CTL Newsletter - August 2024

Colleagues - Happy New Year! Welcome back from what I hope was a long, relaxing summer period. CTL has been busy repairing classrooms, enhancing teaching technologies, and preparing a whole new set of activities and events for you for the Fall and Spring. Have questions or need support? CTL Staff and Faculty Fellows have your back in support of your teaching and learning endeavors.

Have a great semester!

Neil Hair
Executive Director, Center for Teaching and Learning

News + Updates

Call for GenAI Syllabus Statements

We have heard a number of RIT faculty request guidance on developing syllabus and course statements related to the use of Generative AI. In response, the Center for Teaching and Learning recently redeveloped our GenAI in Teaching guidance to support faculty at RIT as they consider what role GenAI may or may not have in their teaching.

The CTL would like to create a repository of RIT faculty GenAI syllabus statements for the teaching and learning community. We are currently collecting GenAI syllabus statements from faculty in all disciplines who are willing to share.

Please submit any GenAI syllabus statements you wish to share with the RIT faculty community by clicking the orange button. We thank you, in advance, for your collegiality!

Share your GenAI Syllabus Statement

New myCourses Grading Features

The myCourses vendor is adding new features to assist instructors with grading.

Instructors can have myCourses automatically give a zero grade if no submission is made by a student by the due date and time.
Coming August 16th: New workflows in Assignments help facilitate grading when there are multiple evaluators in one course. Instructors can allocate an individual evaluator to an individual student, or allocate multiple evaluators to an individual student.

Pronouns in myCourses, Zoom and Slack

Did you know that you can add your pronouns to your profiles in myCourses, Zoom, and Slack? All systems are opt-in and allow you to change your settings at any time. Pronouns need to be updated individually in each system and do not feed between systems.

New Zoom Features in myCourses

In May 2024, the Zoom integration in myCourses was upgraded to include the following features:

Access Zoom Whiteboards from within myCourses and share them automatically to students in your course.
Select students from your myCourses Classlist to pre-assign them to Zoom Breakout Rooms.
Share your Zoom Appointment Schedules across all of your courses.
Use Authentication Exception to pre-approve a guest speaker, interpreter, or captionist with a non-RIT email account to join your Zoom meeting.
Sync Zoom Meeting Attendance to myCourses Grades. (Requires RIT authenticated logins)

Join a Teaching Circle

A teaching circle is a small group of faculty who meet regularly on-campus or via Zoom to explore and discuss a specific teaching and learning topic. To join any of the wide range of circles offered this Fall, view their full descriptions on the CTL Teaching Circles website and contact the circle’s facilitator by September 3.

Classroom Reminder

Get to Know Your Classroom

As we prepare for the upcoming spring semester, here's a quick checklist to ensure a smooth start in your classrooms:

Check Out the Classroom: Take the time to get acquainted with the classrooms assigned for your courses.
Verify Laptop Compatibility: Confirm that you have the correct adapters to ensure your laptop is compatible with the classroom's technology.
Update and Restart your Laptops: Restart your laptop with the latest updates installed for a hassle-free audio-visual experience. Reach out to your department's technical support for any questions or assistance you may need.

Still have questions? Request a 1:1 training/setup session with our Classroom Technology team through our consultation request form

Let's ensure a tech-savvy and efficient start to the semester together!

Request a Consultation

Tools for Teaching

The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) supports faculty in using a variety of academic technologies. These three tools are a good place to start. Learn more visit our website.

myCourses
Learning Management System (LMS) used to share course expectations, course materials, and activity instructions to students. Learn more.

Zoom
Web conferencing solution used to facilitate synchronous remote classes, include guest speakers, and provide additional collaboration opportunities. Learn more.

Panopto
Video hosting platform used to store asynchronous course videos for streaming in myCourses.
Learn more.

Looking for more?
See our Technology for Teaching Overview, or come meet with us.

Upcoming Events

To learn more and to register please visit our Events webpage.

Teaching Strategies

Constructing a Syllabus: Drop-in Session with CTL
AUG 22 | Get feedback on your syllabus, explore ways of integrating a syllabus into myCourses, access just-in-time resources for constructing a syllabus.

Inclusive Practices: Humanizing Your Syllabus Through Web Design
AUG 28 | This session will introduce faculty to the idea of a “Liquid Syllabus” which leverages responsive design to create a more equitable and accessible course syllabus.

TA Training: Orientation Session / Kick Off
AUG 28 | Introducing TAs to the role and responsibilities.

Conversations on Student Support: Classroom Management
SEP 4 | A collaborative series to assist faculty with various aspects of classroom management.

TA Training: Orientation Session / Kick Off
SEP 6 | Introducing TAs to the role and responsibilities.

Conversations on Student Support
SEP 11 | A collaborative series to assist faculty with various aspects of classroom management.

TA Training: Classroom Management and Active Learning
SEP 11 | Working in the space and interacting with students / groups.

Teaching Tools

Intro to Teaching Technologies as RIT
AUG 19 | Learn about the must-know tools available to faculty.

myCourses Help Session
AUG 21 | Drop in session for faculty to ask any question they want about myCourses.

myCourses Help Session
AUG 27 | Drop in session for faculty to ask any question they want about myCourses.

Leveraging Google Sites for Engaged Learning
SEP 10 | Build course materials, a liquid syllabi, and project based learning with student created sites.

Generative AI

AI in the Design Process
SEP 10 | Faculty from 3D Digital and Industrial Design will share their insights and workflows for the creative and responsible use of AI tools, including Vizcom, Generative Design, Chat GPT, and others

FRAM Signature Event: Panel Discussion on AI in Higher Education
SEP 23 | Explore the transformative impact of AI on modern educational practices with the Fram Signature guest speaker Kerri Holley and RIT Faculty.

CTL Partners

Introduction to RIT's Academic Alert System - Starfish
AUG 20 @ 11am | AUG 20 @ 6pm
This session is for new faculty or any current faculty who would like to gain an understanding of the Starfish Academic Alert System.

Adding Office Hours in Starfish
AUG 22 | AUG 28
This session is for instructors who would like assistance completing their Academic Progress Reports in Starfish.

Explore all our Events

Tool Tip

myCourses Discussion Participation Grade

Do you want to grade on discussion participation? You can view myCourses the discussion statistics then manually bulk grade students who have participated.