eLearning Newsletter for January and February, 2023
Comic Transcript
Panel 1: Melanie and Caleb are looking at an article on a computer. Melanie says, "This ChatGPT stuff is really freaking a lot of people out!" Caleb says, "We should host some workshops to help faculty be proactive about AI! I don't think it's the end of the world, but we do need to re-think how we structure assignments, and find ways to integrate AI productively."
Panel 2: Nick chimes in, "Embracing AI writing tools as instructors may seem unsettling at first, but the benefits far outweigh any initial discomfort. We can not only save ourselves valuable time and caloric energy, but also provide our students with access to technology that can enhance their writing skills and prepare them for the future workforce."
Panel 3: Melanie and Caleb look at Nick suspiciously. Caleb says, "Something's not right here..." Melanie says, "Umm... Hey Nick, what's your opinion on apples? Do you like the way apples taste?"
Panel 4: Nick looks nervous, and says, "Apples are a popular fruit and many people enjoy their taste. Some people find them very delicious and refreshing, while others may not enjoy the taste as much. Taste is a subjective thing and different people have different preferences."
Panel 5: Melanie gasps in horror and says, "He's a Robot!!"
Panel 6: Caleb rips Nick's face off to reveal a metal robot face underneath. Nick says, "BZZT>> SERVER IS AT CAPACITY RIGHT NOW>> TRY AGAIN LATER"
Writing AI and ChatGPT Workshops
We know that a lot of people are talking about ChatGPT, generative AI tools in general, and their immediate and long-term impact and disruption on our teaching practice. We're not all doom-and-gloom here, but we do think that this technology must be addressed and integrated proactively, so that your students are equipped to engage with it effectively as students and in their careers. In cooperation with the SFCC CETL and the SCC TLC, we'll be hosting a series of workshops in February, designed to help you respond productively, develop robust assignments, and brainstorm classroom policies that will get you ahead of the AI curve. Check out the Professional Development section below for dates, times, and workshop descriptions.
Save the Date for the 2023 eLearning Academy!
We're already planning for next fall's eLearning Academy, officially scheduled for Sept. 12 through 14! We'll be sharing more information later throughout the winter and spring quarters, including registration, a call for presentation proposals, our official theme for the year, and keynote speakers. For now, put a pin in your calendar!
Action Research Project Presentations
Starting in January of 2022, the eLearning team partnered with District IR to support a couple of faculty led research projects using the action research framework. We want to recognize Valda Black and Brianna Khetlyr for the hard work and dedication they displayed during their individual projects. It's has been so exciting to see what you have accomplished! You can watch the recordings of their findings through the links below:
Action Research for Differentiated Instruction in Mixed Level Adult Education Classroom Links to an external site. by Brianna Khetlyr
Using Critical Reflection for Learner-Centered Online Teaching Links to an external site. by Valda Black
Moving forward, keep an eye out for updates to our Action Research Project and potential grant opportunities in the future! Thanks to all who were a part of making these projects a success!
Tech Talks
Tuesdays at 1:05pm we host short (20 minutes, give or take) discussions on an eLearning technology or technique. We will be live-streaming on Zoom and YouTube. If you'd like to be part of the recording, join the Zoom session. If you'd like to view the presentation and interact on chat, visit the live YouTube broadcast. You'll also be able to watch the YouTube recordings at any time after the broadcast.
Jan. 31 @ 1:05pm: ChatGPT
Since we last talked about AI writing tools in November, the field has made significant progress in effectiveness, user-friendliness, and accessibility for the general public. OpenAI’s ChatGPT is a powerful generative text model that is getting a lot of press for its ease of use and ability to generate human-like text. In this Tech Talks we’ll try to demystify the hype surrounding ChatGPT and better understand how it might impact our classrooms. This will kick off a series of February workshops meant to help you respond, proactively and productively, to AI tools in your teaching practice. We hope to see you there!
Join the Jan. 31 conversation on Zoom
Links to an external site.
View the Jan. 31 conversation on YouTube
Links to an external site.
Feb. 7 @ 1:05pm: Templates, Code Samples, & Page Designs!
eLearning's instructional design team has been designing materials, code snippets, and page templates for individual faculty and departments for a while. Now, we’ve started hosting all those resources in a single place, so that everyone can use them as they see fit! This session will cover how these templates and snippets work, how you can bring them into your own courses, and how we can help you develop new templates of your own.
Join the Feb. 7 conversation on Zoom
Links to an external site.
View the Feb. 7 conversation on YouTube
Links to an external site.
Feb. 14 @ 1:05pm: Vicarious Learning
Instructor-recorded videos are one of the most common ways online and hybrid students experience direct instruction. Are these videos as effective and valuable to student learning as they could be? This conversation draws from the field of cognitive science to discuss recommendations and ideas for creating lecture videos that are compatible with the way students take in and process new information. Specifically, we’ll focus on the benefits of incorporating dialogue and remaining mindful of students’ cognitive load as you create your videos. We hope to see you there!
Join the Feb. 14 conversation on Zoom
Links to an external site.
View the Feb. 14 conversation on YouTube
Links to an external site.
Feb. 21 @ 1:05pm: Improve Your Quizzes with Analytics
Quizzing can be an efficient way to formatively assess your students, but how do you know if it was a “good” quiz or not? In this session we’ll look at some of the tools in Canvas that can identify content areas to review with students, or potential problem questions that need to be redesigned. If you are a quiz aficionado, please join us and give us your perspectives on how you assess your assessments as we dive into Quiz Analytics!
Join the Feb. 21 conversation on Zoom
Links to an external site.
View the Feb. 21 conversation on YouTube
Links to an external site.
Feb. 28 @ 1:05pm: Clean up your course with Link Validator
Copying courses between terms can save a ton of time getting content ready between terms. But fast forward to the first week of class, and suddenly students are complaining that they can’t access certain resources or can’t see some images. What happened, and how do you fix it? Canvas has a built-in tool that can identify broken links and access issues in our courses. In this session we’ll look at the Link Validator tool and how to use it as a final check before the quarter begins, so you can feel confident that your course will run as intended.
Join the Feb. 28 conversation on Zoom
Links to an external site.
View the Feb. 28 conversation on YouTube
Links to an external site.
ChatGPT and writing AI Workshop Series
Wednesday, Feb. 1, 12:30-1:30: Introduction to ChatGPT and AI writing tools
What is ChatGPT, how does it work, and what are the implications for your teaching practice? In this session, we’ll share a brief presentation about the technology behind AI writing tools. Then we’ll have time to play with the tool, test out how your existing assignments might interact with ChatGPT, and discuss our plans for other training opportunities this quarter.
This is a flex-modality session! Join us via Zoom
Links to an external site., or in-person at the CETL (SFCC Library, 2-115) or at the TLC (SCC Building 1, G-208).
Wednesday, Feb. 15, 12:30-1:30: Engaging Proactively with ChatGPT
ChatGPT and related generative AI tools are going to become more and more commonplace, both in education and in the workforce. Can we engage with these tools productively, while still maintaining academic integrity and rigor? In this session, we’ll start with a faculty panel of instructors who are already experimenting with these tools. Then we’ll have a workshop-format discussion on how to design assignments that are more resistant to AI cheating, and talk about how to design activities and projects that can integrate AI while still engaging the student learning, critical thinking, and creativity.
This is a flex-modality session! Join us via Zoom
Links to an external site., or in-person at the CETL (SFCC Library, 2-115) or at the TLC (SCC Building 1, G-208).
Wednesday, Feb. 22, 12:30-1:30: Teaching for an AI-rich world
Generative AI tools will quickly become ubiquitous in many, many industries and content areas. Are we preparing our students for that world? In this session, we’ll explore ways to address and integrate AI tools into our course policies and syllabi. We’ll also talk about options and examples for talking to your students about AI tools, including media literacy, privacy, academic integrity, and intellectual property concerns. To end on a high note, we’ll also explore ways that AI tools could make your life easier as an instructor!
This is a flex-modality session! Join us via Zoom
Links to an external site., or in-person at the CETL (SFCC Library, 2-115) or at the TLC (SCC Building 1, G-208).