This year’s faculty institute was a huge success!
This year's Faculty Institute was held at the Charlotte Campus on Saturday, April 13th. The day was filled with collaboration, sharing of knowledge, and discussions on everything Edison Online faculty are faced with while teaching in the online environment.Throughout the day, participants were engulfed with best practices in which they were able to learn more about and take back to use in their courses online.
The day started off with Dean Mary Myers welcoming everyone and thanking them for their continuous hard work in the department.
Next up was Kim Turano, Edison Online’s Student Support Specialist, who spoke about the Edison State College Early Alert System. If you missed the session and are interested in learning more about the system, Kim is holding a webinar on the Early Alert System on Wednesday May 15th. Registration for this session is available through the Portal.
Later in the day, participants split into two groups for breakout sessions. Six Edison Online Faculty members presented to participants on a variety of topics:
- Tim Bishop previewed the new library resources redesign, including the Edison Library’s YouTube channel. Videos review common library tools and research strategies, including how to search the library database. These videos are available as long-running videos and as shorter partial videos for ala carte use.
- Marsa Detscher spoke on learner engagement. She explained the three types of engagement: behavioral, emotional, and cognitive. Interest in the topic boosts emotional engagement and increases retention. She went on to explain the different engagement techniques: multiple methods of student/student interaction and multiple ways of creating student/instructor connection.
- Jean Labriola’s session centered on how to encourage critical thinking and writing skills in science courses using case studies, debates, discussions, and essay exams. Jean explained that science and healthcare fields need graduates that can think critically, express themselves clearly, and work with others. She discussed how these activities in her science courses push students to not only recall material but also use the soft skills needed in the field after graduation.
- Stefanie Sanders went over TurnItIn and Grademark. Sometimes using Crocodoc can be confusing and hard for students to find instructor comments. Using Grademark requires students to use the TurnItIn feature Edison State College provides to its faculty for plagiarism. The built-in Grademark feature allows students to see their originality report and professor comments all in one clean, easy-to-read screen.
- Tom Swierz spoke about his student contact information form. He explained that most students ask questions in math courses that are too complex to explain via email. Tom uses a PDF file to retrieve student’s personal information so he can contact students when needed. He stated that the students can also benefit from actually hearing the voice of their professor and feel more at ease in a live phone conference and that contributes to his success rate and retention of students in his courses.
- Myra Walters' session included tips and tricks on how to use the media tool while in Canvas. She requires her students in speech classes to use this feature in discussions. After explaining how to record and upload a video to a discussion, Myra discussed how much more personal it is for students to interact with each other using this feature because they can actually see and hear one another.
The 2013 Edison Online Faculty Institute was a huge success. Edison Online is in the process of converting the speed sessions listed above into webinars and workshops for those who were unable to attend. To keep updated on all the latest professional development opportunities Edison Online offers, make sure to check out http://online.edison.edu, or Instructor Information Station announcements.
This post was written by Thomas Turano (Coordinator, Training and Support).

