The Top Five Competencies for Faculty Innovation, Plus Five More

What are the core competencies that faculty innovators need in order to be successful in making sustained changes in and beyond their classrooms? While sitting under the starry Arizona desert sky near Bioshphere 2 during an NSF-sponsored workshop focused on the intersections of STEM education; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and innovations in learning, we decided to bring this question to our colleagues working in higher education learning innovation.

Can't stand the suspense? See the full list at Educause Review. 

(May require login; faculty and staff of Educause member universities like UAH may create a profile at no cost to log in.)

7 Strategies to Promote Community in Online Courses

Straight from MAGNA Faculty Focus to you: 7 Strategies to Promote Community in Online Courses.

It's easy to see why building community can lead to enhanced learning outcomes, but a lot more challenging to figure HOW and with which tools to accomplish these goals. If you need help building community in your on-ground, hybrid or online course, contact Enhanced Teaching and Learning! Between the Collaborative Learning Center, Online Learning, and Academic Technologies, we've got everything you need to ensure both yours and your students' success! Email Tess.Olten@uah.edu for more information and guidance.

Google Partners with Be-My-Eyes

If you're not already familiar with Be-My-Eyes, it's an app-based service that connects sighted volunteers with those visually challenged to solve everyday problems like reading food and prescription labels, choosing attire, finding one's way along a busy street or navigating an ATM transaction.

Now Google has partnered with Be-My-Eyes and is providing virtually instantaneous video support for online assistance with accessibility and accommodation for users with visual impairment. 

The idea of “calling Google” might be new to some people – but thanks to a new partnership launched in March 2019, Be My Eyes users can now establish a video link with a Google accessibility expert in seconds.

Academic Continuity: Have you got a plan?

Campus closures can happen for a variety of reasons and are usually unexpected. Do you have an academic continuity plan for your course should disaster strike?

Check out one professor's experience when it became necessary to teach through a hurricane!

The unexpected emotional and physical upheaval caused by a hurricane at the beginning of an academic year was challenging for many institutions in the Carolinas. One faculty member shares the lessons he learned and describes how the experience has shaped his approach to teaching.