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Monday, August 16, 2010

Faculty Resource Network Winter 2011 Seminar Information and Upcoming Deadlines


Dear Faculty Resource Network Liaison Officers:

The Network Winter 2011 seminar descriptions and applications are now online! The seminar series, which will be held from January 10-14, 2011 at the University of the Sacred Heart in Puerto Rico, will focus on the theme "Globalization." To learn about these seminars and to register, see the FRN Network Winter web link at:  http://www.nyu.edu/frn/programs.events/enrichment/winter 2011 seminar descriptions.html

Applications are due by Friday, October 1, 2010.


Also, if you have not yet reserved your place at the upcoming FRN National Symposium "Engaging Students in the Community and the World," to be held on Friday, November 19 and Saturday, November 20, 2010 in Washington, D.C., we encourage you to check the link at: http://www.nyu.edu/frn/programs.events/national.symposium/2010.national.html for additional information. The symposium registration deadline is Friday, November 5, 2010.


The application deadline for our Spring 2011 Scholar-in-Residence program is Friday, September 10, 2010. To learn more and apply, please see our website @: http://www.nyu.edu/frn/programs.events/scholar.in.residence/academic.year.scholar.html


Regards,
Anne Ward (on behalf of Debra Szybinski and the staff at the FRN)
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Faculty Focus Free Report: Online Course Design: 13 Strategies for Teaching in a Web-based Distance Learning Environment


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Faculty Focus: Nine Ways to Customize Learning Experiences

August 16, 2010
By: Mary Bart in Instructional Design

In every course there are certain core concepts and principles that are important for each student to learn, develop into useful knowledge, and apply appropriately. What’s not important is how they learn these core concepts.



This is where customized learning experiences come in, essentially shifting the course from teacher-directed to learner-directed. From a course that focuses on content to one that focuses on what students are doing with the content. And it all starts with a flexible course design, and a willingness to relinquish some of your control.


Judith Boettcher, Ph.D., an author, consultant and leading voice on educational technology and online teaching explained the benefits and techniques for “flexing a course design to meet learner interest, and increase engagement and motivation.”


In the online seminar, Teach More Effectively with Customizing Learning Experiences, Boettcher outlined the nine points of customization that can map neatly to the four phases of any course: the beginning, early middle, late middle, and wrap-up. The nine points are:

Beginning of the course:

1. Get acquainted – Help students get to know other students and personalize their social presence in the course by sharing photos, bios, and interests. This helps lay the foundation of a learning community.
2. Customize learning goals – Create a discussion thread or forum during the first week that requires students to review course goals and outcomes. Find out what the students know and what they want to know once the course is complete.
3. Exam course structure and expectations – Review with your students the course structure, assignments, and expectations for meetings and deadlines to ensure the structure aligns with their needs, expectations, and goals.


Early middle of a course:
4. Differentiate assignments and content resources – Build flexibility into your course content that allows you to alter specific assignments based on personal learning goals and readiness.
5. Create options for peer interaction – Team assignments and peer review are powerful community building and assessment tools, but they’re not for everyone. Be flexible on how each are used in your course.
6. Build leadership opportunities – Not all learners need to be assessed in identical tasks. Some students may want to lead a seminar or discussion forum, others may prefer to demonstrate their learning through by writing a summary or conducting an interview.

Late middle of a course:
7. Customize and personalize projects – Working adults in particular will proactively work on projects that have meaning for them in other areas of life so it’s good to have a project proposal process that cycles between the instructor and the learner for a good learning-interest match.
8. Offer peer review opportunities – Peer review of project proposals, projects-in-process, and finished projects helps build community, extend learning, and reduce grading burdens and unwelcome surprises.


Course Wrap-up:
9. Provide choices for project sharing – End-of-course wrap-ups often include project presentations, allow your students to select from a range of project types, including podcasts, wikis, journals, interviews, papers, etc.


“Designing customized learning experiences, like many things in learning, is both simple and complex, but it makes a huge difference in satisfaction and effectiveness,” Boettcher says.
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The Teaching Professor Conference 2011: We are now accepting proposals for workshops and poster sessions!


For educators who are passionate about the art and science of teaching, The Teaching Professor Conference is the premier event in the U.S. There is no better forum for an exhilarating exchange of ideas with your colleagues.

The 2011 Teaching Professor Conference is the place to hear about the latest pedagogical research.

If you have previously submitted a proposal for past conferences, we sincerely ask you to submit again. And if you have never submitted a proposal for a workshop or poster session, we ask that you seriously consider this opportunity to share your work at the conference.

The Teaching Professor Conference will be held this May 20-22, 2011 at the Sheraton Atlanta Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia.

Featured topical areas are:
Topical Area 1: Learning
Topical Area 2: Activities that Engage Students
Topical Area 3: Teaching Specific Types of Courses
Topical Area 4: Instructional Vitality: Ways to Keep Teaching Fresh and Invigorated
Topical Area 5: Teaching and Learning with Technology
Topical Area 6: Grading and Feedback

For more information about the proposal process and how to submit your proposal, please click here: http://www.teachingprofessor.com/conference/proposals

The Teaching Professor Conference is three intensive days of plenary sessions, workshops, poster sessions, and more. Here is your chance to be a part of it in 2011.

Deadline for proposal submissions is Friday, October 22nd, 2010.

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Smashing Magazine: 25 Useful Videos and Presentations for Designers

With the huge number of design-related conferences and events around the world, the Web gives those of us who cannot attend them a great opportunity to listen and benefit from their great and talented speakers. To aid in this, here we present some of the best videos, interviews and presentations about design and related topics.

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Microsoft at Work: 12 tips for creating better documents



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DU SOAR Fall 2010 Play-by-Play Schedule


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DU Fall 2010 Faculty Staff Institute Schedule


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