WHAT'S INSIDE

• Call for Proposals: eLearning and Curriculum (Re) Design Projects
• One-Day Orientation for Contract Faculty on January 5
• Airmeet Pilot for 2022/23
• Call for Expression of Interest: Teaching in the Active Learning Classroom
• From Academic Accommodation to Universal Design for Learning

• Creating your exam
• Troubleshooting during the exam
• Grading your exam

• Grades in D2L
• Organizing Your Course in D2L: Part 1
• Organizing Your Course in D2L: Part 2
• Assessment and Universal Design for Learning

• Conducting Qualitative Interviews for SoTL Research
• Final Call for Fall SoTL Research Grants
• Celebrating the SoTL Symposium

• Send Us Your Events

WHAT'S HAPPENING

Call for Proposals: eLearning and Curriculum (Re) Design Projects

You did a fantastic job when we had to switch to remote emergency learning! Imagine what you could do with resources, support, and extra time. Do you have creative ideas to reimagine your course, whether for in-person, blended or fully online delivery? Would you like ADC’s help in making your vision become a reality? Consider applying for ADC eLearning and Curriculum (Re)Design Project Support.

Not sure if this opportunity is for you? Register for one of the upcoming Q&A sessions. And watch the video below to hear what past eLearning project faculty have to say about their experience.

One-Day Orientation for Contract Faculty

This interactive orientation session introduces you to teaching at Mount Royal and helps you prepare for the new semester through information sharing and conversations with colleagues. We’ll provide you with information on the following: the profile of MRU students, academic regulations, available services, class planning, preparation for the first week, and an overview of the technologies used for teaching and learning, including our D2L (Brightspace) learning management system.

All MRU Contract Faculty are welcome to attend.* 
*Those who have been teaching at MRU for one year or less, and have not previously attended the orientation, will be given priority for registration and may be eligible to receive a stipend of $100 for attending.

When: Thursday, January 5, 2023, 9:00 am - 3:30 pm
Breakfast & Lunch provided
Register by: December 21, 2022

Questions?  Please contact the ADC at adc@mtroyal.ca

Will you be hosting an online event during Winter/Spring 2023?

The Academic Development Centre is launching a pilot for the Airmeet virtual events platform. If you are planning an online event, please consider joining our pilot. Airmeet is a robust online events platform that offers a one-stop solution for your online event. To learn more about Airmeet go to airmeet.com. To learn more about the pilot, contact John Cheeseman, at jcheeseman@mtroyal.ca.

Call for Expression of Interest: Teaching in the Active Learning Classroom 

Do you employ student collaboration and group work in your classes? Would you like to teach in a classroom that is designed to accommodate such pedagogies?

We are looking to partner with faculty who would like to teach in the Active Learning Classroom, during the Winter 2023 term. If you think this space would enhance your teaching, please download and fill out the Expression of Interest by December 01.  As we only have a single classroom, our intention is to maximize the impact of this space on teaching and learning practices. Priority will be given to those who would like to teach portions of their courses in this progressive learning space. Also, interested faculty will have the opportunity (if desired) to create their own SoTL project.

 For more information contact Luciano Santos, ldarosa@mtroyal.ca or John Cheeseman, jcheeseman@mtroyal.ca.

From Academic Accommodation to Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

“Post-secondary education is the gateway to the workplace and community for most Canadians. It is essential that post-secondary education be accessible to all members of our community, including persons experiencing a disability. Historically, persons experiencing a disability have not been able to participate fully in post-secondary education. The method of ensuring that person with disabilities have equal access to post-secondary education is through a process called accommodation” (from the Alberta Human Rights Commission Duty to Accommodate Students with Disabilities interpretive bulletin, April 2021).

This PD session will focus on the academic accommodation process, the implementation of academic accommodations at the course level and Universal Design for Learning as a systemic approach to creating equitable learning environments.

Facilitators: Pat Pardo (Access and Inclusion Services) and Christian Cook (ADC)
Date: Friday, February 3
Time: 9:00 am - 12:00 pm

FINAL EXAMS IN D2L

Are you running your final exam online using D2L? Our playlist of videos can help you make sure it goes as smoothly as possible. Below are lists of videos covering the most common questions or concerns:

Creating your exam

• Copy single survey, test or pool from Bb to D2L
• Use test Generator to import questions into D2L quiz or pool
• Set D2L Accommodations (pdf)
• Control students view of quiz results

Troubleshooting issues during the exam

We highly encourage viewing these videos in advance of your exam to help prepare for possible issues.

• Give a student who lost internet access more time on a Quiz
• Let student continue Quiz in D2L
• Allow student to redo a quiz in D2L
• Submit a quiz for a student

Grading your exam

• Find and grade questions I missed in D2L Quiz
• Bonus question after quiz is taken in D2L
• Repair an incorrectly scored question in a quiz in D2L
• Publish Quiz Grades

Tips to share with your students

• To prevent connectivity issues we recommend tests be taken on a desktop computer that is hardwired to the internet. Tablets or phones should not be used.
• Before taking an online exam, students should clear their browser cache and make sure their answers are being saved
• Students must be completely logged into their MRU Gmail account. If they get an error message when logging in they can watch this video showing them how to fix it.
• Multi-factor authentication needs to be activated on their MRU account.
• If your students have technical difficulties during the exam, please direct them to contact you as the instructor.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Discover in-person and online offerings to help build your knowledge and skills in a variety of areas.

View the full schedule of professional development opportunities by going to our upcoming workshops page. (See also: calendar view). 

MOKAKIIKS CENTRE FOR SOTL

Conducting Qualitative Interviews for SoTL Research

This hands-on workshop will provide faculty and students engaged in SoTL research an opportunity to learn about and practice conducting qualitative interviews as a data collection method.

Facilitator: Dr. Cherie Woolmer
Date: Monday, December 12
Time: 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm

Final Call for Fall SoTL Research Grants

The fall call for SoTL grants is open October 31 - November 30, 2022, for funding starting January 1, 2023. Essential SoTL Grants, Mokakiiks SoTL Collaborate, Undergraduate SoTL Dissemination, and the Marshall Family Literacy Grant are open for submission.

Celebrating the SoTL Symposium

A big thank you to all who contributed to and participated in the Mokakiiks SoTL Symposium, held November 10-12 in Banff. More than 130 delegates participated from MRU, across Canada and beyond - including international presenters from countries such as the US, Ireland, Norway, and Thailand! Our keynote speakers, Randy Bass from Georgetown University, and MRU's Gabrielle Lindstrom sparked important ideas to begin and end the conference, and challenged us to consider new possibilities and directions for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. It was wonderful to have this time in person again, and we look forward to next year. Stay tuned!

COMMUNITY EVENTS

Send Us Your Events

Do you have an event or announcement you want to promote in an upcoming newsletter?

Email Bree Smith [bssmith@mtroyal.ca] with the details including:

• Title
• Brief description
• Facilitators (if applicable)
• Dates and times (if applicable)