Event recap
While we were unable to gather in-person for workshops, lunchtime keynotes, and afternoon social hours, in 2020 we were thrilled to host our first completely virtual TLISI to connect with and help prepare the Georgetown community for the transition to virtual learning. From instructional webinars and guided workshops to panel presentations from students and campus Deans, the virtual format helped us synchronously engage with over 900 colleagues from across the University, an astounding 80% growth in overall attendance compared to the previous year’s on-campus presence.
We’d like to again thank the entire Georgetown community for joining us at TLISI. The complete event report is available below, as are recordings of workshops and sessions from 2020.
Recorded sessions
Accessing Library E-Resources
Facilitators: John Kimbrough
In this session, join John Kimbrough, an Electronic Resources Librarian at the GU Library, to learn how you and your students can access Library resources from home for virtual learning. This will assist your students in accessing necessary course materials and research resources as they complete their work during your course.
Accommodating Students at a Distance
Facilitators: Michelle Ohnona, Bingran (Ann) Wang, Joseph Fisher
In this session, we will discuss strategies to accommodate students when teaching and learning at a distance. We will also share good practices and resources for accommodating a variety of student learning needs and explore implementing these practices through tools and settings in Canvas.
Creating Flexible & Inclusive Assessments
Facilitators: David Ebenbach, Susannah McGowan
This session will address various ways to adapt, adopt, or rethink your assessment strategies for remote learning. In this session, we’ll explore alternative assessments to what you might normally do in person, discuss accommodation and accessibility concerns, and share strategies for building flexible assignments using various tools supported by Georgetown such as Canvas Assignments, Discussions, and Google Apps.
Designing and Delivering Exams Remotely
Facilitators: Brian Boston, Lee Skallerup Bessette
This session will help you think strategically about designing and delivering exams in a virtual learning environment. We will cover different options for conducting exams using tools supported at Georgetown, such as Canvas Quizzes and Assignments. The session will also address what to communicate to your students and how to accommodate special cases when administering and proctoring remote exams.
Experiential and Community-Based Learning at a Distance
Facilitators: Abigail Lewis, Joselyn Lewis, Amanda Munroe, Andria Wisler
A unique and important part of a Georgetown University learning experience is participating in experiential and community-based learning. This session will help faculty imagine and plan how to create and adapt meaningful experiential and community based learning experiences.
Facilitating Difficult Discussions in Remote Learning Environments
Facilitators: Adam Leader-Smith, Joselyn Lewis
The current moment in our world, with all its tension, complication, and emotion, is a difficult one for many people. Many of us feel a strong desire to engage with our students on current issues and with challenging or tragic news, but are not always sure how to do so in a productive and supportive way. This session will focus on effective tools and strategies for enabling and supporting such discussions even when they may be difficult and we may be uncertain of how best to do so.
Facilitating Productive Asynchronous Discussions
Facilitators: James Olsen, Susan Pennestri
Discussion boards and other online writing spaces are powerful tools for engaging students asynchronously in discussion, reflection and meaningful processing. This session will introduce strategies and good practices for setting up and facilitating effective online discussions on Canvas, Voicethread, and Google Docs, keeping students engaged in these conversations.
Inclusive & Meaningful Engagement
Facilitators: James Olsen, Susannah McGowan
This session will explore how to design strategies and activities that are meaningful, relevant, and accessible to all students in virtual environments. We will also discuss how creating feelings of belonging and community will help engage students in learning the course material. The session will address GU-supported tools such as VoiceThread, interactive Panopto lectures in Canvas, and Zoom sessions.
Making Your Distance Course More Accessible: Using Universal Design for Learning
Facilitators: Linda Lemus, Bingran (Ann) Wang
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) works to increase access for all through designs that—from the beginning—consider needs of diverse people, rather than merely adapting when a situation requires it. This session will focus on UDL’s three key principles (multiple means of representation, expression and engagement) in order to optimize the learning experience in Canvas.
Organizing and Delivering Course Materials In Canvas
Facilitators: David Ebenbach, Lee Skallerup Bessette
When teaching at a distance, it is even more crucial to organize course materials and make them easily available and accessible to your students. This session will help you think strategically about how to organize your syllabus, assignments, and other course materials using Canvas Modules and Pages, and how these materials are an important communication mechanism with students.
Recording Good Lectures
Facilitators: Randal Ellsworth, Yiran Sun
One popular way to deliver content to students is through asynchronous recorded video lectures. This session will address when to use recorded lectures, as well as some simple things to do when recording your lectures to ensure good quality and maximize effectiveness, whether you are using Panopto, Zoom, or even the camera on your phone.
Remote Teaching Strategies & Presence
Facilitators: Maggie Debelius, Yianna Vovides
In this session, we will share good practices for teaching remotely. We will highlight strategies that focus on establishing your teaching presence and creating a virtual learning environment by using tools such as Canvas, Zoom, and Panopto to support a sense of belonging among students. This is an interactive session that will include small group and large group discussion.
Teaching Large Classes Remotely
Facilitators: Randal Ellsworth, James Olsen
This session will address the unique challenges of teaching large classes at a distance. Managing the Zoom environment for synchronous learning, including using breakout rooms, maximizing the Canvas environment, and creating effective lecture recordings, are some of the strategies that will be discussed.
The Evolving Safety Net During the Coronavirus Pandemic
Facilitators: Katie Boin, Carol Day, Phil Meilman, Joselyn Lewis
Our Jesuit mission calls us to see, know, and serve our students as “whole people,” which offers us both an opportunity and a serious responsibility. The Georgetown campus safety net operates to support our students’ health, wellness, and safety, as these affect and connect with their ability to engage in their academics. There are many new challenges to connecting with and attending to our students’ well-being when we are not able to check-in in person and yet, it’s of even greater significance for supporting them and their learning. This session is an opportunity to learn about how our campus resource professionals are working to translate in-person practices to distance practices, what students are currently experiencing with this global health pandemic, and how faculty can work with administrators to activate the campus safety net for students during this time.