center for INNOVATION in teaching, assessment, and learning

cital newsletter

january 30, 2024

Dear Colleagues:

The semester is moving quickly and with all of the weather, deadlines, and classroom conversations, we know it can seem hectic. As always, CITAL is here to support you in any way we can. Whether it is help with Simple Syllabus (over 75 percent of all syllabi are submitted!), Blackboard, or thinking through course design, we are happy to work with you on your journey. In this issue, we will be giving a brief update on the LMS search, highlighting a blog article by Jon Bull on Valpo Scholar, and providing useful tips on navigating the Simple Syllabus new view, finding the photo roster, offering help to students, and the Quality Matters (QM) Self Review tool. We wish you all the best in the coming weeks.

Sincerely,

The CITAL Team (Ed, Gina, and Cindy)

LMS Search Update

We are excited to be concluding the sandbox phase of the search for a new Learning Management System. Over the next few months, we will be asking sandbox participants to complete surveys and focus groups to help determine the next steps in the process. As always, we appreciate the engagement of faculty in helping us to identify the best system for Valpo moving forward.

What is New in ValpoScholar?

By Jon Bull, Associate Professor of Library Science

What Is ValpoScholar?

Since 2011 ValpoScholar has been Valpo’s institutional repository, hosted by the Christopher Center Library. In short, the platform tries to collect the university’s intellectual output in one place. That output includes University Archives, student work, faculty work, original journals and textbooks. ValpoScholar is like an electronic press, but without all of the paygates. In total, there are over 11,000 records in the repository that have been downloaded over 6.7 million times with more than 809,000 downloads in the past year alone. You can access the repository here: ValpoScholar

To Read the Full Article, Click Here: https://www.valpo.edu/cital/2024/01/29/what-is-new-in-valposcholar/

To sign up for this workshop, click here.

Don't Forget to Submit Your Changes

You can edit your Simple Syllabi for the entire current semester, but you'll need to click the Submit button to save any updates. Once the semester officially ends, a syllabus from that term can no longer be changed.

Image of Valpo Students - Link to Valpo's Self Service for Faculty

Student Photo Roster

Getting to know your students' names can be a challenge, especially in large enrollment courses. Having a student photo roster can help. While this feature is no longer available in Blackboard, you can still get a photo roster in Valpo's Self-Service for faculty.

When you log in to Self-Service (DataVU,) select Faculty then click on your Course name, and a student roster that includes photos will be available to you.

Link to Student Life Student Support web page

Help Your Students: Add this Line to Your Email Signature

Sometimes our students need help, and they do not know where to get it. You may not know either. That is why student life came up with the “I Need Help Form.”

One way to keep this useful link in front of your students is to add it to your email signature. (And be sure to let them know from time to time that it is there.)

Here is a sample signature line with a link:

Students: Do you have a challenge that is affecting your ability to be successful at Valpo? Then please fill out this I Need Help Form. This makes asking for help easy, especially if you don’t know who to contact.

QM Certification: Self-Review Tool

The Self-Review tool allows you to confidentially evaluate your own course against the QM Rubric. sing the Self-Review tool, you can examine the different design components of an online course and begin to understand the best practices that create quality courses.

Watch this QM Self-View Tutorial Video to learn how or download the Self-Review Tutoral Transcript.

Submit a CITAL Help Desk Ticket to request a QM user account to access Valpo's QM membership website for you to get started using the Self-Review tool today!

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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