What's Up in the Hub

New Semester, New Adventures!

We want to welcome everyone to the new semester and academic year! This edition of the Hub Newsletter reminds you of our services and provides some helpful resources as you prepare for the semester ahead. We look forward to connecting with you soon!

For new contract faculty, please visit the contract faculty orientation page and check your email for a message from your department containing additional information.

Meet the Hub Team

The Teaching & Learning Innovation Hub is available to support your teaching and learning needs. Visit us in room 1271, email teaching@cambriancollege.ca for general support, or reach out to an individual member of our team:

Chris Schubert has taken on the role of Manager of the Teaching & Learning Innovation Hub and manages the Hub’s projects and other activities.
Mel Young returns to her Educational Developer faculty role, supporting faculty with course development, pedagogical guidance, and PD.
Rob Comtois supports educational technology including Moodle, eGrades, and Zoom.
Jessica Joy, Niharika Venkatraj, and Kim Krezonoski provide instructional design assistance, developing courses and interactive multimedia learning objects.
Jade Found is an experienced graphic designer that can help with course branding, document creation, and accessibility projects.
Jeff Tranchemontagne lends his expertise in creating video, audio, and multimedia projects for your courses.
Marnie Seal remains the Chair of Academic Excellence, overseeing the Hub, Library, and Learning Centre.

Artificial Intelligence Corner

Generative AI (GenAI) has been a popular topic for the past few years, and we’ve been busy exploring challenges and opportunities regarding GenAI. Here are a few things we’d like to share.

In May, Cambrian’s Academic Integrity and Artificial Intelligence (AI/AI) Working Group provided 25 recommendations to Senior Team to help address challenges around the use of GenAI. You can now view the AI/AI Working Group’s Report of Recommendations.
In June, we were joined by Dr. Sidney Shapiro who provided a keynote speech on the “Transformative Power of AI in Education” at an event all about AI. Watch Dr. Shapiro’s keynote address.
Our Microsoft Copilot website has information on accessing and using Copilot, a GenAI tool that is available to all Cambrian faculty, staff, and students.
Faculty can also review sample syllabus statements that they can add to their course. Feel free to use these example statements as a guide and adapt them to your own needs.

Communities of Practice

Ready to connect, collaborate, and explore shared passions? Communities of Practice provide spaces for discussing common topics of interest. There are three CoPs at Cambrian, and all have flexible membership—meaning you are welcome to join any time! Meeting dates are coming soon, so check our Communities of Practice page for more details in the coming weeks.

Artificial Intelligence CoP: Discuss GenAI and its opportunities and challenges. Visit the AI CoP Moodle Page to view resources and connect with others online.
Math CoP: Join other faculty teaching math, statistics, accounting, and related subjects to share tips and tricks around engaging students and creating innovative assessments.
*NEW* CARE-O CoP: Born from our Care-O Bingo and Empowering Resilience sessions, this group helps educators explore strategies for promoting well-being and addressing trauma’s impact, fostering inclusive and empathetic learning environments. Stay tuned for more details!

Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW)
The Instructional Skills Workshop is an internationally recognized three-day program that follows an experiential learning approach to faculty development. Through both theory and practice, participants examine their teaching practices with feedback focused on the learning process and engage in intensive reflection. The ISW aims to foster a sense of community and collaboration among participants.

Fall Study Break ISW: Monday, October 21 to Wednesday, October 23 (Call-out coming soon!)

Quick Links

Here are some quick links to resources that may help during startup:

Moodle website: information and how-to videos about Moodle. (If you notice Moodle looks different after our upgrade to version 4.1, you can watch updated videos here.)
eGrades website: instructional videos on how to set up and lock your grade books and enter grades.
Zoom website: instructions on how to access your Zoom account, set up, and share Zoom meetings.
FLEX classroom resources: if you’re teaching in a virtual/FLEX classroom, here are some instructions to help you get started.
Semester Start Checklist: use this list to ensure you’re ready for day one of the semester.
Quality Criteria for Digital/Online Learning: review best practices for the contents of your course’s Moodle shell.
Course Development Checklist: review the checklist for key steps (with templates!) when developing a course.

Visit our website: www.teaching.cambriancollege.ca