What’s in a Nutshell? | Academic Newsletter | Seneca Polytechnic

by Arushi Manners, the Teaching & Learning Centre

in the September 2020 issue

The start of a new academic year is full of promise. This year brings with it a unique set of challenges and opportunities. Together with you, the Teaching & Learning Centre would like to explore the opportunities that online learning brings. This year, Nutshells will continue to delve into online learning focusing on three key areas: supporting student learning, technology, and inclusive teaching.

In supporting student learning, we will look at formative assessment, engaging students in online learning, and working with students receiving academic accommodations.

Our technology-centered Nutshells will guide faculty in their use of Open Educational Resources and beyond the basics of Blackboard.

Our focus on inclusive teaching will highlight the importance of intercultural competence and Universal Design for Learning.

Nutshells are released weekly and consist of short learning modules which take less than 30 minutes to complete. Faculty are introduced to 2-3 teaching and learning strategies, engage with interactive tasks, and explore further resources to learn more about the week’s topic. The Nutshells are a collaborative effort by the Teaching & Learning Centre team and show off our different areas of interest and curiosity. As you engage with them throughout the year, we invite you to contribute requests for topics that are of interest to you.

Visit the Teaching Online Series of Nutshells – Part 2 page of The Teaching & Learning Centre website to see all our Nutshells – the two previous series of Nutshells (Teaching Online Series of Nutshells – Part 1 and Teaching & Learning Centre Nutshells) are also available from on this page. Bookmark these pages so you can come back each week and access each new Nutshell.

View the September 2020 issue of the Academic Newsletter.