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Distance Learning E-News |
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Monthly Newsletter from CNM's Distance Learning Department December 2006 |
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DL Leadership Team
Brian Ditmer
Rafael Martinez
Contact Information:
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What's Happening In Distance Learning we are preparing for the new semester. We have published the course listing for Spring 2007, and registration has already begun by our continuing students. You can see what courses are being offered by visiting our web site at www.cnm.edu/depts/dl/.
Distance Learning has expanded. We are currently setting up another office space in the South Valley campus. Stay tuned for more information on the office in future editions of the newsletter.
Brian has End of the term and beginning of the term tips for the faculty: Dear DL and Hybrid Courses Faculty: This is a friendly reminder of the steps you need to take to assure a smooth transition into the Spring 2007 term: This schedule is going to be tight, as you all know, since CNM will be closed for 2 week during the break. As a reminder, I will send this message out via email in the next few weeks. 1. As soon as your class is over or by December 15th back up your WebCT courses. Go to Control Panel/Manage Course/Backup Course/Create Backup. 2. Also by December 15th, delete all student records. Go to Control Panel/Manage Course/Manage Students/Options/Records/View all Students/Options Advanced/Delete All Records/Go. 3. Delete discussion board postings. Go to Course Menu/Communication/Discussion Board/Click on Topic/Options: Delete Messages. 4. Delete email. Go to Course Menu/Communication/Options: Messages/Delete all mail messages for the entire course. 5. Turn self-registration off in your course shell (unless you want students to be able to access the course before the term starts) From within your course shell, go to Control panel: Basic Control Panel > Manage Course > Manage Students > Settings. You can turn self-registration on and off there. 6. Make sure that your course will be available for self-registration by 8:00 am on the day your class begins. If you choose not to use the self registration feature within WebCT, it is your responsibility to contact your students with information about their student ID and password for your course(s). The WebCT access policy: All WebCT course must be open for self registration, unless otherwise stated, on the first day of the term the course starts at 8am. Please note that if a course is not open for self registration, it either must be populated by 8am on the first day of that class, or a username and password must be sent to all students in the course so that they may add themselves to the course in WebCT. Teaching Tips Online-Classroom Assessments "Classroom Assessment,” as Thomas Angelo describes it, “is a simple method faculty can use to collect feedback, early and often, on how well their students are learning what they are being taught.” (http://www.siue.edu/~deder/assess/catmain.html) I use online-classroom assessments in my Distance Learning English 100 course by having students complete a learning assessment each week that asks two questions: · What did you learn this week and what helped you learn it? · What didn't you learn this week--what still remains "muddy" and unclear to you--and what do need additional help with? This is a place to let me know how I can help you master a particular skill or acquire a specific kind of knowledge. If you’re familiar with the “One-minute Paper” and “Muddiest Point” assessments, you’ll see that this learning assessment combines both. Students earn 10 points for completing the learning assessment by the end of each week. I read and reply to them and give them 5 points for answering each question. Each assessment has an optional Comment box as well, and students will often use it to tell me what’s going on in their lives or how much they like the class or what is frustrating them. These weekly assessments, created with the WebCT Quiz Tool, let me know on a continual basis how students are doing individually and collectively. Their responses allow me to add targeted assignments as needed, to help students learn concepts or skills that they didn’t get the previous week. Also, as I reply to their responses on the assessment, I can give them individual help to clear up the muddy areas. You can use this text file to create your own weekly learning assessments by upload the file into your Questions Database in WebCT. If you’re not sure how to do this, you can call me at 224-3959, ext. 1135 or email me at nseeking@cnm.edu. For more great teaching tips and examples, check out the Teaching Resource Center on the DL website! This online teaching tip was provided by Nancy King. Nancy King is a faculty member in the Educational & Career Advancement Department and is a certified online instructor. If you have a tip you would like to share in an upcoming issue of the DL E-News, please send it to Jo Ann Bell at jbell35@cnm.edu. We will select one or two tips per issue. |
Faculty Spotlights
This month's faculty
spotlight shines on Dr. Susanne Prescott. Question: 1. What do you like to do when you’re not teaching? Answer: Civic involvement, I maintain a blog for a state senator. I’m a Lady Lobo fan, and I’m working on producing a radio talk show for early 2007.
Question:
2. Knowing what you now know about online instruction, what advice would you give to brand new instructors? Answer: Don’t be reluctant to make small changes. Be open to fine-tuning your course each term because improvements in online teaching techniques continue to appear frequently.
Q&A’ Interview. Suzanne Prescott
Each month we will shine our spotlight on distance learning faculty members at CNM. If you would like your course considered for inclusion in a future faculty spotlight, please email Jo Ann Bell at jbell35@cnm.edu . Faculty spotlight members are selected and contacted for an interview monthly by the Director of Distance Learning.
Announcements
The Micali Leadership Institute was attended by one of the DL staff this year and reported it as being a huge success. Ø Check out our new web site! Our new address is: www.cnm.edu/depts/dl . Remember to update your bookmarks with the new address and let your students know of the change.
Registration open for e-Learning 2007 Conference
Dates: February 17-20, 2007 Click on the link below for more information and to register online: http://www.itcnetwork.org/elearning2007.htm
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http://www.cnm.edu/depts/dl |
We'd love to hear your feedback about our newsletter. Please send comments to dl@cnm.edu. |
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