Celebrate NDLW 2023 with SUNY Online!

National Distance Learning Week – November 6-10, 2023
National Distance Learning Week, sponsored by the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA), is hosted annually with a virtual, week-long series of webinars meant to:

• generate greater awareness and appreciation for distance learning;
• discuss current issues and emerging trends;
• highlight best practices;
• recognize leaders in the field.

SUNY Online is pleased to host and showcase the following dynamic presentations in celebration of National Distance Learning Week (NDLW) 2023.

Register here for all sessions: https://sunycpd.eventsair.com/so-ndlw-23/reg
Webinar slides and recordings will be posted below each session.

Monday – November 6, 2023 
Time: 10:00-10:45AM 
Title: Creating Weekly Introduction Videos to Facilitate Successful Course Navigation
Presenter: Tammy Chandler, SUNY Delhi
Description: When teaching in an online course it is essential to assure students are able to navigate the course, feel a sense of community, experience presence, and become engaged. One strategy is to create weekly introduction videos that provide an introduction to the content and concepts, assignments, and provide other supports to successfully navigate the course. This presentation will share the background of this project, evidence to support this strategy, important elements to include, considerations in creating these videos, and student responses after implementing the videos.
Slides
Recording

Tuesday – November 7, 2023
Time: 11:00-11:45AM
Title: SUNY #EmTech: Empowering Lifelong Learners to Navigate Our Digital World
Presenter: Roberta (Robin) Sullivan, University at Buffalo
Description: Join us for an engaging exploration of SUNY’s #EmTech Initiative—a resource tailored for college students, instructors, and anyone eager to thrive in today’s ever-changing tech landscape. EmTech is short for Exploring Emerging Technologies for Lifelong Learning and Success, an open-access learning opportunity. Discover how to empower learners to enhance creativity, communication, collaboration, and critical thinking through cutting-edge technology. We’ll guide you through the hands-on Discovery Exercises that foster 21st-century skills to create media-rich ePortfolios. Plus, learn how instructors and learners can earn Coursera Certificates and SUNY Digital Badges to showcase personal and professional development. Visit the EmTech website at http://suny.edu/emtech for a curated selection of emerging technology tools and tutorials, including resources on gamification, artificial intelligence (AI), and extended reality (AR/VR/XR). Join us to learn how to implement the SUNY #EmTech professional development model at your institution. Let’s empower lifelong learners together with EmTech!
Slides
Recording

Tuesday – November 7, 2023
Time: 2:00-2:45PM
Title: A Free Design Tool to add Voltage to Your Brightspace Classes
Presenter: Dave Ghidiu, Finger Lakes Community College
Description: A computer science faculty at the college has built a free way to improve the design of the pages in Brightspace! This session will demo the tool, provide a light tutorial, and give resources so you can use it today!
Markdown in Brightspace Resource
Google Docs Linker Resource
Recording

Wednesday – November 8, 2023
Time: 12:00-12:45PM
Title: Messaging Matters: Using Brightspace Pulse to Engage Online Students
Presenter: Loy Gross, Genesee Community College
Description: At Genesee Community College, Brightspace Pulse has become a regular vehicle for online student communications as well as a lead-in to using online chat and social media. Discover the results of our A/B testing pitting traditional email outreach against the Pulse app, how these insights inspired changes to our Online Learning Communications Plan, where just-in-time information delivery fits, and how we expanded our Brightspace outreach into other communication mediums. During this virtual presentation, we’ll share data, setup, plans, results, and a Q&A session. Bring your questions!
Slides
Recording

Thursday – November 9, 2023
Time: 10:00-10:45AM
Title: Creating an Ideal OER Textbook for Your Students
Presenter: Calvin Williamson and Jennifer Shloming, Fashion Institute of Technology
Description: This presentation will highlight how we created and utilize our own OER textbooks to enhance student learning in both our online and in-person (mathematics) courses. The textbooks were made using our lecture materials, technology, and dedication to providing the ideal textbook to the students in our classes: free, available online, and catered to their interests.
OER: Intro to Graph Theory
OER:  Intro Statistics
Slides
Recording

Thursday – November 9, 2023 
Time: 12:00-12:45PM
Title: Lumen OHM Can Go Wherever You Want to Code It
Presenters: Jeffrey Birt, Mohawk Valley Community College and Mark Mattson, SUNY Poly
Description: We are pleased to share our innovative adaptation of the Lumen OHM online homework platform. While traditionally utilized for mathematics assignments, we have retooled its applications to cater to engineering problems, underscoring its versatility for distance or hybrid learning environments. Our approach capitalizes on the platform’s ability to program complex calculated questions, thereby offering step-by-step solutions, individualized problems for each student, scaffolded guidance for solution-building, immediate feedback, and the capacity for formulating intricate problems. Join us as we delve into the potential of Lumen OHM to add engineering to distance learning experiences.
Slides
Recording

Friday – November 10, 2023 
Time: 10:00-10:45AM  – Moderator:
Title: “It’s Like Herding Cats (Who Are Multiplying)”: Curating an AI Repository
Presenter: Rachel Rigolino, SUNY New Paltz
Description: This is a brief overview of our project here at SUNY New Paltz that involves collecting and curating resources and articles about generative AI for our faculty. We house this repository on our Faculty Development Center Hawksite (WordPress). Articles are posted almost daily.
Slides
Recording

Friday – November 10, 2023 
Time: 11:00-11:45AM
Title: Beyond Belonging: Creating Online and Blended Spaces for First-Generation Students to Flourish
Presenter: Stephanie Foote, Stony Brook University
Description: This session will focus on strategies and approaches that can be used to go beyond belonging to create inclusive academic experiences for first-generation students. Participants will leave the session with ideas they can incorporate immediately into their own online and blended courses, and resources for continuous course improvement.
Slides and Resources
Recording

Friday – November 10, 2023 
Time: 12:00-12:45PM
Title: Peer Pedagogy: Encouraging Collaboration in Accelerated Online Learning
Presenter: Travis Matteson, Alfred State College
Description: Studies have shown the advantages of collaboration to promote learning, but collaboration is often difficult to facilitate in online classes. The presentation envisions collaboration as the central pedagogical approach to online learning. Reflecting on the experience teaching an accelerated technical writing course online, this presentation will discuss effective practices in rubric development, assignment creation, and evaluation to facilitate student-to-student and student-to-instructor collaboration online.
Recording

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

We thank you for taking advantage of this opportunity to learn from each other and support your peers!