Upcoming eLearning Workshops

The Generative AI Community of Practice is a group of faculty and staff interested in the pedagogical use of generative AI. We discuss strategies and share resources for integrating generative AI into course design, assessment, and learning experiences to support learning objectives and to help students develop practical skills around the use of generative AI. Anyone interested in the educational implications of generative AI is welcome to join us!

This session will focus on accessible textbooks. From AODA requirements and PSE guidelines to digital accessibility and working with publishers, we will review how to identify inclusive teaching materials and the impact that they have on student accommodation in practice.

The Generative AI Community of Practice is a group of faculty and staff interested in the pedagogical use of generative AI. We discuss strategies and share resources for integrating generative AI into course design, assessment, and learning experiences to support learning objectives and to help students develop practical skills around the use of generative AI. Anyone interested in the educational implications of generative AI is welcome to join us!

This session will introduce participants to common assistive technologies they may be used by our students or colleagues. Demonstrations will include text-speech tools, speech-to-text tools, and custom display tools. Participants will have an opportunity to practice using some of these features in tools available to us in the Western technology ecosystem.

This session will focus on applying accessibility principles to course content page design, specifically looking at the tools and features available in OWL Brightspace. We will explore the authoring tools in Brightspace, review some of the template options, and explore ways of make course content pages more accessible.

The Generative AI Community of Practice is a group of faculty and staff interested in the pedagogical use of generative AI. We discuss strategies and share resources for integrating generative AI into course design, assessment, and learning experiences to support learning objectives and to help students develop practical skills around the use of generative AI. Anyone interested in the educational implications of generative AI is welcome to join us!

This session will focus on the use of colour in course content and materials. We will look at best practices for colour contrast and alternatives to using solely colour to relay key information. We will also look at tools for checking colour contrast and for creating colour blind safe themes.

This session will focus on fonts and text styles in course content and materials. We will talk about different font families (typefaces), spacing, size and other style considerations when choosing fonts and creating content. We will discuss considerations for both visual presentation and the use of assistive devices.

The Generative AI Community of Practice is a group of faculty and staff interested in the pedagogical use of generative AI. We discuss strategies and share resources for integrating generative AI into course design, assessment, and learning experiences to support learning objectives and to help students develop practical skills around the use of generative AI. Anyone interested in the educational implications of generative AI is welcome to join us!

This session will introduce the concept of alternative text, or image descriptions. We will discuss how and when to describe an image and the importance of context and detail. Within this session, we will review examples of alt text and have time to practice writing alt text.

Audience

Limited to instructors

1. Login to Western Connect using your Western username and password.
2. Go to the Centre for Teaching and Learning section. Select Event Calendar and select the event you wish to register in. Details and a description of the program will appear.
3. Select the Register for this Event button. If the event has reached capacity, you may have the option to register on the waitlist.
4. You will receive an automated confirmation email to your Western email account. 

If you have any questions or problems registering for an event, please consult our FAQs or contact ctl@uwo.ca.

January and February 2024

Generative AI is having a significant impact on how we think about teaching and learning in Higher Education, particularly with regards to Academic Integrity and ethical use. In this session, we will discuss Academic Integrity through a values-based approach to explore practical ways of (re)establishing this culture in light of advances in Generative AI.

January and February 2024

This session gives a broad overview of the nature of Generative AI and implications of using AI for teaching and learning at the post-secondary level. We will cover potential use cases of Generative AI as well as examples of where Generative AI in the classroom is not recommended. Join us to learn more about the benefits and challenges of Generative AI.

This session offers guided exploration of different AI tools, including text-to-text, text-to-image, and other tools of interest to educators. The session will be structured as a series of prompts, activities, and reflections specifically designed to explore possible applications and limitations of AI in course and assessment design.

January and February 2024

This retreat is designed for instructors who are strongly considering or already planning to incorporate Generative AI for any combination of activities or assessments into a course. Join like-minded colleagues to exchange ideas, work though opportunities and challenges, and come away with a well-designed plan for introducing Generative AI as an instructional approach.

December 8, 2023

Are you teaching a class where students can attend lessons either in-person or online at the same time? If so, join the CTL for this session on simultaneously teaching students across these two modalities and discover our top tips for setting participation expectations and effectively utilizing technology to create an engaging student experience. You can join us online or in-person for this session.

December 7, 2023

CATs are feedback gathering techniques that provide insight into the gap between what we teach and what students learn. Participants will learn how Classroom Assessment Techniques fit into lesson designs as well as choose and apply a CAT that fits your own discipline.

September 5, 2023

Participants will explore the best times to use discussion forums in their courses, practice constructing a strong prompt to facilitate deep meaningful discussions, and the implementation of key tactics for overcoming common challenges associated with discussion forums.

August 30, 2023

Session 1: Introduction to Generative AI in Teaching and Learning
This session gives a broad overview of the nature of Generative AI and implications of using AI for teaching and learning at the post-secondary level. We will cover potential use cases of Generative AI as well as examples of where Generative AI in the classroom is not recommended. Join us to learn more about the benefits and challenges of Generative AI.

Session 2: Crafting a Generative AI Statement for Your Syllabus
Generative AI has raised a host of questions and concerns around academic integrity, fair use, and other ethical dilemmas. Workshop participants will create a draft syllabus statement specific to a course of their choice that reflects course policies around their choice of Generative AI in the course and communicates how policies support student learning and academic integrity in the course.

Session 3: Design Retreat for Incorporating Generative AI into Your Course
This retreat is designed for instructors who are strongly considering or already planning to incorporate Generative AI for any combination of activities or assessments into a course. Join like-minded colleagues to exchange ideas, work though opportunities and challenges, and come away with a well-designed plan for introducing Generative AI as an instructional approach.

August 29, 2023

How do you measure student participation in class? Do you struggle to justify participation grades to students? This session will explore different methods to define and assess student participation in small classes, including appropriate ways to communicate expectations to students.

August 29, 2023

Are you teaching a class where students can attend lessons either in-person or online at the same time? If so, join the CTL for this session on simultaneously teaching students across these two modalities and discover our top tips for setting participation expectations and effectively utilizing technology to create an engaging student experience.

September 5 & August 28, 2023

As you prepare for a new semester, it's time to set up your OWL site to support and transform your students' face-to-face, online, or blended classroom experience. Join the CTL for helpful tips. Participants will have the opportunity to share their own strategies.

March 14 & 15, 2023

In this workshop, we will begin by examining what ChatGPT is and how it works, including its current limitations and some concerns it raises in the delivery of education. This prepares us for a peer discussion on how ChatGPT can be useful in an instructor's work and the future of higher education.

February 16, 2023

Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) are simple, anonymous, non-graded activities that provide feedback to instructors and students alike on the teaching-learning process. This workshop covers the basics of CATs, how to digitize common CATs for classes of all sizes, and will allow participants the opportunity to design their own CATs for their lessons.

December 13 & 15, 2022

Workshop Learning Outcomes
By the end of this workshop, attendees will:
- be able to identify the major components and spaces of the A/V systems that enable the classrooms to support simultaneous in-person and online synchronous instruction, e.g., A/V Bridge to Zoom, in-class screens, ceiling microphones, etc., and how to use them.
- be able to identify how to adapt in-class teaching approaches to also engage students in the online synchronous modalities (i.e., synchronous in-class and online). - know how to access help and learn more, including when and how to further experiment with the room technology

August 25, 2020

Remote meeting platforms such as Zoom offer instructors opportunities for student engagement and interaction. Using these tools effectively includes the ability to mitigate potential security risks that may arise. In this session, Western Technology Services (WTS) and Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) will present various security settings in Zoom. Significant time will be dedicated to questions and conversation on integrating these settings into your teaching context as well as debriefing security incidents in the classroom.

March 2020 to August 2022

CTL eLearning Specialists and eLearning Technology Specialists from WTS offer drop-in Q&A sessions at the beginning and end of the semester.