center for INNOVATION in teaching, assessment, and learning

january 14, 2025

Dear Colleagues,

Welcome back and Happy New Year! We hope that you had a wonderful holiday break and were able to recharge with friends and family. As always, we have hit the ground running and hope the semester is off to a great start. In this issue of the newsletter, you will find a blog about our recent Teaching Tools Symposium that was successfully led by faculty and CITAL staff. You will also find a link and information regarding the OER awards from the Christopher Center Library. Finally, there are resources provided for the upcoming full transition to Canvas, as well as information on Quality Matters and Simple Syllabus. We are so excited for this new year and look forward to continuing to support faculty innovation on campus.

Sincerely,

The CITAL Team (Ed, Cindy, Gina, and Marsennia)

Presenters at the 2025 Teaching Tool Symposium

January Teaching Tools Symposium

On Tuesday, January 7, 2025, CITAL conducted a half-day Symposium on Teaching Tools. Faculty learned from their colleagues and CITAL staff about some of the best online teaching tools available to enhance student learning and engagement. There were sessions on three free learning tools that integrate completely with Canvas.

To read the full article, click here: Teaching Tools Symposium

Open Educational Resource (OER) Development Awards

The Christopher Center Library is excited to accept proposals for the OER Development Awards for the 2025-26 academic year.

The OER Development Award is a faculty incentive program that encourages the use of existing open licensed or free information resources to support our students’ learning. The Christopher Center Library has helped multiple faculty members in Economics, Mathematics, Psychology, Sociology, and Engineering transition to an OER, saving students in these classes thousands of dollars in textbook costs.

If you are interested in applying for an OER Development Award, visit http://libguides.valpo.edu/OER/awards to apply.

Proposals will be accepted until March 19, 2025.

WILL YOU BE READY?

Request Blackboard Course Content Migrations
for Spring & Summer NOW!

Blackboard will end at Valpo on June 30, 2025.

Canvas courses can be created from scratch or by migrating existing content from your previous Blackboard courses. The migration process may take several weeks, so now is the time to request for spring & summer 2025.

Click here for the Request Form to Migrate Previous Blackboard Courses

Would you like some help with your Canvas courses?

CITAL is available for small group and one-on-one sessions via Zoom or Live on Campus.

You can make your request to CITAL@valpo.edu.

Faculty and students also have 24/7 Canvas Help and Support directly from Canvas via their Help Desk, Live Chat, and Phone. To access their help, click the "?" icon at the bottom of your Canvas Global Navigation Menu.

Time Savings Tips in Canvas

This recorded session is well worth 58 minutes of your time. It is presented and provided by Heidi Redmond, Senior Account Executive, Higher Education | Canvas Instructure, Inc. You will learn time-saving tips for Speed Grader, Audio/Video feedback on student work, Comment Library, Calendar, Smart Search, Accessibility Checker, and more.

Confidential Course Self-Review Tool

Would you like to see if your online course can meet Quality Matters (QM) certification standards? Reach out to CITAL@valpo.edu to learn how you can begin your QM journey by using the confidential self-review tool.

Not a temporary lifeline: How to scale online education to match student demand

An excellent online course is not just a clone of your traditional face-to-face course. The following article explains why the advantages of designing a thoroughly integrated online course far outweigh the challenges. By Deb Adair, the CEO of Quality Matters.

Access Made Simple: Webinar on Syllabus Accessibility

When: LIVE TODAY! Tuesday, 1/14/2025 @ 2pm

Unlock the Power of Accessibility in Your Syllabus! In this 30-minute session, you’ll discover how to make your syllabus accessible for students. This live session will walk you through the Simple Syllabus Accessibility Checker and show you easy-to-apply tips and tricks to ensure that your syllabus is as inclusive as it is informative. You'll learn how to:

Improve your images by adding alt tags to ensure everyone can access your content
Make your tables clearer with captions and heading rows for better readability
Check your fonts to ensure perfect contrast ratios for accessibility
Organize your text by applying the right subheadings to improve navigation and flow

This event is FREE! To register, Click Here.

(If you register and attend, you can request a recorded copy to share.)

Visit the CITAL Website, Your One-Stop-Shop for Faculty Resources

Submit a CITAL Helpdesk Ticket

219.464.50001700 Chapel Drive, Valparaiso, IN 46383-6493 USAvalpo.edu

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