How to Fit Teaching PD Back Into Your Year

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Free Webinars, podcasts, and resources on U of A Teaching and Learning Topics.

Professional development opportunities have been hard to come by and harder to prioritize since the pandemic hit in March. Of course, in this same period instructors across the U of A have re-imagined their teaching practices at an unparalleled pace as they've transitioned to remote courses. With nearly two thirds of the fall semester now behind us, we're seeing PD resurface - particularly as we look forward to annual reviews. Just because we're working remotely and conferences have gone online, however, doesn't mean that we have to take a break from growing as instructors and academics.

Under normal circumstances we hold a celebration of teaching ideas and innovations, the Festival of Teaching and Learning, every spring at the University of Alberta. It goes without saying that our May 2020 festival was put on hold, but it's our pleasure to introduce a new format that fits our remote teaching reality - and hopefully helps you fit teaching and learning PD back into your year.

This year's festival is taking place between October 2020 and April 2021 as a series of virtual webinars, podcasts, and online resources and posters. Unsurprisingly online and remote teaching and learning are priorities - as are areas where U of A instructors are requesting support, such as fostering academic integrity online. Our first webinar in October included three presentations on Creating a Culture of Academic Integrity and Honesty in Online Courses from different disciplinary perspectives, and the recordings from that session will be available on the Festival of Teaching and Learning website shortly.

We invite you to join us for upcoming sessions to fit some teaching PD back into your year - the first of which is coming up next week:

November 3rd from 11-12pm Webinar: Online videos and augmented reality in the higher education classroomsOnline videos and augmented reality in the higher education classrooms

In this second FoTL 2020 session, we will explore the role of videos and augmented reality in the delivery of material in the modern classroom. Instructors looking to learn about the latest innovations in online teaching and learning at the U of A will learn about:

  • Augmented Reality application to develop learning tool for students: Transforming cellphones into flashcards (Dentistry)
  • Implementation of augmented reality teaching tools in biomedical sciences (Cell Biology & Mechanical Engineering)
  • Online instructional videos: Best practice and leveraging analytical data (School of Library and Information Studies, Political Science, Library & Museums)

You can register for the November 3 session here, and learn more about upcoming festival sessions on the CTL website.

We look forward to seeing you there.

- Cosette & Emily

We also want to give special thanks to Ed Developer Ellen Watson, who worked through the summer to review feedback and re-envision the festival for 2020-2021.

Cosette Lemelin, PhD, is the Assistant Director of the Centre for Teaching and Learning at the U of A.

Emily Block, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Strategy, Entrepreneurship and Management at the Alberta School of Business.

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