News

  • August 2022 Teaching and Learning at Brock Newsletter

    August 2022 Teaching and Learning at Brock University, 16 August 2022

  • Message from Rajiv Jhangiani, Vice-Provost, Teaching and Learning.

    headshot of Rajiv in black and whiteIt is with immense joy and gratitude that I assumed my new role of Vice Provost, Teaching and Learning earlier this month. I am grateful for the trust being placed in me and am especially humbled by the opportunity to work alongside and support the extraordinary humans who make up our Centre for Pedagogical Innovation and Co-op, Career, and Experiential Education teams. 

    Brock is a special place and my family and I are thrilled to join the university community. We have spent the last few weeks exploring the Niagara region—feasting on perch from Lake Erie, riding the carousel at Port Dalhousie (which I have since learned to pronounce correctly!), visiting wineries in NOTL, and of course cheering on our hometown teams from BC at the Canada Summer Games. I have also been getting to know our beautiful main campus as well as the magnificent spaces at the Marilyn J. Walker campus and First Ontario Performing Arts Centre. 

    You will hear more a lot from me in the weeks and months to come (and hopefully see me in person as well) as I visit with various Faculties and departments, assume Senate and other committee appointments, and continue to explore the campus corridors and catacombs. 

    I have a lot to learn about Brock—about the needs of this wonderfully diverse community, about our challenges and constraints, and about your hopes and aspirations for teaching and learning. I will be listening, observing, and learning. So please don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly if you’d like to discuss an idea or talk through a proposal that you have been mulling over, or even to share your personal pain points and challenges. 

    In my new role I have the privilege of working closely with some of Brock’s finest in Cara Krezek (Director, Co-op, Career, and Experiential Education), Giulia Forsythe (now Interim Director, Teaching and Learning) and Matt Clare (now Interim Director, Technology Enabled Learning). And I am especially indebted to Dr. Madelyn Law for her critical and invaluable leadership as Associate Vice Provost, Teaching and Learning during what was an immensely challenging and transformative 3 years. 

    If you watched my presentation to the university community during the search process, you will know that I lead with my values—that I care deeply about equitable access, inclusive design, and ethical educational technologies, about community and care, and that I seek to build more supportive and humane systems within the academy. In doing so I draw on theory and practice in both open and critical pedagogy. 

     It is with the latter in mind that I close this introductory message with the words of the incomparable bell hooks, who wrote in Teaching to Transgress: 

     “To teach in a manner that respects and cares for the souls of our students is essential if we are to provide the necessary conditions where learning can most deeply and intimately begin…” 

    Categories: news, newsletter

  • July 2022 Teaching and Learning at Brock Newsletter

    July 2022 Teaching and Learning at Brock

  • Sakai test & quizzes exam time limits

    Reminder Set Online Exam timeSakai test & quizzes exam time limits

    When using Sakai’s Tests & Quizzes tool for your exam, it is important to set the Time Limit to match the duration you have communicated to your students. We recommend setting the availability period to be open a few minutes before the officially scheduled opening time and remain open a few minutes after the fixed duration. Documentation on this process is available online.

    We also recommend giving students the opportunity to practice the assessment format and other strategies for minimizing examination issues.

  • Online teaching tech tips

    Sharing of online tech tips imageCPI supports a variety of teaching technologies 

    If you are an instructor in need of educational technology support please consult our Supported Tools website or contact us.

    Multimedia transcripts and captioning 

    Guidelines for transcripts and captioning including information on how to edit these are on the CPI website.

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  • Innovative teaching and learning strategies

    Image of People helping othersOnline Teaching Gallery

    Faculty and Instructors are engaging in innovative teaching and learning strategies. Visit our Online Teaching Gallery that contains a collection of conversations with Brock University instructors about their remote teaching and learning successes and lessons learned.

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  • Quick access to student feedback

    It's quick. It's confidential. It's a good teaching practice. Offer your TAs, seminar leaders, and lab demonstrators quick access to student feedback

    Automatic and convenient access to student feedback after Student Course Experience Surveys can be an excellent opportunity for those teaching to reflect and enhance their teaching.

    Departments that wish to connect their TAs, seminar leaders, and lab demonstrators with student feedback are invited to connect with the CPI at [email protected] as early as possible in the term.

    Visit Student Course Experience Surveys for more information on how these work and FAQs.

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  • Online Sakai Resources

    Sakai LogoFive online Sakai resources for instructors.

    1. Tips for building your best Sakai site
    2. Make your Lessons beautiful
    3. Turn PowerPoint recordings into videos
    4. Share your video in Lessons
    5. Record lectures with your computer with Echo360

    Questions? Contact CPI at [email protected].

  • MS Teams Breakout Rooms (Group Channels)

    Teams Breakout Rooms

    Ideal for online group or committee work

    How to create group channels in MS Teams

    We recommend this YouTube video on how to use the new breakout rooms in MS Teams.

    Questions? Contact [email protected]

     

  • eCampusOntario $50 million Virtual Learning Strategy

    ecampusOntario eCampusOntario Expressions of Interest (EOI) are now open for the Government of Ontario’s $50 million Virtual Learning Strategy (VLS). Faculty interested in creating or adopting an OER, designing an open source course, designing simulations, serious games or XR experiences are invited to contact [email protected]For more information about this VLS initiative visit https://vls.ecampusontario.ca/eois.

    Deadline for internal submissions to CPI at [email protected] is Thursday January 28.

    Learn more about open educational resources available to you through eCampus Ontario at https://openlibrary.ecampusontario.ca/.