Instructional Support Workshops

All Instructional Support workshops are free of charge and open to all Niagara University faculty and staff. Workshops are usually announced through The Daily Post approximately two to three weeks prior to the event. Workshops change each semester and are selected based on faculty interest, requests, opportunities and trends in teaching and learning. For many workshops, the event may be recorded for those who cannot attend; often, materials or individual tutorials related to workshops are available on demand. Faculty are also encouraged to schedule an individual consultation with Instructional Support staff for personalized assistance.

For information on upcoming workshops or to request an event, please email or call Danyelle Moore.

On-Demand Technology Tutorials

Instructional Support offers several on-demand technology tutorials. If you are interested in learning about a technology not listed here, please contact us, and we will do our best to assist you. To schedule a tutorial appointment, please contact Danyelle Moore at dmoore@niagara.edu or Ext. 8120.

Advising Online Students

Do you have students in your online class that you wish you knew more about? Do you find it difficult to advise students about online classes? This is an opportunity for you to see Niagara University’s Online Student Orientation webpage and ask questions. Learn how using this tool during advisement or at the beginning of your course can help the student and you make decisions about whether an online class is right for them.

Audacity

Audacity is free audio-recording software that is available online. In this tutorial, Audacity will be installed on your computer, and you can discuss how this tool can be used to support your teaching. Possible benefits could including recording audio lectures for online classes or creating audio comments for student papers. You will have the opportunity to create a sample recording and upload it to Blackboard.

Blackboard 9.1 Enterprise

Blackboard tutorials assist faculty with Blackboard 9.1 Enterprise course management software. Tutorials can range from an overview of the basic features of Blackboard 9.1 Enterprise to addressing specific instructor questions, including adding content, online tests and surveys, and collaborative tools such as Discussion Board.

Classroom Technology

Classroom technology tutorials provide hands-on instruction on how to use the basic technology in the classrooms on campus. Learn how to turn on and use the document camera, computer and projector. Need to hook up your PC or Mac to the screen? We will show you how to do that and how to make sure you have sound. This session will inform you of simple troubleshooting techniques and how to contact the IT Help Desk for quick support.

Clickers in the Classroom

Classroom Response Systems (clickers) are growing in popularity. Clickers can be powerful for formative assessment; they're also useful tools to facilitate controversial discussions in the classroom. Plus, students love them! Instructional Support lends TurningPoint clicker sets to faculty. Learn how to use the clickers, create and add your own clicker questions to your PowerPoint presentation, and how to reserve the clickers for your classroom.

Effective Online Course Design

This online course design tutorial helps faculty apply research on quality online course design to develop or redesign an online course. This tutorial is discussion-based and involves sharing or developing the current course design, analyzing it against Niagara’s online course design evaluation rubric, and identifying areas for further work based on the results. This tutorial is highly recommended for any online instructors preparing to have their courses formally reviewed.

Free Web Tools

Learn how to use free online tools to enhance your courses. Each tutorial will allow you to actively explore available tools and to discuss how they could enhance your teaching as well as tools your students can use to complete assignments. Tools include research/graphic organizers, presentation/interactive tools, and podcast/screen video tools. Ask us about Audacity or Prezi!

Microsoft Office Suite

Want to create an Excel spreadsheet to track students' grades? Interested in creating a more effective PowerPoint presentation? Want to learn how to use the voice-over feature in PowerPoint? Contact us, and we will connect you with a trainer who can guide you through enhancing your skills with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or Access.

SMART Board

The best way to learn about the SMART Board is to use it!  SMART Board tutorials are hands-on experiences with a SMART Board that will allow you to become comfortable with the SMART Board so that you can use it effectively in your classroom. If possible, the tutorial will take place in the classroom in which you have been assigned to teach. Tutorials can also help you become familiar with the SMART Notebook software. Learn how to take notes on a webpage, use interactive SMART tools, or post a copy of your "whiteboard" lecture notes on Blackboard! Tutorials can range from beginner to advanced sessions.

Additional Opportunities

SGID Classroom Visits: Improve Your Course Through Anonymous Student Feedback

SGID sessions are an approach to gathering student feedback for faculty who are interested in improving their teaching. This is a unique opportunity to connect with your students and potentially improve student evaluations. SGID is an especially helpful tool for pre-tenure faculty or for any faculty members who would like to improve their teaching. Information gathered through SGID is not shared with anyone except the faculty member and the process is entirely voluntary. Visits ideally take place around midterms. For more information about how SGID works, or to set up an appointment, please contact Instructional Support.

Creating and Analyzing Significant Learning Experiences Faculty Learning Community

Instructional Support is proud to support the Creating and Analyzing Significant Learning Experiences Faculty Learning Community for the 2012-2013 academic year. Ed Hutton of the College of Business Administration and Paul Vermette of the College of Education are the faculty facilitators. The 2012-2013 FLC at Niagara University is designed to create and support a community of scholar practitioners who are interested in redesigning part or all of one or more of their courses—from a single lesson to an entire semester—to create more significant learning experiences for their students.   Participants will receive a copy of L. Dee Fink’s Creating Significant Learning Experiences to help inform their work.  This FLC also includes an emphasis on analyzing these efforts: participants may either choose to analyze the effectiveness of the new lesson/course design as part of research in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, or they may analyze classroom learning for student learning outcomes assessment.  All participants in this FLC will be expected to both redesign and implement at least one lesson as a result of their work in the FLC.  Additionally, participants will be expected to produce a written analysis of their efforts.  This analysis may take the form of an article submitted to a general journal related to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, a discipline-specific SoTL journal, a conference presentation, or an outcomes assessment report.  Members receive funding for support of their individual projects and acceptance into this close-knit, cross-disciplinary, supportive community.