Newsletter Archive - Edition 11
Edition 11: August 2022
SPOTLIGHT: TONI ANDERSON
Business Faculty, Workforce Instruction at North Seattle College
Tell us something about yourself and the work you do at Seattle Colleges
My family roots are in Texas, Tennessee, and California. Although my family is anchored in the south, Seattle is home for me. I am a blend of southern and pacific northwest hospitalities. I appreciate the opportunity to gather with people – whether it is Juneteenth in Texas, Seattle Seafair festivities, or campus events at North Seattle College.
It is hard to believe I have been faculty at North for 20 years (especially when I am only 28 😊)! Teaching, learning, and collaborating are some of my absolute favorite things to do. I am committed to empowering student learning through the lens of equity, diversity, and inclusion. Building equitable curriculum is important to me, and crucial to student learning.
Some years ago, I was introduced to the Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT) framework by keynote speaker Mary-Ann Winkelmes at the annual SBCTC (State Board for Community and Technical Colleges) Assessment, Teaching and Learning conference. She shared data from her study demonstrating the positive impact the TILT framework had on student retention. I was excited by the thought of building equity into my courses and contributing to student retention.
The TILT process allows me to provide clarity and rationale for student assignments. I have even let students TILT a project description – by doing this, they understood the requirements and submitted quality work! I also enjoy collaborating with colleagues on applying the TILT framework. Some subject matter is more challenging to TILT but with partnership and time, it is possible. The energy invested has had a domino effect on colleagues!
I was an adjunct while in the role of Faculty Development Coordinator (FDC) at North. It was during those years my work on the Assessment Committee (NSAC) began – and continues to this day. Another important task during my role as FDC was implementing the Faculty Academy.
A colleague from Everett College selflessly shared the structure of their onboarding process for part-time faculty. Implementing the Faculty Academy was a campus effort. It took the support of the “musketeers,” Administrative Assistants, the VPI, and Deans to implement the program. Cohesive cohorts of adjuncts experienced an inclusive space, connection with colleagues, and a sense of belonging.
When do you feel successful as an instructor?
As an instructor, there are a couple of moments that make success sweet for me:
First, witnessing the moments students gain a true understanding of our course content (“lightbulb moments”) and second, when a student lets me know down the road, how understanding and applying frameworks from class transformed their lives.
When my teaching motto, style and philosophy contribute to power-filled student learning experiences, success is a sweet outcome!
What do you enjoy most about your college?
I enjoy the campus culture of North. The people are great! Equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) work on our campus is important to me. I have been able to work with peers across the campus for a common EDI cause. I appreciate my colleagues who are willing to roll up their sleeves as we do this work. We work collectively to create the space to brainstorm ideas while building and implementing student-focused programs and projects together. I am looking forward to recalibrating our efforts once we are back on campus. North Seattle Tree Frogs are resilient.
My teaching motto: “Learning is for everyone…regardless of their life experience and learning style.”
Also In This Edition
Contact eLearning
When to Contact eLearning
- 8:30 - 7:30 PM – Monday – Thursday
- 8:30 - 4:00 PM – Fridays
How to Contact eLearning
- Email: eLearning@seattlecolleges.edu
- Phone: 206/934-4000
- Chat
- Make an Appointment with an Instructional Designer or Technologist.
Summer Drop-In Hours
NORTH
- Visit us in CC2153
- M-TH 10:00 – 3:00 pm
CENTRAL
- Visit us in the Library/TLC
- M-TH 8:00 – 4 pm
SOUTH
- Visit us at the Library Information Desk
- M-TH 9:00 – 4:30 pm
Faculty Equipment
The District Distance Learning Committee (DDLC) purchased equipment for lending to faculty. The committee purchased items and distributed them to the three colleges' eLearning departments for distribution. Each campus has a small collection of equipment for faculty to borrow to support teaching across the modalities. Equipment includes laptops, portable document cameras, digital drawing tablets, clip-on microphones, and portable ring lights.
Our current stock (as of 08/01/2022) at each campus:
NORTH
5 -- DELL LAPTOPS
6 -- WACOM TABLETS
3 -- DOCUMENT CAMERAS (NOT WEBCAMS)
6 -- CLIP-ON MICS (LAPELS)
3 -- RING LIGHTS
CENTRAL
5 -- DELL LAPTOPS
6 -- WACOM TABLETS
6 -- DOCUMENT CAMERAS (NOT WEBCAMS)
6 -- CLIP-ON MICS (LAPELS)
7 -- RING LIGHTS
SOUTH
4 -- DELL LAPTOPS
4 -- WACOM TABLETS
6 -- DOCUMENT CAMERAS (NOT WEBCAMS)
5 -- CLIP-ON MICS (LAPELS)
6 -- RING LIGHTS
We wanted to provide you with updates on our current timeline for the Canvas Merge Project:
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On August 15, 2022, all enrollment data will be turned off on the current three Canvas sites, so student adds and drops will no longer be processed for Summer 2022 and prior quarters.
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Between August 15 and August 21 eLearning will be testing our new Canvas site (logins, integrations, Panopto, and copying of course content). This testing will not impact your current Summer courses. As always if you have a student with an incomplete contact eLearning to ensure you and the student both have access to your course.
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On August 22, all users will begin to log in using their ctcLink credentials in the new Canvas site. All your courses (including your Fall 22 Shells) will be available on your Dashboard or All Courses list. If you need any empty shells to bring over a template or blueprint, contact eLearning as all shells must be created by eLearning.
In March of 2021, the Presidents and Chancellor made the decision to merge the three eLearning teams. Though merging Canvas has been in discussion for several years, this move to a single team provided the resources necessary to bring the project to fruition.
By combining our three Canvas sites into a single site, we provide:
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A single-entry point for all courses at Seattle Colleges.
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A reduction of multiple accounts for students and faculty across the colleges.
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The ability for eLearning to provide faster support to students, faculty, and staff.
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Greater consistency across student and faculty experiences in Canvas.
More information about the merge project as well as videos demonstrating our testing of different scenarios, including course copying from your old Canvas site to the new one.
See the project homepage and this newsletter for future updates.
In July and August, Canvas released a few minor updates including:
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On the Assignments page, individual student due date overrides take priority over section and group due dates on assignments. This means that you will now see those individual student exceptions first above other exceptions for greater clarity.
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In the Gradebook, instructors can download CSV files based on a filtered view. For example, you can download based on student groups or by module.
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When composing a message from the Message Student Who link in the Gradebook, a default subject line is added that corresponds with the scenario you asked for the gradebook to check, for example students who are missing a certain assignment.
To read more about these and other minor updates please read the July and August update release notes.
Our instructional designers (Robin, Sanja, Rebecca, and Julian) are taking a small break for this section of the newsletter and encourage everyone to do the same, especially this Summer. However, we are still available to help faculty with all your pedagogical needs as you finish Summer and start thinking ahead to Fall, please reach out to us and set up a time to chat. In the meantime, we wanted to share what we have been reading and learning from this summer...
Rebecca (North): Embracing Change: Alternatives to Traditional Research Writing Assignments edited by Silke Higgins and Ngoc-Yen Tran. Rebecca has also been enjoying several fictional reads this summer and recommends Love Radio by Ebony LaDelle
Robin (Central): Crowdsourcing Ungrading, an edited collection by David Buck of crowdsourced pieces on Ungrading.
Sanja (Central): Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire Twenty Years after 9/11 by Deepa Kumar
Julian (South): Inclusive Teaching: Strategies for Promoting Equity in the College Classroom by Kelly A. Hogan and Viji Sathy
Have a great August and end of Summer!
Attention Chromebook users
Just a quick update for Chromebook users. When using Zoom, you might have noticed “This app will no longer be officially supported after August 2022. Please use the new Zoom for Chrome PWA to join meetings on ChromeOS” at the top of the app. For more info about the Zoom PWA go here to learn more about the new update (Also includes how to download and install the new app).
Zoom’s Hand Gesture Detection
Instructional Technologist, Shawn Rodriguez, demonstrates Zoom’s new hand gesture feature. For this feature, please make sure your Zoom software is up to date.