Jump Start

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Jump Start your spring course design! Join us and a slate of special guest presenters–national known experts in instructional design and online education– during the week of November 30-December 4. Every day, we will tackle a new topic related to preparing for your spring teaching, with morning presentations and afternoon drop-in hours and consultations. Folks from USNH Teaching & Learning Technologies will be offering some complementary programs on M & W afternoons as well. Attend everything or just what looks helpful to you. Get ahead now so you can really spend time relaxing and decompressing as your break unfolds.

Registration is open to any faculty or staff member at Plymouth State University, Keene State College, Granite State College, or the University of New Hampshire. 

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Dave Cormier
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Jordan Noyes
white man in glasses looking at camera
Mike Caulfield
woman in glasses with short hair smiling
Bonnie Stewart

Monday: Instructional Design

November 30

9 - 9:30: Structures for Spring Courses
Robin DeRosa will remind you of the ACE HiFlex models that offer flexible options for faculty who are teaching hybrid courses, and will do a Fast Blast on “Event-Based” teaching that is designed to minimize the time faculty spend teaching simultaneously in more than one modality.
Resource Page for this Session
9:30 - 10:30: Instructional Design with Dave Cormier
While Covid19 didn’t create the current challenges that are facing our classrooms it has brought the conversation to the fore. This presentation will look at the new reality for students and faculty learning in an age in information abundance and present concepts to help us design effective and caring courses.  
Resource Page for this Session
10:30 - 11:00: Debrief with the CoLab

Hang out for a few extra minutes to talk about the presentation and your emerging design ideas for spring.

2-3: Best Practices in Course Design for the LMS
Jason Neenos (Teaching & Learning Technologies) and Melissa Christensen (Director of Instiutional Effectiveness) present this workshop on how to create clear, effective, and engaging courses using the Learning Management System (Moodle/Canvas).
Resource Page for this Session
3-4: Drop-In Hours with the CoLab

Martha, Robin, and Jason are available for drop-in help as you work to design your spring courses.

Tuesday: Assignment Design

December 1

9 - 9:30: Avoiding "Spring 2021: The Fatiguening!"
Nic Helms (PSU faculty) will present ideas about how student and faculty fatigue are affecting our educational environments during the pandemic, and offer ideas for how we can mitigate these effects as we design courses for spring. This work comes from an article that he is co-authoring with a student and colleague, and we are happy to welcome him to Jump Start this week to share his insight.
Resource Page for this Session
9:30 - 10:30: Designing Assignments for Online Environments with Jordan Noyes
Through collaboration, low stakes/entry digital tools, and active learning exercises there are many ways to transform f2f assignments into online assignments. Using small adjustments this presentation will focus on strategies for creating online assignments framed within UDL principles, an understanding of cognitive load, and backward design.
Resource Page for this Session
10:30 - 11:00: Debrief with the CoLab

Hang out for a few extra minutes to talk about the presentation and your emerging design ideas for spring.

3-4: Drop-In Hours with the CoLab

Martha and Robin are available for drop-in help as you work to design your spring courses.

Wednesday: Making Explanatory Videos

December 2

9 - 9:30: Effective Planning for Class Sessions

Sometimes it’s the simple things that can make a big difference. The CoLab will introduce you to a few templates for planning out resources, activities, and tech preparation for individual class sessions. Use our shared resources to create your own template for your spring courses.

Resource Page for this Session
9:30 - 10:30: Making Explanatory Videos
Short instructional videos can connect, engage, and inspire — but in many courses the most common use of short video is to explain. This session will introduce faculty to some of the differences between explanations as given in the classroom and as provided through short videos, and introduce three simple techniques —  segmenting, signaling, and weeding — that will make it easier for your students to benefit from your short video presentations.
Resource Page for this Session
10:30 - 11:00: Debrief with the CoLab

Hang out for a few extra minutes to talk about the presentation and your emerging design ideas for spring.

2-3: Introduction to Canvas for Moodle Users
Join Jason Neenos for a glimpse into your future with Canvas! For those who are getting started with Canvas this spring during the pilot, or who will be converting with the major PSU adoption in Summer/Fall 2021.
Resource Page for this Session
3-4: Drop-In Hours with the CoLab

Martha, Robin, and Jason are available for drop-in help as you work to design your spring courses.

Thursday: Building Community

December 3

9 - 9:30: The ACE Framework for Busy People
You are a busy person! In this quick session, Robin will use the “Rule of 2’s” to highlight a short list of things to consider as you design spring courses that are adaptable, connected, and equitable.
Resource Page for this Session
9:30 - 10:30: Community Building in Online Spaces with Bonnie Stewart
While online learning often gets framed as less social than f2f sessions, the internet actually offers possibilities for building connections among learners and across student/faculty boundaries. This session explores how that can happen, spaces for supporting it, and also reasons why it may not work optimally during the pandemic. We’ll look at issues of connection and access, as well as ways UDL can be used to support connection in online classes.
Resource Page for this Session
10:30 - 11:00: Debrief with the CoLab

Hang out for a few extra minutes to talk about the presentation and your emerging design ideas for spring.

3-4: Drop-In Hours with the CoLab

Martha and Robin are available for drop-in help as you work to design your spring courses.

Friday: Assessment Design

December 4

9 - 9:30: Remarks from the PSU Associate Provost
Plymouth State Associate Provost Pat Cantor will share some remarks with faculty reflecting on the past semester and wishing you well as you launch into your spring course preps.
Resource Page for this Session
9:30 - 10:30: Authentic Assessment & Student Success with Jordan Noyes
Authentic assessments ask students to apply their learning to new situations. It is often contrasted with conventional test assessments and can be described as “messy and complex.” This session will address strategies around creating rubrics, providing feedback, and reaching learning outcomes in order to gauge student success. Spoiler: clarity and consistency are key!
Resource Page for this Session
10:30 - 11:00: Debrief with the CoLab

Hang out for a few extra minutes to talk about the presentation and your emerging design ideas for spring.

3-4: Drop-In Hours with the CoLab

Martha and Robin are available for drop-in help as you work to design your spring courses.

About the Presenters

Dave Cormier

As a change leader, an educational researcher and learning community advocate Cormier has spent the last twenty years trying to make education better. He has led teams in k12, college and university environments, and has published on open education, Rhizomatic Learning, MOOCs (Massive/Open Online Courses), and the impact of technology on the future of higher education. He is currently the learning specialist for digital learning strategy and special projects at the University of Windsor.

Jordan Noyes

Jordan Noyes is an Instructional Designer at Muhlenberg by day and an AP Art History instructor at VLACS in between. Trained in art history and computational media studies, she has worked in K-12, higher ed, and adult learning environments focusing on digital tools, accessibility, and educational neuroscience. 

Mike Caulfield

Mike Caulfield is currently the director of blended and networked learning at Washington State University Vancouver. He has worked in educational technology since 1997. He has been involved in the production of educational multimedia since his award-winning work for Columbia Online in the early 2000s. More recent projects include the Infodemic blog, a site cited as a media literacy resource of note by the New York Times, Washington Post, and MIT Technology review, and the popular series of Blended Content Studio course videos, originally developed for WSU faculty but released as CC BY. 

Bonnie Stewart

Bonnie Stewart is an educator and social media researcher interested in what digital networks mean for institutions and society. Assistant Professor of Online Pedagogy and Workplace Learning in the University of Windsor Faculty of Education, Canada, Bonnie was an early MOOC researcher and ethnographer of Twitter. Bonnie’s current research interests include the data literacies of educators, and what it means to know, to learn, and to be a citizen in our current information ecosystem.

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Hours & Location

Fall 2024 

Monday – Thursday: 8:30-4:30, in-person or virtual
Wednesday: Additional in-person hours from 4:30-6:00
Friday: 8:30-4:30, virtual

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