Category Archives: For Instructors

New for Fall 2021 – Pathways!

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What is a “Pathway”? The LTC offers a wide variety of trainings, but how are they tied together? We have organized our trainings into groups that drive towards common ideas. The “Pathway” courses are designed for users who are already familiar with the basics of tools such as a Canvas (e.g., building a Page) or Webex Teams (e.g., creating a Space). The sessions blend advanced skill development with deeper conceptual discussion into the affordances of more technology-inclusive environments on campus, regardless of whether you are an instructor or not!

Register in advance and be sure to tell your colleagues!

Read below about our two Pathways, Blending My In-Person Course with Online Elements and Creating Dynamic Course Content!

Blending My In-Person Course with Online Elements

This pathways approaches “blended” classrooms from a larger perspective, namely the integration of technology to enhance learning, streamline instructor workload, and maximize student engagement. Instructors will utilize materials created during the 2020 school year to improve face to face, and blended courses. Leveraging recently digitized content, while making small adjustments to it, to engage students and get the most use out of content.

  • Google Apps for Education
    Learn about the different Google Apps for Education you can use to collaborate and file-share on the go! This workshop is an overview of Google Apps including Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Presentations, Forms, Drawing, and Sites. Learn the basics of each program to get you up and running quickly with Google applications.

    September 10, 9:00AM | Register here
    October 19, 1:00PM | Register here (hybrid session)
    November 9, 1:00PM | Register here
    December 1, 9:00AM | Register here (hybrid session)
  • DX1 – Culture: Design for the Student Perspective
    This is the first of a three partworkshop series exploring impacts of Digital Transformation on Higher Education.
    Digital Transformation #1 — Culture: Designing with the Student Perspective in Mind.

    September 14, 3:00PM | Register here
    Learn more about this series from the blog post.
  • Breakouts in Webex Meetings
    Would you like to breakout your meeting participants into smaller groups allowing them to collaborate and share ideas over audio and video? Use Webex Meetings new integrated breakout sessions for workshops, classrooms, or for when you need a moment to talk privately with a few participants, outside of the main meeting. Join this lively class and check out what you can do in breakout sessions as a meeting host, co-host, or attendee.

    September 16, 9:00AM | Register here
    October 8, 9:00AM | Register here
    November 5, 1:00PM | Register here
    December 14, 1:00PM | Register here
  • Improving Navigation
    This session explores modular organization, use cases like the FAQ syllabus, links and tricks to save you time copying courses from one section to another, and other tips to reuse modules.

    September 18, 2:00PM | Register here
    September 21, 1:00PM | Register here
    September 22, 9:00AM | Register here
  • Teaching with Webex (Teams)
    Searching for ways to build community with students in your online class? Looking for a way to facilitate communication and collaboration between your students in your face-to-face class? You may benefit from the Learning Technology Center’s (LTC) “Teaching with Webex.” (Webex is the application formerly known as Webex Teams.)
    The facilitator will provide examples to help participants understand what Webex is (and is not), how it works, and the purpose in using it. We will also provide some examples of instructors who have integrated Webex into their course and some “best practices” for use.

    September 20, 9:00AM | Register here (hybrid session)
    October 7, 3:00PM | Register here
    December 3, 10:00AM | Register here (hybrid session)
  • Canvas Higher Integrity Quizzes
    This session will focus on the things you can do with your quizzes besides monitoring software to improve the integrity of your quizzes. We will use the description area of the assignment to remind students what they can and can’t do during your quizzes, set up timing and randomized questions, use different question types to make looking up answers more difficult, and try to change the focus of questions to application of skills.
    Feel free to review this phenomenal seven minute video to try some of these on your own.

    September 29, 2021, 1:00PM | Register here
    October 7, 2021, 10:00AM | Register here
    Note: To get the most out of this session, we recommend that you are already familiar with the following tools: Quizzes
  • Suggestions for Effective Webex Meetings & Events
    Do you know how to schedule a Webex Meeting and/or Event, but are looking to make them more smooth, efficient, productive, and comfortable? We’ll cover some pre-meeting details that can help as well as and facilitation techniques to help you and your attendees have better virtual meeting experiences. We’ll focus on tips and tricks found in Webex Meetings and Events to take your baseline skills to the next level.

    October 15, 2:00PM | Register here
    November 16, 3:00PM | Register here
    December 7, 1:00PM | Register here
  • Interactive Polling with Slido
    Polls are a great way for hosts to get input from meeting participants. Use them to engage your audience, test knowledge, and ask for feedback. Webex Meetings now has an interactive polling feature built right into the meeting so you can easily engage with your participants.
    In this session, you’ll learn how to:
    • Create, edit, delete and activate a poll, quiz or survey;
    • Share the poll;
    • View poll results and reset a poll;
    • Export and share poll results after a meeting;
    • Add guest collaborators; and
    • Access your Slido account from https://slido.com and manage your polls.

    October 26, 1:00PM | Register here
    November 3, 10:00AM | Register here
  • What Students Want in Canvas
    There are many good ways to set up a course. This training will focus on making a series of small, easy, and optional, shifts from your current course design to a setup backed by feedback from student panels conducted right here at UW-Whitewater.

    November 3, 2021, 9:00AM | Register here
    November 9, 2021, 1:00PM | Register here
    Note: To get the most out of this session, we recommend that you are already familiar with the following tools: Assignments, Announcements, Pages, Modules, Rubrics.
“Arrows showing up (Blender)” by FutUndBeidl is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Creating Dynamic Course Content

Instructors will be able to create Canvas content that uses embedded video, active links to content both inside of and out of the Canvas course, and/or utilizes other campus supported technologies, while remaining accessible for all users. Dynamic course content has been shown to improve student engagement. This pathway will explore ways that instructors can produce and recycle dynamic, multimodal and multimedia course materials that strengthens student content interactions.

  • “Next-Level” Design in Canvas – Chunking and Modular Design
    This session explores modular organization, use cases like the FAQ syllabus, links and tricks to save you time copying courses from one section to another, and other tips to reuse modules.

    September 24:  1:00-3:00PM | Register here
  • “Next-Level” Design in Canvas – Navigation and Gating
    This session explores how faculty use gating and timed releases, prerequisites in Canvas, and use cases when – and when not — to use these techniques.

    October 8: 1:00PM-3:00PM | Register here
  • “Next-Level” Multimedia – Creative Use Cases
    This session explores how faculty use multimedia in creative ways, from intro videos to weekly video “to-do” lists, to short podcasts.  We will also explore how to incorporate multimedia into student assignments, video presentations, and discussion boards.

    October 22:  1:00-3:00PM | Register here
  • Campus Technology Resources to Help You Succeed
    The goal of this session is to create awareness of the campus-supported communication, collaboration, and work productivity tools that apply to all staff and introduce participants to support resources. This session will be particularly helpful to those new to campus, however, all staff may benefit from hearing about technology tools they might not be aware of or changes to technology that make the tools more useful for their work.

    September 8, 9:00AM | Register here (hybrid session)
    October 21, 1:00PM | Register here
    November 27, 1:00PM | Register here (hybrid session)
  • Google Apps for Education
    Learn about the different Google Apps for Education you can use to collaborate and file-share on the go! This workshop is an overview of Google Apps including Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Presentations, Forms, Drawing, and Sites. Learn the basics of each program to get you up and running quickly with Google applications.

    September 10, 9:00AM | Register here
    October 19, 1:00PM | Register here
    November 9, 1:00PM | Register here
    December 1, 9:00AM | Register here
  • Better Courses Through Better Pages:
    Have you moved past the basics of how to get content into Canvas, and looking for a simple way to improve the learning experience for your students? This synchronous training is meant as a supplement to our asynchronous, self-paced resource designed to help instructors take lengthy modules, and turn them into sleek pages.
    Not only is the content of the course about how to create more engaging pages, it also demonstrates simple steps you can take to do this with your own courses, by showing the transition from a typical course design to one based on a more dynamic page.

    September 14, 1:00PM | Register here
    November 2, 1:00PM | Register here
    November 10, 9:00AM | Register here
    Or, check out this on-demand course: https://uwwtw.instructure.com/enroll/DFPGRA
  • Faster Grading With Better Feedback:
    Be prepared to edit an upcoming assessment in this hands-on session. We will focus on transforming existing quiz questions into tools able to remediate student misconceptions, and point them back to the relevant materials in your course. We will also go through updating rubrics to include targeted feedback about specific reasons students lose points. We will also go over the new Comment Library available in SpeedGrader.

    September 28, 2021, 1:00PM | Register here
    October 6, 2021, 9:00AM | Register here
    October 14, 2021, 2:00PM | Register here
    October 27, 2021, 9:00AM | Register here
    November 16, 2021, 1:00PM | Register here
    November 17, 2021, 9:00AM | Register here
    Note: To get the most out of this session, we recommend that you are already familiar with the following tools: Assignments, Rubrics, Quizzes.
  • “What Students Want in Canvas“:
    There are many good ways to set up a course. This training will focus on making a series of small, easy, and optional, shifts from your current course design to a setup backed by feedback from student panels conducted right here at UW-Whitewater.

    November 3, 2021, 9:00AM | Register here
    November 9, 2021, 1:00PM | Register here
    Note: To get the most out of this session, we recommend that you are already familiar with the following tools: Assignments, Announcements, Pages, Modules, Rubrics.

“Next-Level Tech” for Teaching and Design

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Pexels photograph by Andrea Piacquadio.

Are you looking to learn from other faculty examples what works for Next-Level pages in Canvas?  Now is your chance!  Join us for hands-on workshops filled with faculty examples, step-by-step instructions on how to adapt those innovations to your own courses, and tips and tricks to take your Course designs to the “Next Level”.

TWO sets of three related workshops.  EVERY workshop is independent; you don’t have to commit to more than one to attend.

Every workshop will have both faculty examples and a guided “how to” take away that they can work through in the workshop and immediately apply it to your classes.  Pexels photograph by Andrea Piacquadio.

Program Goals:

  • Discover use cases in practice by Whitewater instructors and faculty.
  • Apply innovation solutions to your specific classroom challenges.
  • Explore the techniques, processes, methods, and technology to level up your course design.
  • Improve teaching skills across modalities.

“Next-Level” Design in Canvas – Improved pages

  • September 17:  1:00PM-3:00PM | Register here
  • This session explores modular organization, FAQ syllabus, links and tricks to save you time copying courses from one section to another.

“Next-Level” Design in Canvas – Modular Design

  • September 24:  1:00-3:00PM | Register here
  • This session explores modular organization, use cases like the FAQ syllabus, links and tricks to save you time copying courses from one section to another, and other tips to reuse modules.

“Next-Level” Design in Canvas – Navigation and Gating

  • October 8: 1:00PM-3:00PM | Register here
  • This session explores how faculty use gating and timed releases, prerequisites in Canvas, and use cases when – and when not — to use these techniques.

“Next-Level” Multimedia – Creative Use Cases

  • October 22:  1:00-3:00PM | Register here
  • This session explores how faculty use multimedia in creative ways, from intro videos to weekly video “to-do” lists, to short podcasts.  We will also explore how to incorporate multimedia into student assignments, video presentations, and discussion boards.

“Next-Level” Multimedia – Rethinking the “Blended Lecture”

  • November 5: 1:00-3:00PM | Register here
  • This session explores how to rethink the “Blended Lecture”.  What are the best practices for multimodal video capture?  How long should videos be?  What shouldn’t be captured?  How can I interleave lecture content with other blended materials? How else can I connect content and assessment?

“Next-Level” Multimedia – Rethinking the “Discussion Board”

  • November 19: 1:00-3:00PM | Register here
  • This session explores rethinking the “Discussion Board”:  Examples of how to use video discussions; when to use Canvas compared to when to use other discussion tools like Webex; equity and privacy concerns; and faculty use cases of discussion boards.  

Digital Transformation (DX)

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Digital Transformation is the adoption of digital technology to transform services or businesses, by replacing non-digital or manual processes with digital processes. Digital solutions may enable new types of innovation and creativity, rather than simply enhancing and supporting traditional methods. 

Join the LTC as we explore how these concepts can impact traditional teaching and learning methods within Higher Education and your classroom including:

  • Exploring the challenges and opportunities that Digital Transformation will have on Higher education.
  • Improving design by exploring the impact from the student perspective.
  • Learning strategies to save time in a digital environment.
  • Discovering tips and tools to increase performance utilizing technology.

Check out the details of the upcoming three-part series below. We hope to see you soon!

Digital Transformation #1 — Culture: Design for the Student Perspective
September 14th 3:00 pm | Register here

Digital Transformation #2 — Workforce: Strategies for Saving Time in a Digital Environment
September 28th, 3:00 pm | Register here

Digital Transformation #3 — Technology: Tips and Tools to Increase Performance in a Digital Environment
October 19 3:00 pm | Register here

Webex Suite Updates (July 2021)

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On Tuesday, July 6th, Cisco released the Webex Meetings 41.6 update. Highlights of this release are listed below with full release notes also available.

  • Increased Meeting Number to 11 digits: With a tremendous increase in meeting traffic, Cisco Webex will increase session meeting numbers for Webex Meetings and Webex Events (classic and new) to 11-digits. This change applies only to newly scheduled meetings. The meeting number size increase doesn’t affect existing meetings and Personal Room meetings. However, new employees and students will have 11 digit numbers for their Personal Room meetings.
  • Move a User from the Participant Panel to the Stage: You can now move a user to the stage from the Participants panel. To do this, right- click on the user you want to move to stage and choose Move to stage.
  • See more Videos in the Filmstrip: You can now see more videos when scaling the filmstrip. This helps you keep an eye on more people, even when content is shared or if you’re in one of the stage views.
  • First Participant Brought to the Stage View and Synced will be in Recordings: Recordings will now show the first participant video that was brought to the stage by host or cohost and synced across all the attendees in the meeting. This is bringing back the behavior of locking the video of a participant for everyone in the meeting and then recording.

To make it easy for you to find updates to Webex Meetings, we’ve created “What’s New in Webex – Product Update Highlights,” which will contain links to monthly updates for Webex Meetings and Webex (Teams).

If you have any questions or concerns about this update, please contact the UW-W Learning Technology Center.

Canvas Update (07/17/2021)

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On Saturday, July 17, Instructure will deploy the latest release to the Canvas environment.  The highlights of this release are listed below.  The full release notes are also available.

  • SpeedGrader – Comment Library: Comments can be added and saved for reuse within SpeedGrader, allowing individual users to save frequently used comments to be reused across assignments in multiple courses.
  • New Quizzes – Item Bank M​​​​​anagement: Item banks can now be shared with the entire account or individual users. When instructors share an item bank, the item bank supports a new View permission, which can be given to a user and provides access to the bank as read only. The user who shares an item bank can continue to specify editing access for other users.
  • Canvas – Maintenance Window: Instructure has moved their intermittent maintenance to twice monthly scheduled maintenance windows. Moving forward, maintenance will be performed on the first and third Thursdays of each month, beginning at 1:00am, and running no later than 3:00am. Canvas may be unavailable to users during these windows. All users are able to view maintenance window times through Account then Settings. For additional information, please refer to the Canvas Community discussion.

If you have any questions or concerns about the service pack updates, please contact UW-W Canvas Support.

Honoring Campus Innovators

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“Fireworks 04” by drjoshuawhitman is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

On May 19, 2021, UW-Whitewater colleagues gathered for a day-long discussion and series of presentations about equity, inclusion, and technological innovations in teaching and learning. The Learning Technology Center and the LEARN Center joined to host both of these events. Many thanks to those who were able to attend and for those behind the scenes!

The morning session began with the LEARN Center Equity Ambassadors: Jenna Cushing-Leubner (COEPS), Nate Maddux (COIS), Juk Bhattachryya (COLS), Christine Hoover (COBE), and Susan Wildermuth (COEPS). Each of the presentations offered keen insight into the development of equitable courses and inclusive classroom communities with each talk offering participants precise strategies to implement in the future. Thank you for your hard work!

The afternoon sessions marked the beginning of “Celebrating Teaching and Learning,” a yearly event hosted by the Learning Technology Center designed to showcase technological innovations by UW-Whitewater instructional staff and faculty. This time around, Erin Bauer (Music) walked us through the affordances of online platforms to critically interrogate traditional music history curricula. Meg Waraczynski (Psychology) dove into granularity of adaptive, scenario-based learning using the Realizeit platform. Jeannine Rowe (Social Work) articulated her foundations in the PICRAT framework and methodology to structure students’ technology-mediated engagement in the course. Finally, Steven Girard (Chemistry) exhibited his use of interactive quiz technologies (Kahoot) to engage students and build community, as well as his creation of an online, open resource textbook created specifically for his students.

The Celebration concluded with the announcement of this year’s Cisco/Presidio “Teaching with Technology Innovator” honorarium, awarded to Meg Waraczynski! Congratulations again to each of this year’s finalists!

Next year’s “Celebrating Teaching and Learning” is scheduled for May 18, 2022 – we hope to see you there!

Canvas Update (05/15/2021)

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On Saturday, May 15, Instructure will deploy the latest release to the Canvas environment.  The highlights of this release are listed below.  The full release notes are also available.

  • Assignments – Student Annotated Submissions: Instructors can use annotated document assignment type to upload a document for students to annotate and submit directly in Canvas. This assignment type is included under the online assignment types so that instructors can select additional submission options for students unable to annotate onscreen.
  • New Quizzes – Save and Build Button Workflow: The New Quiz creation page includes both a Save and a Build button. When an instructor creates and enters details for a quiz, the page displays both a Save and a Build button. Previously the page only included the Save button, which counterintuitively launched in the New Quiz editor. 

UW-Whitewater Updates

Planned Data Center Outage, May 21: Due to a state-initiated project, a temporary power shut-off of the UW-W data center will be required to complete planned maintenance at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 21st, with a targeted return to full service by 8 a.m. on Saturday, May 22nd. During this maintenance window, all IT services, applications, and web pages will be unavailable so please plan accordingly.

If you have any questions or concerns about the service pack updates, please contact UW-W Canvas Support.

Celebrating Teaching and Learning – Honorarium Finalists & Schedule – May 19th

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There is still time to register!  The Celebrating Teaching and Learning conference will be held virtually on May 19th with Webex. The event is FREE!

name tags from a previous conference

Why should you attend?

  • To recognize innovations in teaching and learning by members of the Warhawk community!
  • Spring semester grades are due the day before.
  • You can attend from anywhere with internet access.
  • It’s Free!
Register Now!

Morning Session (Equity in the Classroom)

TimeDescription
10:00 AM to NoonThe conference will start with an Equity in the Classroom workshop led by the LEARN Center Equity Ambassadors. The workshop will begin with a panel discussion followed by interactive breakout sessions focused on practices that you could use to create a more equitable and inclusive learning environment. For more on the Equity Ambassadors: https://www.uww.edu/learn/equityambassadors

Lunch Break
Noon to 1:00 PM

Afternoon Session (Celebrating Teaching and Learning)

TimeDescription
1:00 PMWelcome and Opening Remarks
1:10 PMTeaching with Technology: Organization, Assessment, Equity, and Inclusion. Erin Bauer, Assistant Professor of Musicology.
1:40 PMUsing adaptive learning software in an introductory statistics course to improve student engagement and achievement. Meg Waraczynski, Professor of Psychology.
2:05 PM – 2:20PMBreak
2:20 PMTechnology to Engage Learners: A New Way of Teaching! Jeannine Rowe, Professor of Social Work.
2:50 PMA Focus on the Good: Technology to Improve Engagement, Equity, and Best Practices in Post-COVID Learning. Steven Girard, Associate Professor of Chemistry.
3:20 PMInnovator Winner Announced and Closing Remarks
Register Now!

Teaching with Technology: Organization, Assessment, Equity, and Inclusion

Erin Bauer, Assistant Professor of Musicology

Erin Bauer, Assistant Professor of Musicology

I typically teach a handful of general education courses in the online format. However, prior to the pandemic, I did not consider teaching my music history survey courses online. With the onset of COVID-19, my music history survey courses, general education offerings, and upper-division electives all shifted online. As such, I made a number of modifications to the structure and content. While these changes were initially made out of necessity, many have served my students better than anticipated and will continue in face-to-face offerings. This presentation will focus on the use of technology in my music history survey courses, but these techniques function similarly across all my offerings. In particular, we will explore the organization of materials on Canvas, alterations to learning resources in the online setting, gating of content to promote student accountability, effective assignments and assessments, and incorporation of provocative issues of racism, classism, and sexism in an inherently exclusionary online curriculum.

Presentation Description:

Organization of Course Materials:
Even in my face-to-face classes, I typically rely on the LMS. However, in shifting fully online, this method of structuring each course became even more important. I break each course into content-based modules. Each module consists of a “page” providing a brief introduction to the material and learning objectives, my own lecture video, additional learning materials, and a list of assignments. I also expanded my learning materials to include supplemental readings, videos, and podcasts. These provide a variety of methods for students to access the material, but also introduce more provocative issues of racism, sexism, and classism within the Western canon. To hold students accountable, I “gate” the content. When students first log into the course at the beginning of the semester, they see only a “Welcome” module, consisting of my video introduction, the syllabus, and a discussion board with short, personal introductions. Once they view/complete these items, subsequent modules become available. The content page at the start of each module is followed by short multiple-choice quiz on the learning materials for the week. Students must complete it with 100% accuracy before subsequent assignments become available.

Effective Assignments and Assessments:
Prior to the pandemic, assignments in my music history survey courses closely resembled those in my own undergraduate career. In moving the courses online, I shifted assignments to focus on critical thinking. For each module, students now listen to musical examples and write a reflection on the discussion board, respond to a more provocative discussion prompt centered on issues like the inherent whiteness and maleness of the canon, the narrative of composer as genius, and the importance of representation, and complete an examination consisting of short essay prompts.

Equity and Inclusion:
The technology-based alterations to these classes have increased equity and access to the curriculum. Beyond changes to curricular content to address issues of diversity, tokenism, and power within the Western music canon, alternative learning materials, free and open-access resources, flexible synchronisms, and student choice of assessment modality allow students from diverse backgrounds to interact with their educations in ways that are most approachable, engaging, and productive for individual circumstances.

Using adaptive learning software in an introductory statistics course to improve student engagement and achievement.

Meg Waraczynski, Professor of Psychology

This presentation will introduce audience members to using Realizeit’s adaptive learning platform to support student success. Adaptive learning software allows students to achieve mastery at their own pace. In my introductory statistics course the Realizeit platform takes the place of a textbook. Students learn basic content interactively and with immediate feedback on their comprehension. Students who struggle can be directed to extra support while students with existing knowledge can skip exposition they do not need. Realizeit affords several advantages. For instance, the instructor gets information about which concepts or skills need more exposition and also about which students are struggling with what material. Students can spend more in-class time working with peers to practice new skills via the analysis and interpretation of authentic datasets. Students may work on lessons until they achieve a target mastery level. Lessons remain available for review throughout the semester, with novel questions presented at each iteration. Attendees will get a brief introduction to creating Realizeit lessons and will see what a typical lesson looks like to students.

Presentation Description:

  1. Attendees will learn that mastering adaptive learning software for their courses need not be intimidating.
  2. Attendees should see that adaptive learning software offers substantial and numerous advantages to them and their students.
  3. Attendees should gain the background to start thinking about how adaptive learning software might apply to their own courses.

Technology to Engage Learners: A New Way of Teaching!

Jeannine Rowe, Professor of Social Work

Jeannine Rowe, Professor of Social Work

Using technology has evolved significantly in the last two decades. Wherein the past technology was touted as a substitute for teaching traditional face-to-face classes, today it is viewed as a platform to transform the learning experience. This presentation will include a first-hand account of using technology in teaching over the past 20 years. As part of this account, the presenter will share her perspective as a social science educator on the evolution of technology, and share examples of how she utilizes technology to actively engage learners and transform the learning experience in an online format. Unique to this presentation will be the sharing of activities that use technology to promote positive skill growth for learners enrolled in social, behavioral, and allied health professional training programs.

Presentation Description:

This session will be of interest to instructors who want to engage students as active and creative learners using technology. Because the presentation will include examples of activities using technology in online and social and behavioral health arenas, it may be particularly attractive for instructors in similar venues. The activities to be shared will be presented within the context of PICRAT, which is a technology integration model that requires consideration of the student’s relationship to technology and the instructor’s use of it, in designing activities/lessons with technology to maximize student engagement and achievement. Sample activities to be shared include those that foster interpersonal skills, promote written and oral communication skills, and enhance group facilitation skills.

 Individuals who attend this presentation will:

  • Recognize the value of using a framework, such as PICRAT to develop activities/lessons that integrate technology
  • Identify the how activities using technology can be both creative and transformative
  • Classify how different activities/lessons fit within the PICRAT framework

The presentation will be engaging and prompt attendees to rethink how they might develop activities/lessons using technology. There will be time for attendees to ask questions and engage with the presenter and others.

A Focus on the Good: Technology to Improve Engagement, Equity, and Best Practices in Post-COVID Learning

Steven Girard, Associate Professor of Chemistry

Steven Girard, Associate Professor of Chemistry

Our sudden move to remote learning one year ago laid bare the systemic challenges facing all institutions of higher education. While the downsides of online instruction became apparent from our sudden shift online, so did unexpected benefits. In this talk, we will focus on the good: increased flexibility in managing time and work/life balance; accessibility and communication; and the learning and leveraging of new technologies to improve student outcomes. These benefits of online instruction will persist well beyond the pandemic, and in many ways have already become ingrained. I will detail my use of a variety of technologies to improve student-student and student-instructor classroom community; linking instructors to technology best practices; and ways to improve accessibility and equity of online/remote teaching resources.

Presentation Description:

This talk will highlight:

  1. Technology to build a sense of community and belonging in the classroom via trivia games.
  2. Online discussion sessions to facilitate in higher order learning and “un-Google-able” exam questions.
  3. Technology to build community and best practices amongst faculty and staff.
  4. Adaptive learning and online textbooks: growth mindset, positive study habits while improving accessibility and equity via Cerego and Open Educational Resources (OERs).
Register Now!

Webex Updates (May, 2021)

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May brings many updates to the Cisco Webex suite! In this post, we’ll summarize the critical updates for Webex Meetings as well as what’s new in Webex (formerly known as Webex Teams).

Webex Meetings

Webex Meetings

On Tuesday, May 11th, Cisco will release the Webex Meetings 41.5 update. The highlights of this release are listed below, with full release notes also available.

Learn More

Webex (Teams)

On Friday, May 14th, Cisco will release the Webex (Teams) 41.5 update. The highlights of this release are listed below, with full release notes also available.

Learn More

Webex Meetings 41.5 Update

  • Web App Attendee Functionality: Attendees, hosts, and cohosts who join from the Web App will see greater parity in functionality for answering Q&A, video layouts, and syncing their stage.
  • Stop Video for Attendees: Meeting hosts can now stop video coming from video devices and mobile attendees. When any of these attendees leave and re-join the meeting, their video will start, even if it had been stopped previously by the host.
  • Share Post-Meeting Content to the Webex (Teams) App: From the post-meeting web page, share meeting content to an existing or newly created space in Webex (Teams) to continue collaborating.
  • Recording Availability Indicator Icon: Your Recorded Meetings page will now display within how much time the recording will be generated, which is typically within 24 hours, depending on file size and bandwidth.
  • Tool Tip for Customizing the Stage: Participants will see animated tool tip in the stage views to quickly show how they can customize the stage by drag and dropping participants from the filmstrip onto the stage.

Webex Events (New) Now Available: This update brings a new service called Webex Events (New), which includes many of the advanced features you’re familiar with from Webex Meetings, as well as some from Webex Events (Classic). When scheduling a Webex Event, you will have the option to use the New or Classic service.

  • This is a new service that has not been available for any length of time. UW-Whitewater staff have not had the opportunity to test it with live audiences. At this time, we recommend you continue to use Webex Events (Classic). Events scheduled from the Webex Events (Classic) scheduler will continue to have the original Webex Events experience.
  • View our Knowledge article Webex Events (New) – Information to compare the two services and to learn about to learn about current known issues and limitations with Webex Events (New).
  • View directions on how to Schedule a Webex Event (New) to try it out.
  • Look for training and additional resources to be available soon!
  • You may see this highlighted next time you sign in to uww.webex.com with a walk-through.
  • Webcast mode is not available on our account.

Webex (Teams) 41.5 Update

  • Full-Featured Meetings: When you join a Webex Meetings scheduled or Personal Room meeting using Webex (Teams), you’ll have access to full-featured meetings, which offers you most of the Webex Meetings features even when you join from Webex (Teams). These features include stage view, breakout sessions, reactions, Webex Assistant, and People Insights profiles.
    • Webex (Teams) meetings from a space will remain unchanged at this time. Mobile users will see Webex Meetings launch when they join.
  • Schedule Webex meetings right from the app: No need to go outside the app to schedule your standard and Personal Room meetings. Add important meeting details, check the availability of the attendees, and send out the invites right from the Webex (Teams) app.
  • Additional In-Meeting features: No more self view when your video is off; shared content is automatically optimized; a new Stop Sharing button for ease; new connection and computer indicators will help meeting quality; and the ability for hosts to turn off attendees videos will improve Webex (Teams) meetings.
  • Messaging Updates: Mark messages as unread, move quickly between spaces you’ve visited with navigation history, and choose your default tab when the app opens.
  • Webex now on Linux: All the core capabilities are in a single app for Linux users, with the full-featured meetings to be added soon.
Full-Featured Meetings in the Webex (Teams) App

If you have any questions or concerns about this update, please contact the UW-W Learning Technology Center.

Canvas to WINS Final Grade Submission

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Each semester, grades need to be entered into WINS. While many instructors do this manually, Canvas can help automate some of the steps for you. The Learning Technology Center is providing training on the three steps needed to push grades from Canvas so they can be accepted in WINS.

  1. Finish grading (including entering 0s) and setting the Grade Scheme
  2. Export from Canvas
  3. Verify and accept grades in WINS

The Spring 2021 WINS Grades Roster will be open on May 10 and close at noon on May 18. We have scheduled 60 minute hands on training sessions if you are interested in receiving live support.

Date/TimeLocationRegister
Wednesday, May 12th
2:00pm – 3:00pm		WebexRegistration
Thursday, May 13th
3:00am – 4:00pm		WebexRegistration
Monday, May 17th
10:00am – 11:00am		WebexRegistration
Monday, May 17th
2:00pm – 3:00pm		WebexRegistration

If you have any questions or concerns about this update, please contact the UW-W Learning Technology Center.