A few seats are still available for the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology’s Spring Institute workshops.

These half- or full-day sessions will help you finish the semester strong and prepare for your next term of teaching. Stipends are available for eligible faculty members.

Registration is required. Simply select the link in the workshop title and you’ll be taken directly to the appropriate registration page. Workshops are held at our facility at 301 S. Main St. If you have questions or need help, you can always email us at CTLT@ilstu.edu.

Minimize Marking: Maximize Learning
Monday, March 7 • 9 a.m.-12 p.m.

Do you dread sitting down to a stacks of student papers you know will be rife with mechanical or grammatical errors? Do you spend the bulk of your grading time addressing surface concerns when you’d rather be responding to student writers’ ideas and insights? Do you buy your favorite marking pens in bulk? In this workshop we’ll explore a variety of approaches to minimizing the time, effort, and ink you devote to responding to surface concerns while teaching students valuable lessons about writing in the academy and beyond.

Interaction and Engagement: Learner to Learner
Monday, March 7 • 1-4 p.m.

Improve how well students communicate and collaborate with one another in class. Research shows that classes where students have opportunities to work with each other helps them more effectively construct their knowledge. By emphasizing the collaborative and cooperative, students share responsibility for learning with each other, discuss divergent understandings, and shape the direction of the class.

How to Construct a Multiple-Choice Exam
Tuesday, March 8 • 9 a.m.-12 p.m.

Many faculty rely on publisher’s test banks because they do not feel confident in their own ability to create a well-written multiple-choice examination. Learn to identify the components of a well-developed question and take the guessing out of testing! You will learn how to create multiple-choice exams that measure complex levels of learning.

ReggieNet Lessons
Wednesday, March 9 • 9 a.m.-12 p.m.

Discover how to easily create online instructional modules using the Lessons tool. This powerful tool allows you to integrate resources from across your ReggieNet site (Tests & Quizzes, Assignments, and Forums) into online lessons. Design lessons that require students to complete goals before they can proceed to the next stage. You will also learn how to integrate multimedia content. This course will also briefly discuss organizing content in other ReggieNet features, such as the Resources and Web Content tools. Prerequisite: Introduction to ReggieNet

Reflection and Reflexivity in Learning
Wednesday, March 9 • 9 a.m.-12 p.m.

Reflection and reflexivity encourage students to consider what is happening as learning is taking place–how are they learning and why. These are lifelong skills that can help students become more honest with themselves and self-critical, thus developing independent learning. In this session, we will discuss strategies that will help students recognize what they have learned and how they learned it, synthesize the information, and consider how their new learning may be applied in the future.

ReggieNet Forums
Wednesday, March 9 • 1-4 p.m.

Maximize your ability to communicate with students through the Forums tool (formerly known as the Discussions tool). Learn how to have ReggieNet automatically create discussion groups. You’ll also see how to grade discussions by forum, topic, or message.

Your Classroom Technology Policy
Thursday, March 10 • 9 a.m.-12 p.m.

Research shows that students respond better when instructors set clear guidelines about the use of mobile technology, such as laptops, tablets, and smartphones in the classroom. But you don’t have to resign yourself to teaching in spite of digital distractions. Discover ways to collaborate with students at the start of the semester to create agreement over what is, and is not, the appropriate use of technology in your classroom

Spring Institute – ReggieNet Tests & Quizzes
Thursday, March 10 • 9 a.m.-12 p.m.

This workshop takes a more in-depth exploration of the assessment tools available in ReggieNet, including Tests & Quizzes, Assignments, and Drop Box (formally called File Drop). Learn the options available for different types of assessment, the limitations of the assessment tools, and instructional strategies for promoting academic integrity. Prerequisite: Introduction to ReggieNet.

If you need a special accommodation to fully participate in an event, please contact the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology’s main desk at (309) 438-2542.