I put together a little video for students to help introduce them to the idea of online groupwork and some of the tools available.
Author: Jordan Epp
Ch-ch-ch-changes…
As part of the TransformUS project here at the University of Saskatchewan the CCDE is being disestablished over the next few months. It looks as though the operations of the Distance, Off-campus, and Certificates (DOC) group that deals with Degree-Credit courses will be unaffected at this time, which includes the Curriculum Development team that this site is associated with. Here’s is a communications release from the Director of DOC, Cheri Spooner.
The following email is being sent out on behalf of Cheri Spooner.
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I am sorry to have to tell that as part of the TransformUS action plan (www.transformus.usask.ca), the University of Saskatchewan announced today that it will be disbanding the Centre for Continuing & Distance Education (CCDE). Degree-credit classes and programs currently under development through the Distance Learning, Off-campus & Certificate unit (DOC) within the CCDE will continue and will not be affected by these changes, although our unit will report somewhere else within the University.The University is committed to continuing quality distance learning degree-level classes and programs.
If you have any questions, you can visit our FAQ page at https://ccde.usask.ca
Searching for Open Images
I put together a quick little video on how to search Google using their Usage Rights filter for openly licensed materials. You might find it useful for finding images that do not require copyright clearance.
PLSC 234 Student Work Showcase
We’re working with Brenda Frick from Ag and Bio right now on a really great showcase of her students work from PLSC 234. Students are asked to create Weed and Crop profiles as part of their Crop Rotation Plan. These profiles will now be shared openly and contribute to the Organic Agriculture discipline at large. The resources are available at words.usask.ca/plsc234 and will continue to be updated with exemplary work from the PLSC 234 student body.
Course Evaluations with ZEF
Well it’s that time of the year again when we look to the students to tell us what they thought. As most instructional designers know, the evaluation component of any course development is usually the first thing to be dropped when time issues arise. But this year we have committed to evaluating our new developments using a standardized survey that we hope will allow us to implement far more term by term evaluations of the course and curriculum design. ZEF Evaluation software is a fantastic survey tool. If you haven’t seen it before I suggest a quick goolge search. It allows answers to be plotted on a two-dimensional graph so that the data collected is presented in a visually understandable way. No more data interpretation for weeks and weeks. The ZEF system shows you where the gaps are and where your energy should go to make improvements. Ok Now I sound like an infomercial so just go check it out for yourself.
CERTESL Student Survey
As part of the CERTESL Program Renewal Project we will be sending out a survey to graduates of the program as well as current students asking for their input on the current state of CERTESL. Questions range from administrative support to academic advising to curriculum and curriculum design. We hope to capture many of the outstanding qualities of the program and some areas for innovative solutions in this survey. We’ll try and post some highlights from the results once the survey has closed.
CERTESL Program Goals and Outcomes document
In an attempt to create measurable goals and outcomes that can be aligned with the University Learning Charter the CERTESL Renewal Committee in cooperation with the Instructors of the CERTESL Program have completed a new CERTESL Program Goals and Outcomes document. This document will serve as an internal guide for curriculum development and allows us to maintain alignment with the goals and instructional strategies of the University of Saskatchewan while providing our students a clear direction for their activities within the CERTESL Program. Thank you to our amazing instructors for helping to make this happen.
For now, this document will serve the Renewal Committee in continuing the process of Curriculum alignment and inventory using the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching Effectiveness’ (GMCTE) Curriculum Alignment Tool (CAT). This tool will help to capture what is currently happening in the CERTESL Courses and provide valuable information across the program and identify gaps in our curriculum where we are not serving the clearly defined goals and outcomes of the program.
If you wish to obtain a copy of this document please contact me through the comments section below and I would be happy to forward you a copy.
CERTESL Program Renewal Project
We are currently looking to renew and innovate the CERTESL program here at CCDE. This is a highly successful and sought after certificate program which provides the necessary training to ensure Canadians will be able to earn credentials that will enable them to teach English language across Canada and overseas. We hope to complete a review and renewal cycle for this program through a series of stages including a review and inventorying stage and a renewal and redesign stage. Follow the category CERTESL Program Renewal (http://words.usask.ca/distributedlearning/category/certesl-program-renewal/) for updates on this process. We welcome your comments and input on any of these posts.
Job Perks
So there are some perks to being an instructional designer. Today I spent the morning over in Agriculture Meat Sciences with eMAP as they finished up production on a video we are creating for the AG 112 course development. This video will fill a gap for online students who do not have the opportunity to participate in the live “Hot Dog Lab”. This lab is a highlight of the face-to-face class and is an important part of the course. I, of course, showed up to “supervise” just in time for the sampling portion of the video. Yum! The footage will go into post-production this week and will hopefully be ready for the course later this month.
CCDE Distributed Learning Site Launch
The Distance, Off-Campus and Certificate Programs office of CCDE is please to announce the upcoming launch of it’s Curriculum Development Team’s Distributed Learning Site. This site will provide information about how CCDE Curriculum is developed and how we can help you to take your courses and programs to the world. CCDE has an award winning history of Distributed Learning and is ready to help instructors, Departments, and Colleges develop curriculum for the new Millennials. Come back often to see whats new with the Curriculum team at CCDE. We’ll be posting updates, innovations, and exciting new projects throughout the year. Although the site is still a work in progress feel free to have a snoop around and let us know if you see anything out of place or if you just have comments or questions!