Contact North | Contact Nord Webinars

Webinar Title	Date	Time (Eastern)	Host
The Future of Learning Management Systems Register Some have argued that the LMS is “dying” as more and more organizations seek greater flexibility and functionality, especially as 5G begins to roll-out with opportunities for augmented and virtual reality, fast artificial intelligence applications and new forms of course design. Explore with Phil Hill: What is likely to happen to the platforms themselves. What is changing now and what will change in the future? How will AI and augmented reality impact the LMS? What is likely to happen to the platforms themselves. What is it that learners and their instructors need to see in their online platform?	June 09, 2020	1:00 p.m.- 2:00 p.m.	Phil Hill Educational Technology Consultant and Industry Analyst Phil Hill (@PhilOnEdTech) is Publisher of the PhilOnEdTech blog and Partner at MindWires, LLC. As a market analyst, Phil has analyzed the growth of technology-enabled change for educational institutions, uncovering and describing the major trends and implications for the broader market. His unique graphics and visual presentations have been widely used in the industry. As an independent consultant, Phil helps educational institutions, technology and content vendors, and policy makers as they consider and implement new initiatives. Phil’s clients have included Western Governors University, California Community College System, Iowa State University, Bournemouth University, Pearson Education, Coursera, multiple investment firms, and others. Previously Phil was an independent consultant through HBO Systems and Delta Initiative. In addition to e-Literate, Phil has also written for EDUCAUSE Review, Inside Higher Ed, and the Washington Post. He has been also been interviewed and quoted at National Public Radio, Inside Higher Ed, the Chronicle of Higher Education, the New York Times, Buzzfeed Education, and Washington Business Journal.
How to Design the Learning to Make the Most of This Type of Delivery and Go Beyond the Simple Digitalization of the Traditional Classroom (Second Offering) Register Go beyond using online teaching and learning platforms to present, distribute materials, offer office hours and collect assignments. Think about teaching and learning differently. Go beyond the “quick and easy” solution. Design a really engaging course which students do well in. Focus on the five design features to help you achieve the following: • Authentic and relevant course resources connected to practice. • Use of multimedia resources to give students different routes to learning. • Student creation of digital content individually and collaboratively. • Students’ reflection on what they are learning and how they are learning. • Your need to explain why the course is designed the way it is – explaining what you expect and how a learner can effectively use the course. Five Key Takeaways 1. Key design elements to think about when creating a course based on best practice. 2. Getting different learning materials – video, audio, simulation, games, text – into your course. 3. Helping students create content worth sharing. 4. Helping students “own” their learning. Tools to use to help students reflect not only on what they are learning, but how. 5. Staying engaged with students and explain why you are asking them to do what you are asking th	June 11, 2020	11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.	Dr. Stephen Murgatroyd Contact North \| Contact Nord Chief Innovation Officer Dr. Murgatroyd has over thirty years’ experience in teaching online as well as developing online courses and programs. He designed, developed and implemented the world’s first online MBA as Executive Director, Centre for Innovative Management at Athabasca University. Dr. Murgatroyd advises colleges and universities on strategies and policies on online learning. He has guided governments on educational policy in Chile, Paraguay, UAE, Australia and New Zealand. Most recently he has been advising the New Zealand government on the ways it can harness its complete reorganization of the polytechnic sector to focus on a skills agenda and multiple routes to learner success. In the UAE he is working with both the Ministry of Possibilities and the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research on the future of technology enabled learning, especially focusing on Smart Skills and the role of AI and augmented and virtual reality in reimagining learning.
How to Engage Online Learners in Authentic Assessment (Second Offering) Register Explore specific approaches to alternative assessments – podcasts, portfolio-based assessment, competency-based video assessment, group and individual projects. Find out what weight should be attached to online participation and how to assess “participation”. • How do you assess students, no matter where they are located? • How do we assess student work, especially where the work has practical components? • What approaches can we take to assessment to ensure they are authentic, equitable and effective? Five Key Takeaways An understanding of: 1. The differences of assessing students in an online environment. 2. Approaches you can take to weighting participation. 3. Ensuring accessibility, equity and efficiency in assignments. 4. Ensuring the integrity of assessment.	June 16, 2020	1:00 p.m.- 2:00 p.m.	Dr. Dianne Conrad Contact North \| Contact Nord Research Associate xplore specific approaches to alternative assessments – podcasts, portfolio-based assessment, competency-based video assessment, group and individual projects. Find out what weight should be attached to online participation and how to assess “participation”. • How do you assess students, no matter where they are located? • How do we assess student work, especially where the work has practical components? • What approaches can we take to assessment to ensure they are authentic, equitable and effective? Five Key Takeaways An understanding of: 1. The differences of assessing students in an online environment. 2. Approaches you can take to weighting participation. 3. Ensuring accessibility, equity and efficiency in assignments. 4. Ensuring the integrity of assessment.
How to Teach Online Effectively Using Zoom (Fifth Offering) Register College and university faculty and instructors, literacy and basic skills and training providers are increasingly using Zoom to teach and train. Zoom is fast becoming a learning platform of choice. Join Contact North \| Contact Nord Research Associate, Dr. Ron Owston for a free webinar focusing on: How to use Zoom effectively to engage with and involve students in their learning; How to use Zoom, not just to deliver lectures or make one-way presentations to students, but to facilitate small group work, class challenges, and student presentations; How to move from talking head to active learning with Zoom; How to make learning valuable and successful when teaching via Zoom, and; What are the “top tips” users have from using Zoom for teaching. NOTE: A basic knowledge of how-to-setup and join a Zoom meeting is assumed. If you do not have these skills, visit http://zoom.us to get a free account, or get one from your institution, to familiarize yourself before the session.	June 19, 2020	10:15 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.	Dr. Ron Owston Contact North I Contact Nord Research Associate Dr. Ron Owston is University Professor Emeritus at York University, as well as former Dean of the Faculty of Education and founding Director of the Institute for Research in Learning Technologies. A pioneer in online teaching and research, he ranks 10th in Google Scholar’s list of most cited blended learning researchers in the world. Currently, he is actively engaged in research, consulting, and public speaking, and is a research associate at Contact North\|Contact Nord. His website is http://ronowston.ca.
How to Keep Zoom Classes Secure and Private Register Once the easy prey of hackers and other malicious individuals, Zoom is now among the most secure videoconferencing services available. Find out how to take advantage of Zoom’s security features and, at the same time, ensure confidentiality and privacy of your students. Join Contact North \| Contact Nord Research Associate, Dr. Ron Owston for a free webinar focusing on: How to ensure your class is secure from potential intruders Why you should use Zoom’s waiting room Whether to allow private chat between students When it’s not appropriate to record classes Implications of requiring students to turn on their video NOTE: This is a non-technical webinar aimed at educators. You will have the opportunity to ask questions. Advance reading of the article https://teachonline.ca/tools-trends/how-keep-zoom-classes-secure-and-private. How to Keep Zoom Classes Secure and Private is recommended.	June 25, 2020	11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.	Dr. Ron Owston Contact North I Contact Nord Research Associate Dr. Ron Owston is University Professor Emeritus at York University, as well as former Dean of the Faculty of Education and founding Director of the Institute for Research in Learning Technologies. A pioneer in online teaching and research, he ranks 15th in Google Scholar’s list of most cited blended learning researchers in the world. Currently, he is actively engaged in research, consulting, and public speaking, and is a research associate at Contact North \| Contact Nord. His website is http://ronowston.ca.
How to Motivate and Retain Online Learners Register Learn 10 fully documented and theoretically driven motivational principles that foster interactivity and engagement online. Find out how to inspire your online learners with an assembly of meaningful and purposeful learning activities. Simply put, bored and unengaged online learners will be a thing of the past. Discover a realistic path toward meaningful and engaging online learning. Learn the simple and flexible framework for motivating online learners that works. Learn about research backed and proven interactive online ideas and activities. What motivates? Answer: A little TEC-VARIETY! Tone/Climate: Psych Safety, Comfort, Sense of Belonging Encouragement: Feedback, Responsive, Praise, Supports Curiosity: Surprise, Intrigue, Unknowns Variety: Novelty, Fun, Fantasy Autonomy: Choice, Control, Flexibility, Opportunities Relevance: Meaningful, Authentic, Interesting Interactivity: Collaborative, Team-Based, Community Engagement: Effort, Involvement, Investment Tension: Challenge, Dissonance, Controversy Yielding Products: Goal Driven, Purposeful Vision, Ownership	June 29, 2020	10:15 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.	Dr. Curtis Bonk Professor of Instructional Systems Technology Dr. Bonk is the author of Adding Some TEC-VARIETY: 100+ Activities for Motivating and Retaining Learners Online (available free at http://tec-variety.com/). He has published a dozen books, including his groundbreaking 2020 volume with Routledge, MOOCs and Open Education in the Global South. His research focuses on emerging learning technologies, online and blended learning, MOOCs and open education, and the global impacts from collaborative technology. Dr. Bonk is Professor of Instructional Systems Technology at Indiana University where he teaches psychology and technology courses. He can be contacted at [email protected] and his homepage is http://curtbonk.com/.
Help Your Students Succeed in Their Online Courses Register This practical and interactive webinar is designed to prepare faculty to help their students succeed in their online courses, including how to: • Ensure your students have the equipment and devices they need to be effective online learners. • Promote effective time and “project” management to help them stay on track. • Encourage them to ask for help from other students and from you. • Stop plagiarizing and cheating. • Prepare your students to critically leverage the resources available on the Internet. • Overcome anxiety about sharing ideas and online project work. • Avoid the five common mistakes of first-time online learners. • Develop engaged students rather than passive ones. Participating in this webinar prepares you to help your students become more adaptive and resilient and to help them develop effective approaches to learning and sharing online.	July 14, 2020	1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.	Dr. Stephen Murgatroyd Chief Innovation Officer, Contact North \| Contact Nord Dr. Murgatroyd has over thirty years’ experience in teaching online as well as developing online courses and programs and helping students at the undergraduate and graduate levels succeed. He is a psychologist who has focused his work on resilience and adaptability, both for individuals and organizations. His most recent book is Beyond Resilience: From Mastery to Mystery – A Workbook for Personal Mastery and Change. He teaches online for Athabasca University, University of Toronto and University of Alberta. He designed, developed and implemented the world’s first online MBA as Executive Director, Centre for Innovative Management at Athabasca University.