Online Learning News - February 8, 2023

Free Contact North | Contact Nord Webinar

ChatGPT: Threat or Menace?

Monday, March 6, 2023
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. (ET)

Register Now!

Since its launch in November 2022, ChatGPT is causing a stir in schools, colleges, and universities. Some banned it, seeing it as a threat to academic integrity and an "engine" for academic misconduct. Others embraced it as a project and research partner, writing assistant and fast source for materials, such as references, critical ideas related to a specific topic or a code generator for software.

Faculty and instructors around the world are asking:

• What is the opportunity for ChatGPT and other similar developments in artificial intelligence and deep learning?
• What are the threats and challenges to the nature of teaching, learning and assessment and academic work?
• What does ChatGPT do well and what does it not do well, and how can we ensure users critically assess the materials, code and other “products” from ChatGPT?

These topics inform this webinar, offered by Dr. Steven Mintz, a history professor who integrated ChatGPT into his teaching at the University of Texas.

10 New Zoom Features to Enhance Your Teaching and Better Engage Your Students

Zoom has made 1,000 improvements in the past year.

To enhance your teaching and better engage your students during classes offered via Zoom, Contact North | Contact Nord highlighted the 10 most valuable, including:

1) Closed captioning
2) Enhanced whiteboard
3) Blurred background
4) PowerPoint background
5) Poll enhancements
6) Focus mode
7) Zoom apps
8) Meeting templates
9) Communication in breakout rooms
10) End of meeting surveys

These features offer a range of benefits, including accessibility, collaboration, privacy, engagement, and more.

Read the full story

Dr. Tony Bates’ Latest Blog:
Online Learning and Distance Education

In this blog post, Contact North | Contact Nord Research Associate Dr. Tony Bates reviews and discusses the essay by Sarah Elaine Eaton (University of Calgary) titled The Academic Integrity Technological Arms Race and its Impact on Learning, Teaching, and Assessment.

Read Dr. Bates’ post:

How new digital tools are impacting academic integrity

Podcasts and Vodcasts on Online Learning

Mindshare Learning Podcast

Produced by MindShareLearning, this series of podcasts focuses on education technology, innovation and leadership in the field of education.

The series includes 256 episodes with interviews with educators, technology experts, and thought leaders who share their insights and experiences related to the use of technology in the classroom and the future of education.

The podcasts provide listeners with valuable information, inspiration, and practical tips for enhancing their knowledge and skills in the field of education technology.

Choose your episode

This Week’s Must-Read Book
on Online Learning

Assessing Competencies for Social and Emotional Learning: Conceptualization, Development, and Applications

Edited by: Jeremy Burrus, Samuel H. Rikoon, Meghan W. Brenneman (2022)

Employers are seeking new hires with social and emotional intelligence, critical thinking, teamwork, and social skills.

To help foster these skills, many organizations implemented learning activities and work-based programs, but few evaluated their success.

Assessing Competencies for Social and Emotional Learning addresses this issue by offering a systematic approach to the assessment of social and emotional learning (SEL) competencies and contextual factors.

The book integrates the latest advancements in personality and attitude assessment, fairness, reliability, and validity to create a comprehensive and thorough approach to SEL assessment. It also equips education professionals with the knowledge and tools to develop and evaluate measures of social and emotional competencies and assess their impact on student attitudes, behaviours and academic performance.

Browse all Must-Read Books

Contact North I Contact Nord’s  Searchable Directory of Selected Journals  in Online and Distance Learning

Journals play essential roles in online and distance learning, for sharing the latest in research, innovation, theory, practices, and events. Educators find ideas and connections, building a collective knowledge base that advances teaching, learning, management – and student success. 

Search the Directory

Upcoming Events in Online Learning Education 

HyFlex Collaborative Conference 
Designing a Hybrid-Flexible Future for ALL K-12 Students and Adult Learners

June 26, 2023 

University at Albany, New York and online

Attend the first-ever HyFlex Collaborative Conference, either in person at the University at Albany, New York or virtually.

This innovative event is a partnership between the HyFlex Learning Community and educational experts from AATLAS, University at Albany (SUNY) School of Education, and Hunter College (CUNY).

Explore the theme of Learner Choice, Equivalency, Reusability, and Accessibility in K-12, Higher Ed, and Adult Learning through discussions on engagement, assessment, creating a seamless learning experience, and HyFlex design and delivery challenges and solutions.

The Call for Proposals is open and submissions are due by March 3, 2023.

For more information and to register

About Contact North | Contact Nord

Contact North | Contact Nord is a free, local bilingual service to help residents in 1,500+ rural and remote Ontario communities access online programs and courses from colleges, universities and training providers without having to leave their communities.

Visit contactnorth.ca for more information

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5. Searchable Directory of 1,900+ Upcoming Education and Technology Conferences From Around the World