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SUNY Effective Online Practices Award Program

SUNY Canton OSCQR Certification Program

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Online Course Quality Practices

SUNY Canton OSCQR Certification Program was created to help faculty course developers achieve successful course peer reviews by understanding best practices associated with the SUNY Canton OSCQR rubric. The certification program addressed two needs – the need to educate course developers on standards against which their online courses will be assessed, and the need to educate faculty course reviewers on how to spot whether course quality standards were met in an online course and what strategies they recommend to help the course pass the review.

The participants who completed the certification program received a certificate and they are featured on the SUNY Canton website.

Many faculty use Panopto—or other screen casting tools—to create lectures for their online students and/or require students to create their own videos for specific projects. While using Panopto in this way goes far to foster regular and substantive interaction, the software can also be used to provide meaningful feedback in both online and seated classes. In this presentation, a writing instructor demonstrates how she uses Panopto in all her classes, across modalities. She will focus on how to insert Panopto into Brightspace and share student reactions to this type of feedback.

During SUNY Canton’s migration to Brightspace, several instructors requested guidance on how their courses should or could be designed in the new environment. With input from three instructional designers and utilizing the capabilities of the new platform, three courses were selected to be showcased as “exemplary” and examples of how courses could look.

A custom widget was also created on the Brightspace institutional homepage, where the courses are readily available for self-enrollment and review.

The study investigates a strategy to enhance discussions as a central part of online and hybrid courses where the course activities are directed and prioritized. To ensure quality several enforcing and motivational techniques are introduced in conjunction with the existing tools of Learning Management Systems. A technique of indirect feedback encourages learners to post more and build toward quality value.

ELN Project Portal and Global NGO Projects

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Online Program Partnership Practices

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Although interest in high-impact Experiential Learning (EL) continues to grow, current models are unable to accommodate changing challenges and expectations. Towards ensuring that all students have opportunities to engage with the world, and connect their experiences with their academic and career goals, we designed the UB Experiential Learning Network (ELN) Project Portal, a dynamic digital platform that creates and shares high-impact projects; supports engagement through a flexible framework; and displays and showcases outputs through digital badges. Our innovative use of co-curricular badges supports facilitation, incentivization and assessment at scale. Our badges also address issues of access, allowing for direct student engagement, or integration within courses and programs of study, supporting collaboration with faculty and departments. Our portfolio of global NGO projects connect students with community-based organizations for customized engagement and contributions. Students begin by exploring the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and connect with their partners via teleconferencing and social media. Projects culminate in Global Collaboration or Sustainability badges depending on student and project focus. Initial research suggests transformative impacts related to global projects for both students and partners. We are interested in scaling the model to reach more students and NGOs.

Universal Design for Trauma

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Online Course Quality Practices

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Trauma is an epidemic in the United States. Over 60% of men and 50% of women report exposure to at least one lifetime traumatic event (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). Traumatic events include domestic and sexual violence, school and mass shootings, community and police violence, suicide, war, accidents and natural disasters. Exposure to trauma can lead to both short and long-term impacts on physical and emotional health, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Previous research has found that trauma exposure can also negatively impact academic and career outcomes (see Norway, Huand and Mossige, 2012; Horsmon 2000 and 2006; Nikischer, 2018). This effective practice, Universal Design for Trauma (UDT), outlines five key steps to designing courses that address trauma content and student trauma history (Nikischer, 2020). UDT is a framework for accessibility, ensuring that online courses are built to successfully engage and support all students.

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The Embedded Librarian Program assigns a librarian to a research-based course to assist students in Blackboard. Working within Blackboard, a librarian collaborates with faculty to provide enhanced library service and assistance to students. Embedded Librarianship requires advanced planning and collaboration between the requesting faculty member and Librarian. As demand for this service increased a Library Repository was created in Blackboard in order to foster collaboration and sharing among embedded librarians. This repository consists of research tools including links to library resources, research guides, pathfinders, tutorials and videos.

Individualized Learning Plans

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Online Teaching & Learning Practices

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Each student creates an Individualized Learning Plan in each of my courses. I ask students to choose from among several sets of multiple kinds of possible learning goals and outcomes, and then from among specific ways to operationalize working toward those goals and outcomes. These ILPs become the foundation of their work in the course, and a cornerstone of my role in their learning process. A significant component of their final grade is based on their engagement in this process.

Women's Empowerment Draft 2021

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Online Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Practices

Over 25 SUNY institutions joined forces for the Women's Empowerment Draft, which uses the enthusiasm for professional sports to build excitement for Women's History Month. Alfred University's New York State College of Ceramics leads an effort to produce sporty jerseys, trading cards, and mosaics which each school can use as an educational tool kit for Women's History Month. The program is designed to bring together a statewide collaboration completely ON-LINE and using both ZOOM and the power of social media with daily posts.

Promoting diversity and inclusion in an online Spanish course

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Online Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Practices

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In order to respond to a long-standing schism in world languages pedagogy between communication, content, and culture-focused learning experiences, I developed an online fourth-semester Spanish course that puts e-learning tools to the service of an integrative pedagogy, one that recognizes underrepresented groups in the Spanish-speaking world. Informed by the Modern and Classical Language Department at Buffalo State College's Ambassador Model, the approach targets the development of Global Citizenship and Engaged Professionalism.