CDLInstructor News

We are looking forward to this year’s CDL Conference coming this Friday, April 27 & 28, 2012 in Saratoga Springs, New York.

For more details about the conference visit:  http://commons.esc.edu/cdlconference

For details about attending the conference virtually visit:  http://commons.esc.edu/cdlconference/virtual-attendance/

The grading system, which launches officially on Thursday, Feb. 16, features a single sign-on and many features that make it user-friendly and easy to use.  >> More information

Call for Proposals!
7th Annual CDL Conference
April 27-28th, 2012
Saratoga Springs, NY

Caption:
CDL’s Dean Tom Mackey with his opening remarks at last year’s 2011 Conference

How do you define “open community” within higher education?

Have you been involved in a project or initiative that has “redefined” community?

We are seeking presenters to discuss such topics to encapsulate this year’s theme:

 “Open Community of learning, teaching and mentoring”

Rather than narrowly define the terms “open” and “community”, we encourage potential presenters to suggest topics that reflect their vision in this terms. We urge you to share your knowledge and experiences with your colleagues!

For more detailed information, please visit our site dedicated to Types of Presentations accepted.

To submit a proposal, please visit our 2012 Proposal Form.

For more information on this year’s CDL Conference, please visit our Commons page:

http://commons.esc.edu/cdlconference

Proposal submissions will be accepted until February 6, 2012.

NOVEMBER INSTRUCTORS:

For updates on grading information for the end of the November 2011 term, please visit:

http://escnet.esc.edu/content/update-new-grading-system-and-grading-november-term

Hello CDL Faculty Community!

We hope this finds you in good health as the new year moves forward. We are excited about 2012, as it brings new initiatives for our online learning environment. Specifically, we are going to move away from ANGEL and onto Moodle in Fall 2012 (www.moodlerooms.com). The decision to change is a result of a corporate shift and our changing needs for a more open, powerful, user-friendly environment. 

The Center for Distance Learning and the Office of Integrated Technology are meeting on a weekly basis to discuss the many facets of the conversion and migration to Moodle. The intention is to make this transition as easy and transparent as possible. We also want to keep you informed and involved. 

This is going to be a positive change for us! Your involvement will be significant to the success of this transition. There are three things that you can do to prepare for our move to Moodle:

Save your LOR!
If you use a personal Learning Object Repository (LOR)  in ANGEL to store and reuse content term after term, please make sure you maintain up-to-date copies of that content in a Word document file or similar as personal LOR content will not be moved to Moodle through the conversion process.

Keep informed!
Read the notifications, mostly through e-mail, over the next several months about the Moodle migration.  As you can expect, there will be many opportunities to participate in presentations, training and development with regards to Moodle as it will be crucial to the success of all involved.  

Blog it!
Ellen Murphy, our new Director of Online Curriculum, has started a Moodle Blog for us to help us all learn more about Moodle and stay up-to-date on the transition. It will also be a place to ask questions – Here’s the link: http://commons.esc.edu/move2moodle/

As always, we appreciate your commitment to the college and our students as we look forward to a successful transition to Moodle with you. More to come!

SUNY Empire State College will present a three-part online series focusing on the key issues, challenges and possibilities for adult higher education during the month of January. The public is encouraged to participate.

More Details >> HERE

We would like to extend an invitation to the Center for Distance Learning community to present at the 7th Annual CDL Conference, April 27 & 28, 2012 in Saratoga Springs.

This year’s theme is an “Open community of learning, teaching and mentoring.” More details and proposal form can be found at the 2012 CDL Conference website:

http://commons.esc.edu/cdlconference

Proposal submissions will be accepted until February 6, 2012.

Formative Feedback Series: Establishing and Using Objectives
Wednesday January 18, 2012 –  12:00 pm – 1:00 pm (EST)
 Via Ellumuniate
In collaboration, CDL and the Long Island Center are hosting a 9-month series on Formative Feedback and Assessment.   Each month, a different aspect of formative feedback and assessment will be approached and presented by various colleagues.  
 
As you know, beginning in the November 2011 Term, the Empire State College grading policy will discontinue narrative evaluations as part of the student’s final outcome for a course study.  This webinar, and other webinars to follow on this topic are intended to open up a dialogue on our effective practices to promote student success and discuss how we provide feedback within a term of a course so students aren’t wondering at the end of the term, “Why did I get THAT grade?!”  Although the grading policy for a final outcome will be changing to grade  only, the pedagogical and philosophical core values and practice of providing formative feedback in the course remains unchanged.  The grading policy change provides an excellent opportunity to revisit our effective practices in terms of how, where, what, and when we provide formative feedback to students and what we do to get students engaged in the feedback we provide.  Also, equally important is thinking about how we get students to engage in their own self-regulation and self-assessment of learning. 

For more details about the series and how to participate, visit:  Wednesday Webinars

Empire State College appeared in the New York Times in two locations last Sunday (Jan. 8).

Posted By: Jill Buban |  22 December 2011 at www.esc.edu/escnet