Professional Development at SUNY Broome

Welcome back and I hope all is well; it is the midterm so I am sure many of you are under grading piles. Hopefully the snow is gone for good (fingers crossed) because these 60 degree days have me ready for my sun room and a barbecue. For this installment, I wanted to share a very interesting article from University Business on the four big trends in higher education now that the pandemic appears to be waning, an article on building community in online teaching, and a list of upcoming events, both local and at the SUNY level on a variety of topics. Thank you for reading; email us with info/questions/etc. at professionaldevelopment@sunybroome.edu or you can reach me directly at malmbergsm@sunybroome.edu.

The Future is Now!

This article from University Business is an interview with the founder of EdX and Chief Open Education Officer at 2U Dr. Anant Agarwal, which sums up the four big trends in higher education as we look to what the future holds and how a new normal is being shaped. One of the main ideas the article communicates is that the pandemic didn’t create new trends, but it poured gasoline on existing ones. Agarwal says four key trends are going to be in focus as institutions reimagine their sustainable footing: increases in blended learning options; modular, stackable micro credentials such as boot camps and micro degrees; skills-focused courses that get learners “job-ready on day one”; and learner-centric education. Agarwal notes that MIT and other institutions have already divided up some semester-long courses into two or three separate modules, while other schools are developing programs that are intentionally offered in a hybrid model. What could this mean for us? Might we soon have a program that is intentionally fully Hyflex? Could we work to develop more workforce informed micro credentials, building non-credit to credit pathways for students into our certificate and degree granting programs? I love the idea of skills focused courses; what skill based courses can we offer that we know would be aligned with our local labor market data? I think we will need to talk more about how this is a seismic shift in how faculty have understood how and why they do what they do and thoughtfully prepare for the shift, plus there would need to be some changes in how financial aid is awarded (at the state and federal levels) are necessary in order to make changes at scale. More to come, I hope!

Building Community in Online Teaching

This article from the K. Patricia Cross Academy focuses on six strategies to help build community in online teaching. These include creating communication plans, establishing social presence, meeting in real time, creating opportunities for information and expertise sharing, using collaborative learning techniques, and developing sub communities. Are you already employing some or all of these strategies in your online courses? Let us know how and tell us about how students are responding.

Upcoming Professional Development Events

Broome Zoom Discussions

Please join Dr. Penny Haynes, Vice President for Academic Affairs, in her ongoing campus-wide discussions about academic issues that impact the College.

When: Wednesday, 3/23 @ 3:00 pm
Where: Broome Zoom Online Discussion
Hosted by: Dr. Penny Haynes

Upcoming Broome Zoom Discussions..

  • Tuesday, 4/5 @ 2:00 pm
  • Tuesday, 4/26 @ 2:00 pm
  • Wednesday, 5/4 @ 2:00 pm

Using Desmos Graphing Calculator

Desmos is an online graphing tool popular with many of our students. Join us as we take a look at its features. Rectangular, polar, and parametric graphing will be demonstrated. Time permitting, we will look at statistics and some more advanced features.

When: Thursday, March 24th at 11 am
Where: Attend Zoom Session — Registration for this event
Presented by: Timmy Bremer

Webinar: Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASDs)

Increase Retention, Graduation and Employment Outcomes by Meeting Their Unique Needs While growing numbers of autistic individuals are attending college, they are less likely to graduate than their neurotypical peers. Students with neurodiversity often require additional support, resources and considerations inside and outside of the classroom to successfully engage and persist. Today’s campus professionals and faculty members can form successful relationships with autistic students if they have the tools they need to identify, engage and support them in ways that positively impact their college and career success.

Join our expert presenter on Monday, March 28, 2022, and in just 90 minutes, you and your staff will be able to increase the success of your students with autism spectrum disorders through engagement, retention and employment efforts that meet their unique academic and career needs.

Participation in this webinar is sponsored by Professional Development; if you would like to participate, please Register Online for the Webinar  and a remote link to the live webinar will be emailed to you. We have a limited number of remote links; if we have more registrants than links, we will host an in-person viewing of the webinar on campus at that time.

When: Monday, March 28th @ 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
Hosted by: PaperClip Communications

Think Copyleft Not Copyright

In a worrisome world, why add the potential of copyright infringement? Images add a great deal to your course or shared materials but does that photo belong to someone else? Why fret about copyright when we can COPYLEFT! A large number of images – photos, drawings, illustrations, and the like – are either in the public domain or licensed for non-commercial use. In this workshop, we’ll explore where to find these images and how to attribute them properly according to their Creative Commons license or standard public domain language. You’ll walk away from the workshop feeling copyleft-confident!

When: Wednesday, March 30th at 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Where: Attend Workshop Online – Register Online
Presented by: Susan Woerner

Submitted by: Professional Development

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