You Got This!

In the seventh episode, Brenna’s thinking about taking a reset if things aren’t working, and two instructional designers pop by to share resources for doing just that.

Show Notes

The resource Melissa and Michelle are here to talk about is Teaching Without Walls, and the PressBook can be downloaded to your favourite device or perused online!

We talk a lot about checking in with students during this episode. This is one sample questionnaire linked to in Teaching Without Walls that you can adapt for your class.

Michelle mentions the Community of Inquiry model, which you can learn more about by checking out this comprehensive web resource or by reading the original article (from 2000, lest you ever think we’re the first ones to do this!). TRU folks can access the full-text of the article here, login required.

Melissa referenced Gertrude Moskowitz’s book Caring and Sharing in the Foreign Language Class: A Sourcebook on Humanistic Techniques, which is helpfully available in the Open Library. And while we’re talking about Paolo Friere, Pedagogy of the Oppressed has felt very relevant lately.

Melissa mentioned Karen Densky’s course, which she talked about at our summer Faculty Showcase. TRU folks can access the recording here, Moodle login required.

Melissa’s sabbatical project, Remix Reuse Reshare, is a resource full of learning activities. Perfect for a moment of restart.

And if you need help from the instructional designers, or you have feedback on Teaching Without Walls, you can reach the team at [email protected].

Transcripts

Available for download as a .docx file here.

Available for download as a .pdf file here.

In the sixth episode, Brenna wonders about clarity and communication and how our relationship are always being negotiated, and chats with a student union insider about what we need to focus on right now.

In the sixth episode, Brenna wonders about clarity and communication and how our relationships are always being negotiated, and chats with a student union insider about what we need to focus on right now.

Show Notes

In today’s episode, Brenna talked about communicating effectively with students. Getting students to read the syllabus is an age-old dilemma, but this piece from Tufts has some ideas on how to make sure the important information stands out.

(It didn’t come up in the show today, but when Brenna used to format her syllabus as a zine, students read it — she theorizes that they found it less intimidating, and the half-page folded size was easy to browse.)

You can learn more about TRUSU and the great work they do on their website. Contact information for Nathan and other staffers is available on this page.

After our chat, Nathan sent through this link about digital productivity; worth a read if you’re struggling (and even if you’re not).

Transcripts

Available for download as a .docx file here.

Available for download as a .pdf file here.

In the fifth episode, Brenna thinks about support and how overwhelming everything is right now for everyone on campus, and talks to an expert about how to find help and support when we need it most.

In the fifth episode, Brenna thinks about support and how overwhelming everything is right now for everyone on campus, and talks to an expert about how to find help and support when we need it most.

Show Notes

Brenna brought up trauma-informed pedagogy in this episode. A favourite primer of hers, produced by Education Northwest, can be found here.

You can learn more about Pamela’s role at Early Alert from the official website. The email address Pamela gave was [email protected].

Pamela mentioned a Coursera course from the University of Illinois called E-Learning Ecologies: Innovated Approaches to Teaching and Learning for the Digital Age. It’s free!

Brenna suggested including some learning supports in your course shell so students always know those resources are available. TRU folks might consider including:

Writing Centre

Library Research Help

Accessibility Services

Counselling Services

Wellness Centre

Please feel free to share other resources in the comments.

Transcripts

Available for download as a .docx file here.

Available for download as a .pdf file here.

In the fourth episode, Brenna thinks a lot about trust and invites an academic integrity specialist to join her and do the same

In the fourth episode, Brenna thinks a lot about trust and invites an academic integrity specialist to join her and do the same

Show Notes

This episode is about trust, but didn’t make reference to one of her favourite essays on trust, “Do You Trust Your Students?” by Amy Hasinoff.

You can learn more about Stephanie’s role and the AIC from the official website. The email address Stephanie gave was [email protected].

Contract cheating comes up in this episode. If you’ve never thought about the links between contract cheating and digital pedagogy, you might like this essay Brenna wrote back in January.

Stephanie and Brenna talked about how good assignment design can foster academic integrity — it’s true! And here’s a great introductory resource, with research links.

Transcripts:

Available for download as a .docx file here.

Available for download as a .pdf file here.

In the third episode, Brenna talks about surprises, BBB crashes, and wonders about rethinking trigger warnings, and then she chats video and engagement with the King of Kamloops.

In the third episode, Brenna talks about surprises, BBB crashes, and wonders about rethinking trigger warnings, and then she chats video and engagement with the King of [strikethrough]Kensington[/strikethrough] Kamloops.

Show Notes:

The books Brenna mentioned teaching are Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes by Tony Kushner and I Have AIDS! by Sky Gilbert. Both are plays, both are worth your time.

Brenna talked about the controversial history around trigger warnings. The Inclusive Teaching folks at UMich have provided a comprehensive resource to their use. There’s also much said about a study that allegedly “debunks” trigger warnings; Brenna is less persuaded, but logged-in TRU Library users can check it out for themselves.

Jon has made a ton of video tutorials in our Support for Virtual Delivery shell (new name, new attitude). Check them out, including our workshop on using Kaltura Quizzes.

Brenna mentioned an essay by Sarah Goldrick-Rab and Jesse Stommel, “Teaching the Students We Have.” Evidently, she thought it was a lot newer than it is.

And several times, Brenna said Tuesday for the BBB outage when she meant Wednesday but, come on, what even is time?

Transcripts:

Available for download as a .docx file here.

Available for download as a .pdf file here.

In the second episode, Brenna offers some thoughts on extending grace to our students and to ourselves, and nerds out about new Moodle features with her closest colleague.