It's been 15 months since the pandemic forced thousands of IU faculty statewide to quickly transition to teaching online. Similarly, those of us in professional development had to quickly figure out the best ways to provide needed support—as well as determine what other types of resources would be needed in assisting faculty with this transition.
As we look forward to a fall semester that will have our campuses once again filled with students, faculty, and staff, the IU teaching and learning centers have been working with faculty to determine the types of professional development opportunities and resources that will be most beneficial as the university returns to more normal operations. We've also been trying to help with figuring out which tools and techniques to keep from the last couple of semesters of teaching completely in the online environment.
At IUPUI, the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) has worked with their faculty liaisons to determine what specific types of professional development and resources are needed to support faculty as they begin the transition back for the fall 2021 semester. Based on those conversations, the need for resources that faculty could quickly review on specific teaching or technology topics rose to the top of the list. This led the CTL staff to create the Quick Video Guides on Teaching and Technology resource that provides short video segments on a variety of teaching and technology topics. Thank you to all the teaching centers across IU, who contributed content from their webinars and other resources to help develop the guides.
The majority of the Quick Video Guides are in the 5-10 minute range and cover topics like Assessment of Student Learning, Canvas Modules & Assignments, Kaltura, and more. New videos are being added on a regular basis, as this new resource provides a way for faculty to quickly find a topic they are interested in and get the support they need. This resource is available to all faculty on all IU campuses, and the CTL is always open to suggestions on other topics of interest that can be created as a Quick Video Guide.
At IU Bloomington, the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning (CITL) has sponsored faculty panels in STEM disciplines to explore what new teaching approaches instructors plan to carry back to their on-campus classes this fall. That program, along with a broad invitation to instructors to share what they are keeping for fall, has led to a video series that launched mid-June in the CITL blog.
This "What Will You Keep for Fall?" series highlights faculty members in short videos, sharing what challenges they encountered during remote teaching, the approaches they took to solve those problems, and how they see these innovations transitioning back to on-campus teaching in the fall. Topics include online office hours, more frequent low-stakes assessments, and approaches to build class community and sense of belonging. Through this series, the CITL hopes to both support faculty preparations for the fall semester and celebrate the outstanding work our community did over the past year to encourage student success.
Through these resources, all of which are available to faculty on all IU campuses, the teaching centers are working to support our transition back to campus, and to help us all envision how the future of teaching and learning at IU can look even brighter than ever. New resources will also soon be available via the updated Teaching.IU website (currently under development).
Best,
Randy & Greg