2016 Session Descriptions

Continental Breakfast  Room 135

Orientation for New Faculty Room 310

If you’re new to Penn State, or to the Lehigh Valley Campus, you’ll find this session helpful – perhaps even essential. Corianne Thompson will lead the presentation, but you’ll have time to ask questions and get answers. You may even want to stick around after the closing session this afternoon for a tour of the campus!

Pedagogical Approaches using Canvas Room 304

How do you set up course content in Canvas for different teaching methods, such as active learning, cooperative learning, guest speakers, and more?  The new resource, Pedagogical Practices in Canvas, outlines the clear purpose and considerations for using Canvas and other technologies to improve student learning.

Accessibility in Canvas Room 306

Sean Kelly will walk you through some of the simple, yet important steps that you can make to help ensure that your Canvas course is more accessible.

Hands-on Canvas Basics Room 304

This session will guide you through the Canvas interface, walk you through the process of adding your syllabus, and demonstrate some of the features for instruction, including adding files and creating drop boxes.

Create Dynamic Videos in the One Button Studio Room 201

The One Button Studio is much more than a replacement for the podium at the front of the classroom. In this hands-on session you’ll learn how to create dynamic videos with the press of a button. Come away with ideas for both you and your students. (Don’t wear green!)

Early Progress Reporting in Starfish Room 306

Starfish joins Canvas and LionPATH as the “digital trifecta” of new Penn State systems. An innovative digital advising platform, Starfish will integrate with the other systems to provide more effective student tracking and communication. Since Early Progress Reports will be submitted through Starfish, it’s important for everyone to know the basics of the system.

More Than Cloud Storage: Box Collaboration and Editing Options Room 306

Box is a cloud-based file storage application, but it’s so much more. This session will have you create your own Box account (if you don’t already have one) and show you how to share your files with others. You’ll also find out about other features of Box such as live editing and Box sync.

Helping Students Become Motivated, Self-Directed Learners Room 310

Do your students seem to lack a general desire to learn? Do they tell you they “worked really hard” to study for your exams and assignments, but they don’t perform well? In this workshop, we will identify key components of motivation and self-directed learning and review research-based instructional techniques you can use to help students study effectively. – A Schreyer Institute of Teaching Excellence workshop.

First Aid Tent: Canvas Triage  Room  Room 304

Bring your Canvas ills to us, and we will patch you up and send you on to the appropriate specialist. No fracture is too complex, no bruise too colorful. We’ll diagnose the problem, prescribe some fixes, and send you packing with options in hand.

Lunch – Open Mic Room 135

During lunch, take the microphone and give us all the “inside scoop” about the awesome projects that you are working on!

Beyond Exams and Term Papers:  Designing Assignments that Assess and Promote Student Learning Room 310

Effective assignments don’t just measure what students have learned, they actually help students learn. In this workshop, we’ll discuss how attending to this principle can help you create authentic assignments that not only promote learning but are easy to grade.   – A Schreyer Institute of Teaching Excellence workshop.

Quality Matters Room 306

Penn State is moving toward adopting the Quality Matters model for course quality standards. This session will provide an overview of the QM model and explore the peer review and self-evaluation options.

Committee and Student Group Collaboration In Yammer Room 304

One benefit of Yammer is the ability to see who else in your group or committee is online at the same time. If you are familiar with Facebook, and even if you aren’t, you will find that Yammer is very easy to use for communicating, file sharing and collaborating to get the job done.  Yammer is one replacement for ANGEL groups.

LionPATH Room 304

If you’re not familiar with LionPath (the replacement for eLion), this is the perfect time to get your feet wet.  You’ll be using this for checking class rosters, entering grades, and much more.

New Video Conferencing Options at Penn State  Room 306

Find out about Blue Jeans and Zoom.us.  Penn State is running pilots in courses and free user access for meetings, etc.  Find out what these alternatives to Adobe Connect can do for you and your classes.

Easily Create Engaging Videos With Your Cell Phone  Room 308/310

Drew Anderson (weather forecaster and creative cell phone videographer) will showcase some of his videos, and explain how you can create the same informative and engaging content for your own courses. Guaranteed to be an entertaining and informative session.

Library Resources: Streaming Videos and Course Readings Room 207

Learn how to choose videos and readings for your courses, and how to make them available (legally) in your courses.

H5P – Interactive Content for Your Course  Room 306

H5P is an open source product that allows you to easily create interactive content for web pages and your Canvas course.  You can easily share and reuse the content you create. We will explore how to use the software and how to get it into your Canvas course.

Surprise, Snacks, Drawing and Conclusion Room 135

We’ll have some tasty snacks and a drawing for fabulous prizes to help end the day on the right note.