Flexible Active Teaching & Learning

Faculty and Staff Resources

In response to the COVID-19 crisis we rapidly converted over 240 courses to be delivered remotely to students for the second half of the semester. This was a remarkable accomplishment and positively impacted the lives of over 2,000 students, who also had to rapidly adapt to a new mode of learning among the other life challenges they faced. This unprecedented crisis showed that we could teach effectively online and it has changed the mindsets to this end of many faculty, in our college and across the country.  Moreover, this crisis has permanently changed how we will teach in higher education. We saw the first phase of this at scale in fall 2020.

Under our current circumstances it is essential that all CEDC courses continue to be of the highest quality, and we will take great efforts to make sure this is the case. We must develop all courses so they can be delivered with a robust and high-quality “digital backbone” implemented through the Canvas learning management system. They all should be constructed so they can be delivered in a hybrid in-person/online active learning mode with the ability to flex to a substantial, if not completely, online delivery mode. In order to do this, CEDC has invested in training for both new pedagogy and the use of technology as well as provided resources for faculty to develop their offerings in this new delivery mode.

This website provides resources to help prepare faculty to transition their courses from traditional, in-person courses to a hybrid, active-learning course.

Available Tools

Canvas

Faculty should all use Canvas as their course content management platform. For those not familiar with Canvas, please refer to this link. The following resources are available to help faculty create high-quality Canvas sites.

  • A Canvas course template developed by the Instructional Design and Program Development Team in the Office of Digital Education; reference the quick video on this page for additional information.
  • Canvas Commons: search course designs from across the country to see how other faculty have developed their courses for online delivery.
  • CEDC is creating a template to help faculty move courses onto Canvas. That template will be placed here once complete.

Recommended Canvas Home Page Template

Sample Canvas welcome page

Zoom

Zoom is the primary video and web conferencing tool for CU Denver | Anschutz and should be used by all faculty to meet with students synchronously, record asynchronously, and provide an interactive environment for teaching and learning. Learn about the basics here.

Techsmith Knowmia

TechSmith Knowmia creates a secure online storage space for videos and allows videos to easily be embedded into Canvas pages. It also provides easy-to-use recording and editing tools such as Captioning and Cropping. Learn more about the basics here.

Microsoft OneDrive

Microsoft OneDrive is available to all CU Denver | Anschutz faculty, staff, and students for free and provides 1TB of cloud storage to each user. Files can easily be stored, shared, and distributed for individuals or groups.

Exams and Proctoring

Proctoring tools such as Proctorio, Turnitin, and Respondus Exam Builder, allow instructors to more securely administer online exams or check for plagiarism.

While these tools are available, they each have their weaknesses including concerns about privacy and the equipment a student might need to make use of these tools. We encourage faculty to think carefully about how they might approach testing and the need for proctoring.

For additional material, please see Educause and guidelines.

Techsmith SnagIt and Camtasia

TechSmith SnagIt and Camtasia allow you to push your online teaching to even greater limits by providing additional features for capturing processes, annotating explanations, and creating visual instructions. You can record your screen and edit videos easily as well. Learn more about SnagIt here, and sign up for workshops here!

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is a collaboration tool that is a part of the Office 365 suite of tools available to all faculty, staff, and students. Please visit the OIT webpage to learn more.

Peer Support

The following CEDC faculty and staff have agreed to be a resource for other teaching faculty on technology. 

Farnoush Banaei-Kashani
Caroline Clevenger
Dan Connors
Roxann Hayes
Kendall Hunter
Susan Stirrup
Kenny Sisco

Learning Design & Technology

CEDC has partnered with the Learning Design & Technology department within the School of Education and Human Development to provide resources, advice, and expertise to faculty. Please reach out to them via email to schedule an appointment if you have any questions, comments, or ideas you would like to share.
cedc@ldt.agency

Office of Digital Education

The Office of Digital Education is providing 1-on-1 consultations with ODE Instructional Designers, Consultants, and Faculty Colleagues. These are by-appointment only in 30 minute increments. Sign up for a session here!

OIT Service Desk

The OIT Service Desk is available to support technology that is centrally-managed within CU Denver | Anschutz Medical Campus, including Canvas, Zoom, Techsmith Relay, Office 365, and more.

CEDC IT Service Desk

The CEDC IT Service Desk is available to support CEDC faculty, staff, and students with any technology needs, specifically those that are unique to the College of Engineering, Design and Computing.

Digital Teaching and Learning Resources

In collaboration with the Learning Design & Technology Department within the School of Education and Human Development, CEDC broadcasted a Digital Teaching and Learning Resources. Please reach out to cedc@ldt.agency with problems, questions, or recommendations.

 

College of Engineering, Design and Computing

CU Denver

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1200 Larimer Street

Suite 3034

Denver, CO 80204


303-315-7170

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