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Welcome to Vanderbilt, New Faculty!
Aug. 18, 2022—If you are new to teaching at Vanderbilt, I hope you got to attend the CFT’s new faculty orientation called Teaching at Vanderbilt (TAV). It’s always a wonderful opportunity to get to know new faces and learn some tips for success at Vanderbilt. I did a session at TAV this year called Tools for success: The educational...
Support for Online Challenges: Labs, Group Work, and Class Discussions
Mar. 28, 2022—In a recent article, Inside Higher Ed described the results of a new survey highlighting a few of the biggest challenges instructors have faced during remote and online teaching over the last two years. You can find the article here: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2022/03/23/survey-views-pandemic-learning-overwhelmingly-negative According to this survey, labs, group work, and class discussions have been the...
Updated Teaching Guide: Personal Devices in the Classroom (Formerly Wireless in the Classroom)
Dec. 2, 2021—The CFT first published a guide on considering how to work with wireless devices in the classroom in 2010. Given the rapidly changing digital landscape since then, this guide has been updated to better consider and account for the changes in how personal electronic devices are used, and how widespread they have become. It considers how personal electronic devices (especially laptops) can impact learning in...
A Survey to Assess Student Needs in Your Course
Aug. 20, 2021—As we near the beginning of a new semester, many of us are thinking about how we can make space in our classrooms to learn about our students’ needs. In higher education, the question of how we can support students coming back to campus after mostly online experiences is a hot topic in almost every...
Welcome to Vanderbilt, New Faculty!
Aug. 19, 2021—If you are new to teaching at Vanderbilt, I hope you got to attend the CFT’s new faculty orientation called Teaching at Vanderbilt (TAV). It’s always a wonderful opportunity to get to know new faces and learn some tips for success at Vanderbilt. I did a session at TAV this year called Tools for success:...
Brightspace hours in July and August
Jul. 4, 2021—For many of us at Vanderbilt, August is the busiest month of the year. That is certainly true for us here at Brightspace support at the CFT! And to get ready for our return to campus in August, we have new guides and resources, new faces, and a new expanded schedule ready to unveil. August...
The Brightspace Support Team is Taking Time for Professional Development
May. 22, 2021—The Brightspace team normally provides support to the Vanderbilt campus Sunday through Friday, usually from 7am to 11pm. In particular over the last year at Vanderbilt, we have been proud to step up to the challenges of remote and online teaching and offer expanded hours and services. For the next 10 days, the Brightspace team...
All About Recording – New Guides for Faculty!
Oct. 6, 2020—Have you been wondering about recording your live class meetings? We have several new guides available on our On-Demand Resources page that will walk you through some commonly asked questions. Should I record my live class meeting? New! How can I record and share my class meetings with my students? New! Can I record and...
What is click tracking? How should instructors use it to improve their courses?
Sep. 3, 2020—Click tracking refers to the ability that both instructors and students have in Brightspace to see where students have clicked within a course. This tool can be very useful for students trying to track their own progress in a course and for instructors evaluating their own course design and learning activities. However, this tool should...
Brush up on some essential Brightspace skills before teaching in an online or hybrid format this fall!
Jul. 28, 2020—Join Stacey, the CFT’s Assistant Director for Educational Technology, on Zoom for workshops about Brightspace tools including Discussions and Grades/Feedback. You can register and learn more about the available workshops on the Brightspace workshops page. If you will be using Brightspace for the first time and want to get to know the content and navigation tools,...