Monthly Archives

May 2024

Smeal Academy Newsletter: Access Matters Edition

Smeal Academy Newsletter: Access Matters Edition

The Smeal Academy is brought to you by the eLearning Design and Innovation Group at the Smeal College of Business at The Pennsylvania State University. The goal of the Smeal Academy is to equip the Smeal community with best practices and strategies for teaching and learning with technology to support Smeal’s business education and research needs.

A computer with a refreshable braille display.

Photo by Elizabeth Woolner on Unsplash

Equitable Education Resources

This week we are focusing on the importance of accessibility in education. Our Smeal Academy podcast features Michael Christie from the eLDIG team who works with our team to ensure Smeal’s online course content is accessible to all learners and sums up accessibility this way: “[Accessibility is] to ensure an equal learning experience for everyone.” Whether disabilities are visible or not, all students can benefit from well-designed and accessible Canvas courses.

Summer is a great time to take a closer look at your courses and check to see that students are being offered equal learning experiences. eLDIG has a variety of resources to help!

  • Use Ally in Canvas: Anthology Ally is a Canvas plugin designed to enhance the accessibility and usability of courses for learners of different abilities and backgrounds. It provides “Alternative Format” tools that allow students to download different versions of course content. It also generates course accessibility reports for instructors with accessibility “scores” for individual items in the course. Learn more on Penn State Accessibility’s website. And join us for a Smeal Academy session devoted to Anthology Ally next week! Zoom connection information can be found below.
  • Review Course Accessibility: Michael shared his best tips for reviewing accessibility in a recent Smeal Academy Session. Check out this brief overview of easy ways to update your course over the summer to improve accessibility.
  • Avoid Vibrating Color Combinations: PowerPoint slides posted online for students should be accessible. Here are some tips for creating PowerPoint slides that are accessible for all. And while bright colors can be fun, they can make your slides hard to read! Here are some tips for avoiding certain color combos.

Want to learn more about Michael and eLDIG’s accessibility efforts? Check out this week’s new podcast, Meet the eLDIG Team: Michael Christie, Instructional Technology Specialist, by clicking below! Smeal Academy Podcasts are released weekly (or so) and housed on our eLDIG website or follow the Smeal Academy Podcast on your preferred podcatcher!

Upcoming Smeal Academy Sessions

  • Anthology Ally: What’s Your Score?
    The University has enabled a Canvas feature called Ally which helps support our goals of equity and inclusion, improving course accessibility and usability. Learn more about the accessibility of the resources in your Canvas spaces, and how you can improve your Ally “score.” Join us on Wednesday, May 29, 2024, from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. EST via Zoom. Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://psu.zoom.us/j/710269538?pwd=VmNhWEl5R241YlloWHF5WTFpODVKZz09. Password: Smeal.
  • Smeal Academy Summer Book Club
    This summer, we will read The Spark of Learning by Sarah Rose Cavanagh. We will meet three times over the summer to discuss the book. Join us for our first discussion on Tuesday, June 11, 2024, from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. EST via Zoom. Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://psu.zoom.us/j/710269538?pwd=VmNhWEl5R241YlloWHF5WTFpODVKZz09. Password: Smeal.

NOTE: Recordings and resources from previous Smeal Academy sessions can be found on our eLDIG Website.

eLDIG ID Tips

  • Tip #1: Include Attributions and Citations. In addition to ensuring the accessibility of course materials, it is also important to lead by example for our students and include attributions and citations when incorporating others’ work in our course materials. The PSU Libraries provide guidance on how to do this. Or reach out to eLDIG if you have questions!
  • Tip #2: Canvas Course Archiving May 29th. On May 29, 2024, Penn State IT will perform its regular archiving of older Canvas courses. You may choose to delay particular courses from being archived by using the in-Canvas Course Archive Manager tool.  Archiving on May 29 includes:
      • All LionPATH courses taught prior to and including Spring 2023 (LionPATH term 2231).
      • All LionPATH courses that you may have previously opted out of archiving between Fall 2022 (LionPATH term 2228) and before, inclusive.
      • Non-LionPATH courses, including Master, Manually Created, and Sandbox courses will not be archived on May 29, 2024.

    Full details, including instructions on how to opt a course out of archiving or request content from a course in long-term storage, are available in the Penn State Knowledge Base.

Contact Us

Email us at eldig@smeal.psu.edu or fill out the eLDIG Contact form and we will be in touch.

Responsible use of Artificial Intelligence in Business Education and Research Reading and Discussion Group – John Liechty, Facilitator

Join us for the fifth session of a Smeal series on the role of artificial intelligence in our teaching and research, which will focus on our shared commitment to preparing leaders to leverage artificial intelligence responsibly in business. John will share some trends in fields related to Marketing and how they impact his approach to teaching at Smeal. Please refer to John’s TEDxPSU talk in preparation for this session.

Resources

 

Smeal Academy Newsletter: Inclusive Classrooms Edition

Smeal Academy Newsletter: Inclusive Classrooms Edition

The Smeal Academy is brought to you by the eLearning Design and Innovation Group at the Smeal College of Business at The Pennsylvania State University. The goal of the Smeal Academy is to equip the Smeal community with best practices and strategies for teaching and learning with technology to support Smeal’s business education and research needs.

Photo by Pavlos Vaenas on Unsplash

STAC and Inclusive Classrooms

Welcome to the first week of the regular summer session! Over the next three months, the goal of the Smeal Academy will be to continue to share new ideas for teaching and learning. Whether you are teaching this summer or thinking of modifications you want to make for fall, you should find many ideas for using technology to make meaningful change in teaching and learning.

This week we are revisiting the important topic of inclusive classrooms. In this week’s podcast, Olivia and Emily talk about how to help students feel seen in your classroom. Here are some of our favorite ideas:

  • Who’s In Class? Olivia talks in the podcast about the importance of recognizing the many identities and roles that students bring into the classroom. It is helpful to start the semester with an anonymous survey to learn more about who is in your class. Use this example as a guide for questions you might choose to include. Then create a survey in Canvas, Forms, or Qualtrics to anonymously survey students.
  • Add Your Pronouns: Olivia also shared about how listing your pronouns is an important signal to your students that you are aware of their importance. Penn State has easy instructions for adding your pronouns to your Canvas course. For anyone not using Canvas, your email signature and/or LinkedIn profile are other good places to share that information.
  • Review Accessibility: The summer can also be a good time to review your course materials and ensure they are accessible for all, whether students have disability accommodations or one of the many hidden disabilities Olivia mentioned in the podcast. Check out this brief overview of easy ways you can update your course over the summer to improve accessibility.

Want to learn more about Olivia and Smeal’s diversity enhancement efforts? Check out this week’s new podcast, Olivia Lewis, Director of Diversity Enhancement Programs by clicking below! Smeal Academy Podcasts are released weekly and housed on our eLDIG website or follow the Smeal Academy Podcast on your preferred podcatcher!

Upcoming Smeal Academy Sessions

  • Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence in Business Education and Research Reading and Discussion Group – John Liechty, Facilitator
    Join us for the fourth session of a Smeal series on the role of artificial intelligence in our teaching and research, which will focus on our shared commitment to preparing leaders to leverage artificial intelligence responsibly in business. John will share some trends in fields related to marketing and how they impact his approach to teaching at Smeal. Join us on Wednesday, May 15, 2024, from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. EST via Zoom. Contact eLDIG if you would like a meeting invitation with a Zoom link.
  • * NEW​ * Anthology Ally: What’s Your Score?
    The University has enabled a Canvas feature called Ally which helps support our goals of equity and inclusion, improving course accessibility and usability. Learn more about the accessibility of the resources in your Canvas spaces, and how you can improve your Ally “score.” Join us on Wednesday, May 29, 2024, from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. EST via Zoom. Contact eLDIG if you would like a meeting invitation with a Zoom link.
  • Smeal Academy Summer Book Club – Session 1
    This summer, we will read The Spark of Learning by Sarah Rose Cavanagh. We will meet three times over the summer to discuss the book. Join us for our first discussion on Tuesday, June 11, 2024, from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. EST via Zoom. Contact eLDIG if you would like a meeting invitation with a Zoom link

NOTE: Recordings and resources from previous Smeal Academy sessions can be found on our eLDIG Website.

eLDIG ID Tips

  • Tip #1: Sign up for STAC (Smeal Together Achieving Change)!
    In this week’s podcast, we learned all about the STAC program at Smeal. Registration will soon be open for the summer cohort, which will be held entirely over Zoom. It is open to Smeal faculty and staff. Watch for the email and sign up!
  • Tip #2: Kaltura Media Player Updating May 15th
    On May 15th, the V7 Player will automatically replace the player shown in several areas:

    • MediaSpace: Users will encounter the V7 player when viewing MediaSpace pages.
    • Canvas: My Media entry page, Media Gallery, Media Gallery Playlists, and New LTI embeds will use the V7 player.

    On May 16th, all LTI Embeds added prior to May 16th will be automatically migrated to the V7 Player. Media accessed through assistive technology like screen readers can navigate the player controls using this Knowledge Base Article.

    Important Note: The V7 player will not be available through the “Share” function on May 15th due to some issues found in testing. The Kaltura team will provide more information on when this function will be available. Content using the Kaltura Embed/share function will need to be migrated manually to utilize the new player. Information on that process is being developed and will be released over the coming months. Please review this Knowledge Base article comparing the new and old players for more information.

Contact Us

Email us at eldig@smeal.psu.edu or fill out the eLDIG Contact form and we will be in touch.

Smeal Academy Newsletter: Kickoff to Summer Edition

Smeal Academy Newsletter: Kickoff to Summer Edition

The Smeal Academy is brought to you by the eLearning Design and Innovation Group at the Smeal College of Business at The Pennsylvania State University. The goal of the Smeal Academy is to equip the Smeal community with best practices and strategies for teaching and learning with technology to support Smeal’s business education and research needs.

Photo by SOCIAL.CUT on Unsplash

Happy Summer!

Though technically we have not arrived at the summer solstice, this week marks the start of Penn State’s summer calendar, with the launch of Maymester and regular session summer courses beginning next week. Here are eLDIG’s tips for this new academic season:

Want more book recommendations? Check out this week’s new podcast, Meet the eLDIG Team – Chris Coyne, Instructional Designer by clicking below! Chris is an avid reader and made some fiction and non-fiction recommendations in addition to his reflections on teaching and learning. Smeal Academy Podcasts are released weekly and housed on our eLDIG website or follow the Smeal Academy Podcast on your preferred podcatcher!

Upcoming Smeal Academy Sessions

  • Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence in Business Education and Research Reading and Discussion Group – John Liechty, Facilitator
    Join us for the fourth session of a Smeal series on the role of artificial intelligence in our teaching and research, which will focus on our shared commitment to preparing leaders to leverage artificial intelligence responsibly in business. John will share some trends in fields related to marketing and how they impact his approach to teaching at Smeal. Join us on Wednesday, May 15, 2024, from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. EST via Zoom. Contact eLDIG if you would like a meeting invitation with a Zoom link.
  • Smeal Academy Summer Book Club – Session 1
    This summer, we will read The Spark of Learning by Sarah Rose Cavanagh. We will meet three times over the summer to discuss the book. Join us for our first discussion on Tuesday, June 11, 2024, from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. EST via Zoom. Contact eLDIG if you would like a meeting invitation with a Zoom link

NOTE: Recordings and resources from previous Smeal Academy sessions can be found on our eLDIG Website.

eLDIG ID Tips

    • Tip #1: Announcements and Discussions Redesign
      If you opened a Canvas discussion today, you may have noticed it looks different! The Canvas Announcements and Discussions Redesign was forced on for all Penn State courses today. We recently held a Smeal Academy Zoom session discussing the changes. Check it out to learn more!
    • Tip #2: Canvas Website Update May 9
      On Thursday, May 9th, the Canvas service website (canvas.psu.edu) will be updated and automatically redirected to a new URL (https://www.it.psu.edu/services/canvas/). The site will feature a revamped interface and improved accessibility. You will now find the Login button on the right side of the page, just below the menu bar. Links to the old site should be updated to use the new URL. Note: To access Canvas directly, bookmark psu.instructure.com.

Contact Us

Email us at eldig@smeal.psu.edu or fill out the eLDIG Contact form and we will be in touch.