Unlock Your Potential: Upcoming Professional Development Opportunities | The Teaching & Learning Centre

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As we settle into another exciting academic term, the Teaching & Learning Centre is thrilled to announce an array of enriching and empowering professional development opportunities for you. Whether you're a seasoned educator looking to enhance your skills or someone eager to embark on a new learning journey, we have something exceptional in store for you this term.

Our upcoming professional development offerings range from interactive courses to engaging webinars and workshops:

Blackboard Ultra webinars

Boost your Blackboard Ultra skills with an upcoming webinar.

Assessments in Blackboard Ultra

📆 Date: Tuesday, Sept. 26
⏰ Time: 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Eastern
📍 Modality: online synchronous webinar
🔗 View our calendar entry for Assessments in Blackboard Ultra

In the "Assessments in Blackboard Ultra" webinar, you will learn how to set up assignments, quizzes, tests, and rubrics in Blackboard Ultra.

Groups, Accommodations, and Other Blackboard Ultra Topics

📆 Date: Wednesday, Sept. 27
⏰ Time: 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Eastern
📍 Modality: online synchronous webinar
🔗 View our calendar entry for Groups, Accommodations, and Other Blackboard Ultra Topics

In the "Groups, Accommodations, and Other Blackboard Ultra Topics" webinar, we'll take a look at how to use groups and set up accommodations in Blackboard Ultra. There will be time to cover other topics that you want to explore.

Gradebook in Blackboard Ultra

📆 Date: Thursday, Sept. 28
⏰ Time: 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern
📍 Modality: online synchronous webinar
🔗 View our calendar entry for Gradebook in Blackboard Ultra

In the "Gradebook in Blackboard Ultra" webinar, we will dive deeper into setting up your gradebook to work with all of your assessments, covering changes and new features – as well as a refresher of the basic gradebook functionality.

SoTL Community of Practice

📆 Date: Tuesday, Sept. 26
⏰ Time: 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Eastern
📍 Modality: online synchronous webinar
🔗 View our calendar entry for the SoTL Community of Practice on Sept. 26

📆 Date: Tuesday, Oct. 17
⏰ Time: 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Eastern
📍 Location: Newnham Campus
🔗 View our calendar entry for the SoTL Community of Practice on Oct. 17

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Community of Practice is about connecting Senecans who want to discuss problems of practice in our teaching and learning activities. Additionally, the community is about sharing what we learn with one another. Everyone is welcome.The Community of Practice is a casual, drop-in format. It is organized by Maxine Britto, Laura Page, and Joanna Crabtree, and is led by the members of the group and current SOTL researchers. There will be two gatherings this term. Each one will be a mixture of structured and unstructured discussion.

Fundamentals of Flexible Course Design and Delivery

📆 Dates: Oct. 2 to 20
📍 Modality: three-week online asynchronous course
🔗 View our calendar entry for the Fundamentals of Flexible Course Design and Delivery

Flexible (sometimes referred to as HyFlex or hybrid flexible) is a course design mode that gives students the opportunity to attend in class, online synchronously, or online asynchronously. Students can change their mode of attendance and participation for each class session.
In this three-week asynchronous course, participants will learn the fundamentals of Flexible course design and delivery. Through an exploration of Flexible concepts, participants learn how to rethink traditional online and classroom-based learning into a Flexible mode that considers how students will engage with them, the course content, and each other. Practical exercises will enable participant to gain the knowledge and skills required to design and deliver Flexible courses that are engaging and meet Seneca’s Quality Framework for Designing & Delivering Online, Hybrid, and Flexible Courses.

Foundations of Creating Accessible Content

📆 Dates: Oct. 10 to 20
📍 Modality: two-week online asynchronous course
🔗 View our calendar entry for the Foundations of Creating Accessible Content

Creating and providing accessible materials is about inclusion, equity, and social responsibility. With Ontario’s commitment to be a fully accessible province by 2025 through the implementation of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), knowing how to create accessible learning materials and documents is crucial!
This two-week asynchronous online course will review and apply the accessibility guidelines and requirements applicable to creating digital content. After successful completion of this course, you will walk away with strategies and resources to help with making your digital content accessible.

🏅 This course is part of Seneca's Micro-credentials for Faculty PD program, which means you can earn a micro-credential when you complete the course.

⭐ This course is part of the PD Plan for Non Full-time Faculty but is open to all faculty members, instructors, and employees.

Micro-teaching Sessions

📆 Dates: Oct. 24 and 25 (during Study Week)
📍 Modality: two-day online synchronous course
🔗 View our calendar entry for Micro-teaching Sessions

Join us for this two-day online synchronous course focused on teaching strategies, assessment, and using technology in your classroom.
Micro-teaching is a shorter version of the process that you go through to prepare and teach a lesson. The micro-teaching session will bring together a small group of peer faculty members to observe each other teach short lessons and to provide and gain feedback on teaching. The micro-teaching session allows faculty to focus on teaching and assessment strategies in a non-threatening environment, and receive supportive feedback on their teaching from their peers.

🏅 This course is part of Seneca's Micro-credentials for Faculty PD program, which means you can earn a micro-credential when you complete the course.

⭐ This course is part of the PD Plan for Non Full-time Faculty but is open to all faculty members and instructors.

Effective Online Teaching

📆 Dates: Nov. 6 to Dec. 1
📍 Modality: four-week online asynchronous course
🔗 View our calendar entry for Effective Online Teaching

In this is a four-week asynchronous course, faculty participants will learn both the basic elements of high-quality online course design and delivery alongside more advanced strategies to elevate their online course from good to great. Through interactive learning modules, activities, and deliverables, participants will be introduced to concepts such as curriculum and lesson planning, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), accessibility, online assessments, and building a community of learners.

🏅 This course is part of Seneca's Micro-credentials for Faculty PD program, which means you can earn a micro-credential when you complete the course.

⭐ This course is part of the PD Plan for Non Full-time Faculty but is open to all faculty members and instructors.

Science of Learning

📆 Dates: Nov. 6 to Dec. 1
📍 Modality: four-week online asynchronous course
🔗 View our calendar entry for the Science of Learning

Have you ever wondered what scientific research on learning, attention, memory processes, and the brain can tell us about how students learn? This online course consists of four asynchronous modules that will introduce you to the dynamic field of the Science of Learning and its many applications in the classroom.
The series will highlight insights from prominent researchers in the fields of memory, critical thinking, and reasoning, and also explore neuromyths that persist in education. It will also build on the work of keynote speakers at past Teaching & Learning Centre Events, such as Joe Kim, Yana Weinstein, and Megan Sumeracki. Participants will reflect on how new research in the science of teaching and learning can inform our practice and help our students adopt more effective learning strategies.

🏅 This course is part of Seneca's Micro-credentials for Faculty PD program, which means you can earn a micro-credential when you complete the course.

⭐ This course is part of the PD Plan for Non Full-time Faculty but is open to all faculty members and instructors.

Teaching Unique Diverse Learners (UDL)

📆 Dates: Nov. 6 to Dec. 1
📍 Modality: four-week online asynchronous course
🔗 View our calendar entry for Teaching Unique Diverse Learners (UDL)

This course will explore our Unique, Diverse Learners and the principles of UDL (Universal Design for Learning). Participants will examine a course they currently teach and take some first steps into incorporating UDL into their teaching practice.

🏅 This course is part of Seneca's Micro-credentials for Faculty PD program, which means you can earn a micro-credential when you complete the course.

⭐ This course is part of the PD Plan for Non Full-time Faculty but is open to all faculty members and instructors.

Registration for all of the above is now open in MyPD.

But that's not all! We're also thrilled to tease two upcoming one-day events. Save these dates now!

Teaching & Learning Day Fall 2023

📆 Date: Monday, Oct. 23 (during Study Week)
📍 Location: Newnham Campus
🔗 View our calendar entry for Teaching & Learning Day Fall 2023

A day dedicated to showcasing and sharing ideas and activities about how to enhance teaching and learning. This year's theme is Sustainability. We'll share more details in the coming weeks!

🏅 This event is part of Seneca's Micro-credentials for Faculty PD program, which means you can earn a micro-credential for participating in this event.

New Faculty Orientation

📆 Date: Thursday, Jan. 4
📍 Location: Newnham Campus
🔗 View our calendar entry for New Faculty Orientation

This day provides an overview of the services and supports that impact teaching practice at Seneca. New Faculty Orientation is open to all faculty and instructors and concludes with a workshop about Learn@Seneca (Seneca's branded version of Blackboard, our Learning Management System).

^{Photo by Akhilesh Sharma on Unsplash}

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