Calling all faculty! The “some day when we leave WebCT” is drawing near! It is finally time to leave the Jurassic Era that is WebCT and move into the 21st Century – enter, Canvas!
In September the governing board approved the RFP award for the new Learning Management System to a company called Instructure with their LMS, Canvas. MCC has been selected as the first Maricopa school to move to this new system. As part of the migration from WebCT to Canvas the CTL will run two different programs in an effort to work collaboratively with the college and the unique needs of each department and hopefully, ease the migration process for everyone. Currently we anticipate that all faculty will be using the Canvas system beginning Summer I, 2012.
Canvas Pioneer Program
Summary: The Canvas Pioneer Program is a voluntary program with no stipend given. Faculty that are teaching a late-start spring course beginning no earlier than March of 2012 may apply to this program. The 25-30 faculty that are selected will receive early training and access to the production system and will be the first faculty teaching within the new Canvas LMS. They will be asked to share feedback on their migration / transition to Canvas, they will be asked to complete a survey about the training, migration, and teaching process, and they will be asked to deliver a survey to their students asking for feedback.
Selection will be based on uniqueness, discipline/department, technologies, and teaching and learning techniques so that we may fully test as many aspects of the new system as possible. A variety of departments is desired so that we can ensure we test the system early with your departments unique online teaching and learning needs.
Canvas Pioneer Application for Late-Start Spring 2012: http://tinyurl.com/canvaspioneer
Applications will be accepted until November 17th, 2011 at 5pm.
Canvas Faculty Mentoring Program
Summary: The Canvas Faculty Mentoring Program is a program for residential faculty with a maximum stipend of $2000. The selected “faculty mentors” would be given training and access to the Canvas system first so that they could help support other faculty during the migration process. These mentors will be used to staff Canvas open labs and to be liasions within your departments to ensure that all faculty have the support they need during this transition. Currently we anticipate that all faculty will be using the Canvas system beginning Summer I, 2012.
Faculty Mentor responsibilities include:
- Completing Canvas and/or Quality Matters training sessions,
- Staffing 3 open labs a month from March 2012 through September 2012 (inclusive of summer)
- Communicating Canvas updates to their assigned departments/chairs.
Selection will be based on location/department/discipline, availability during the summer months, experience in the current LMS, and experience with the Quality Matters rubric.
Canvas Faculty Mentoring Application: http://tinyurl.com/canvasmentor
Applications will be accepted until November 17th, 2011 at 5pm.
Questions? Concerns? Please contact the CTL: ctl@mesacc.edu or 480-461-7331.
Welcome back Mesa Community College! Already you have been hard at work preparing for your first days of class and diligently striving to create meaningful learning experiences for your students this semester. In just our one week back, we have been lucky to witness the fabulous, collaborative, innovative work that many of you are planning! (more…)
Take a look at the official Apple iPad guided tour. Find out how to use FaceTime, Mail, iBooks, App Store, and more! Apple iPad Essentials
The Gold Star Pilot is getting ready to begin. A faculty selection committee met to review the 25 Gold Star applications using the rubric presented at the Gold Star website. The following courses were anonymously selected for participation in Track 1, the Gold Star Pilot Redesign Program:
- CIS 105 – Chris Held
- PSY 132 – Maria Chavira
- CIS 162 AD – Juan Marquez
- CIS 233 DA – Lo-An Tabar-Gaul
- PHI 101 – Sandra Woien
- SPA 102 – Elizabeth Atencia-Oliden
- MHL 153 – Kelly Lake
- MAT 121 – Shawn Wood, Kimberly Johnson, Karen Appel
The following faculty members are serving as Mentors to the above course designers:
- Greg Pratt
- Beth Alsen
- Jennifer Caldwell
- Annapurna Ganesh
- Shelley Rodrigo
- Bonnie Black
- Sharon McLaughlin
- Sheila Merritt
- Jennifer Strickland
The time has come to say goodbye to an old friend. The CTL website has long served us well, but as with everything else it needed an upgrade. Welcome to the new site! Let us know what you think and how we can make it better!
– The CTL
What does it mean to value differences at Mesa? This semester the CTL is hosting the district training series MOSAIC: Maximizing Our Strength as An Inclusive Community series.
Beginning Friday February 4 Mosaic IA will be offered to all employees. Read the testimonies of those who have gone through MOSAIC training and details of the program. Join your colleagues as we learn about ourselves, being a member of an inclusive environment, learn necessary skills for communication, and more.
Register today!
One of the RSS feeds I subscribe to, Make Use Of, posted a link to a bunch of Physics Games.
How to Teach Broad Concepts Across Different Disciplines
