cited in Redmond, P., et. al, 2018). Consequently, the User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI) Design are crucial considerations in course design and pedagogy, especially when seeking to maximize the engagement of online students.  The proposed topic demonstrates the importance in considering UX/UI in online course designs while using QM instructional methods of social presence, interactions, and structure. Considering the student experience can produce learning outcomes that can be as good as or better than traditional, face-to-face courses.

Recording
Slides

Follow the NDLW hashtag on Twitter for other terrific learning engagements from institutions and organizations around the globe, such as events hosted by USDLA.

We hope you will take advantage of this opportunity to learn from each other and support your peers! 

#NDLW, community, event, faculty development, online faculty