Professional Development Biweekly Digest
Spring 2022
Weeks 3 and 4!
DEI, Ripple Effects of the Pandemic, Upcoming Events
Hello! I hope you are all finding your groove, staying warm, and thinking SPRING! I am as excited as you are to soon not have to scrape ice off of my car, though I do hope I can go tubing at Greek Peak one more time before the season is over; I’m not graceful enough to actually ski, so tubing and snowshoeing are my winter activities. It is Black History Month, and I have included some notes/reactions to a SUNY DEI event that I recently attended. We also have some PD grant deadlines coming up, as well as some in-house and external workshops and webinars; you can find them at the end of this digest. As always, have an idea? A need? A question? Send me an email at malmbergsm@sunybroome.edu or you can find me at professionaldevelopment@sunybroome.edu.
The I in DEI is Inclusion
I spent a wonderful hour with SUNY listening to Damon A. Williams, Ph.D. as part of their SUNY Business School Deans Conference, which I found to be one of the best online conferences I have attended. Dr. Williams talked a lot about DEI leadership, affinity groups, and research opportunities to drive DEI initiatives in business schools. He talked about how so much of DEI work and scholarship gets stuck in gap identification and analysis and the numbers of diversity, and less focused on the strategies, structures, and systems that are required to change institutional culture. He spoke a bit about the need to measure the impact of DEI change efforts over time so that we can invest resources where there is a demonstrated return on investment (it was a business school conference, after all). One of the suggestions he made that I wanted to share is the idea of microaffirmations. He asked attendees about how we are creating spaces of psychological safety for our students of color in the classroom and he shared with us some resources around microaffirmations in the classroom as a means to create inclusivity. This article talks about microaffirmations as a way to strengthen and nudge the environment toward inclusion and as a form of resistance to microaggressions.
Ripple Effects of the Pandemic
EAB has shared a blog about the pandemic’s ripple effects, concerned about the impact of the pandemic on student success and degree completion over the next decade. The National Student Clearing House reports an 8% industry-wide decline in enrollments from Fall 2019 to Fall 2021; at SUNY Broome, the decline has been even more dramatic. The Clearing House reports that overall persistence rates fell over the same period, erasing gains made in recent years and more significantly impacting students along racial and socioeconomic lines and losing progress that had been made on closing equity gaps. EAB provides advice for their top 4 pandemic ripple effects: social disengagement; student mental health; transfer availability; and unfinished K-12 learning; these are challenges that our institution can prepare for now so that we may create and advance a learning environment that can adapt to and innovate through what is to come.
Upcoming Professional Development Events/Deadlines
ReAlly (Ally Demonstration)
Ally is a tool to assist you in identifying revisable course materials so all students can increase knowledge, practice skills, and expand meaningful experiences regardless of their sensory, physical or cognitive abilities. In this presentation we will demonstrate the use of Ally to uncover items and simple steps to revise them, making learning easier for students.
Date: Friday, February 18, 2022
Time: 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Where: Attend this ZOOM Session
Presented by: Susan Woerner
Register online: PD Offering Registration Form
Image Alt Text: Simple to Complex Descriptions
Did you know that using images along with text in documents and presentations is an important component of knowledge-sharing? Images can serve as organizational cues or representations of information such as that found in graphs. Unfortunately, images can also be a hindrance to learning if alternative text (alt text) is missing, confusing, or unintentionally misleading. In this workshop we will discuss how to write simple alt text as well as demonstrate options for writing more complex descriptions.
Date: Thursday, February 24,2022
Time: 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Where: Attend this ZOOM Session
Presented by: Susan Woerner
Register online: PD Offering Registration Form
Webinar: Building an Online Community of Learners: Mindset, Content & Strategies
Complementary Resources
6 Strategies for Building Community in Online Courses
How to Build an Online Learning Community (In 2021)
Principles behind community building in online teaching and learning
Overview
Building an asynchronous community involves purposeful design. Building a community involves using strategic design, consistent communication, and personalized instruction.
This webinar will introduce how to accomplish this balance without spending an extraordinary amount of time with design. We will discuss how to remix and reimagine content to build a strong foundation for connections. We will also explore techniques for creating flexible groupings and use effective feedback methods to inspire growth. Building a community in your asynchronous course is a challenge you can accomplish in purposeful steps.
Objectives
Analyze current mindsets and beliefs about online learning communities
Reassess current content
Build an online community by framing content for connections
Consider how to differentiate instruction that connects students to content, peers, and instructor
Date: Wednesday, March 2, 2022
Time: 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Where: Online Webinar
Register Online: PD Offering Registration Form(Once you register we will send you log-in information to attend)
Apply NOW for PDAP Funding! Tuition and Workshop/Conference Support is Still Available!
Upcoming Funded Initiative Deadlines:
Teaching Grant applications: Due this Friday, February 18!
Sunshine Fund Grant applications extended: Due Friday, February 25!
Questions? Please email professionaldevelopment@
Submitted by: Deena Price.
Tags: Professional Development
