Texting for student engagement?

Here's a blog post about some colleges that have tried pilot programs where faculty text students reminders, notes, updates, etc. According to the post, students find the text messages "more personal" than an email. What do you think? Can you see yourself texting your students?

Modular approach to online coursework

The Kentucky Community and Technical College System has started offering self-paced, on-demand online courses in a modular format. Each normal course is broken up into several modules focused on a discrete topic or skill set and students can opt to take just the modules they are interested in or take the full series to get the course credit. They can also spread out completion of a course over the long term if they want to--check out the example KCTCS gives at the very bottom of the page.

What do you think of this approach?

NOVA Q&A

I spend a lot of my time in meetings of various college groups, so I tend to know a lot about what's going on with different college initiatives that you as a faculty member may not have a chance to hear about.

So, let me share the wealth! What NOVA questions do you have? (I'm thinking of things like, "Hey, whatever happened to initiative xyz I remember from a few years ago?" or, "Why did we change to doing x this new way?" or, "When is xyz going to happen?")

And, if you want to learn a lot about where NOVA and the VCCS may be going in the next couple of years, don't forget to come to the Chancellor's town hall meeting in the CE Forum this Friday (the 17th) from 9:30-11:00.

Upcoming CETL workshops

Don't forget that CETL (NOVA's Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning) sponsors a workshop series every semester. Now's a good time to review the offerings and pick one or more to sign up for before your calendar gets too full!

You can find the list of workshops here. (Note the link at the top of the page to register.) You'll find sessions on technology, on academic advising, on student mental health issues and emergency preparedness, and on pedagogical matters like how to help your students to better class presentations.

Looking forward to seeing many of you at tomorrow's ELI professional development day!