We are pleased to announce the May 2009 CTE Summer Institute on Teaching and Learning is now accepting applications. This is one of two institutes offered each summer that offers a unique faculty development opportunity (Watch for information on the June Teaching and Learning with Technology Institute - coming soon). Both institutes fill up quickly each year. This Institute combines a blend of interactive presentations, thoughtful conversations, and meaningful group work. Faculty participants emerge with a more sophisticated understanding of the teaching and learning process, a renewed sense of purpose, a lot of good ideas, and access to a considerable range of educational resources--not the least of which is 19 of your colleagues who share your commitment to high quality teaching.

Please click on the link below to read more about the May Institute and to download the application. Applications will be accepted through Wednesday, May 6 by 4pm.
Applications can be mailed, emailed, or faxed (827-1393)

For questions, please contact Zachary Goodell (zggoodel@vcu.edu) or 827-0562.

http://www.vcu.edu/cte/workshops/teaching_learning/index.htm

The CTE is offering 15 workshops and 4 brown bag sessions during April. Workshops are an opportunity for faculty to both explore topics and share practices across disciplines. Our Friday Brown Bags provide an opportunity for a more informal conversation to take place between faculty on subjects of topical interest.

Read more below about our April workshops in the areas of Learning-Centered Teaching, Enhancing Teaching with Technology, and Teaching with Blackboard, as well as our upcoming Brown Bags.

For more information and registration, check out our CTE Workshop Calendar.

In this podcast episode, Dr. Sara Wilson-McKay, Assistant Professor of Art Education at VCU, discusses the use of wikis to support teaching and learning in her courses. As the discussion unfolds, Dr. Wilson-McKay provides some wonderful insights about how wikis worked in her classroom, and how she was able to establish an inter-institutional collaboration with a colleague teaching a similar course at another University.

The conversation also addresses the ways in which notions of collaboration need to be re-examined as faculty and students work in wiki spaces on the web. While learned expectations for classroom interactions may result in some initial resistance, Dr. Wilson-McKay suggests that this gives way to more meaningful educational experiences for students as they begin to take on more responsibility for their learning and place increased value on what they are creating together.

You can listen to or download the episode below:

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During the course of this academic year, the members of the CTE's Using Technology to Enhance Teaching and Learning faculty learning community have been exploring the uses of social networking in a variety of educational contexts from advising, to recruitment, to course-based uses. In this podcast episode they discuss the use of Facebook in education. In the course of the discussion they examine opportunities, concerns and questions that have been part of their exploration and use of this ever popular social networking site.

This discussion begins to uncover the layered and nuanced issues related the educational use of social networking sites. Many questions remain about what might constitute appropriate and meaningful educational use of these spaces on the web. We hope this episode serves to invite you into the discussion.

As always, we are curious about your thoughts ideas and encourage you to leave comments. Hope you enjoy the show.

Show Notes
Thoughts on Facebook, by Tracy Mitrano.

You can listen to or download the episode below:

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