Conference Theme:
Moving Forward Together in a Rapidly Changing Academic Environment:  Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Challenges

The Ramapo College FRC and IDC are planning a virtual Faculty Teach & Share on Monday, May 24 and the morning of May 25. We will collectively share what we have learned about remote and hybrid/blended (in-person and remote) teaching and learning due to the impact of COVID-19 on teaching this past year. We will discuss what worked, what challenges we faced, how we negotiated our work-life balance, and how we can adapt to the teaching environment we will encounter this coming year.

We will share best practices on how to retain the digital teaching enhancements derived during the pandemic while at the same time learning how to re-negotiate in-person/on-campus spaces for both our students and ourselves. Join us to be part of this important conversation.

Register for Day 1

Moderators: Tammi Redd, FRC Director; and Michael Bitz, IDC Director

Day 1 Schedule – May 24

10-10:30 a.m.

What, Why, and How to Implement a Flipped Classroom Method

This presentation will briefly outline the definition of a flipped classroom and why it is impactful for today’s generation of students as well as the technological world that we have been in and will continue to need to be in moving into the future.  The presentation will primarily focus on the “How” component in order to provide faculty with specific tangible tips and techniques.  The presenter will provide examples of various ways that faculty can flip their classroom both virtually and then bridging back into the classroom.  The teaching methods presented can be of value to faculty, who are trying to increase classroom engagement, collaborative learning, and application learning.

Presenter: Joy de los Reyes (ASB)

10:30-11 a.m.

Mapping as Pedagogy: Using StoryMaps in the Classroom

The shift to online learning has created a myriad of challenges for maintaining student engagement and providing hands-on learning opportunities, but a creative use of digital research tools can help meet these needs. This session provides a brief introduction to one of these tools: ArcGIS StoryMaps, a free program that allows users to create interactive maps and embed them in pages with text and images. For the past two years, I have used StoryMaps for a class research project in my American West class, “Mapping the Wild West in New Jersey.” This collaborative, interactive map consists of student research into people, places, and events that link the state of New Jersey and the American West. Students have responded to this project with enthusiasm and creativity, and their topics have ranged from gunslinger Annie Oakley, who was filmed at Thomas Edison’s studio in West Orange, to Lee Van Cleef, the “Bad” in the classic Spaghetti Western The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. 

In this session, I will explain the basics of ArcGIS StoryMaps and discuss best practices for creating assignments using this technology. We will then spend some time experimenting with choosing map backgrounds and placing map points. By the end of the session, you will have a working knowledge of ArcGIS StoryMaps and how it can be used to support students’ creativity, digital skills, and research abilities in your classroom.

Presenter: Sarah Koenig (SHGS)

11-11:30 a.m.

Iterations for Durable Academic Writing: Collaborative, Accessible Approaches to Writing-Intensive Coursework

This session presents approaches on how to structure writing-intensive courses that increase effectiveness and accessibility for students from a variety of cultural and sociolinguistic backgrounds and prepares them for collaboration outside the classroom. It offers college instructors the opportunity to enhance student engagement in writing by meeting students where they are equitably, rather than where an instructor thinks students ought to be. In this collaborative presentation, I will illustrate various approaches to collaborative and accessible writing-intensive course design. By implementing iterative, peer-driven strategies for writing assignments, instructors can decrease their out-of-classroom workloads while making their classrooms more equitable and their learning outcomes more durable. The session begins by outlining a set of research-driven principles for restructuring approaches to written coursework, examines broader justifications for this approach to provide administrative cover for piloting such course designs, and discusses how to implement these approaches in a variety of writing-intensive settings.

Presenter: Bradley Philbert (SHGS)

11:30 a.m.- 12 p.m.

Librarians Supporting Faculty and Students

In this session, library faculty will showcase various information literacy initiatives, important outreach efforts, as well as share plans for the upcoming Learning Commons that will open in Fall 2021. Learn about the many ways librarians can successfully support you and your students in the upcoming year!

Presenters: Christina Connor (Assessment and Instruction Librarian)
Hilary Westgate (Reference, Instruction and Outreach Librarian)

12-1 p.m.

***Break for Lunch***

1-1:30 p.m.

The Pen is Mightier than the Keyboard

For thousands of years, humans have used writing to communicate. The simple act of writing by hand while teaching became significantly harder when Covid hit. In this talk, we will help you bring handwriting back, revamped for the digital age! You’ll learn about a variety of hardware and software options for digital handwriting, at all price points, for all operating systems, and for people at all points on the technophobe/technophile spectrum. The technologies we’ll focus on are the tablet and stylus, and the document camera, with prices ranging from FREE to $$$. You’ll learn how to use these tools to annotate slide presentations, documents, or blank backgrounds. I’ll demonstrate the Canvas Teacher app for iOS, which allows you to mark up student assignments with a stylus when grading in Canvas. Finally, we’ll discuss no- and low-cost ways your remote students can share their handwritten work during class. For anyone teaching a virtual course, recording instructional videos, holding office hours remotely, or having remote students join your in-person class, having a high-quality method for sharing handwritten work is incredibly useful!

Presenter:  Debbie Yuster (TAS)

1:30- 2 p.m.

Challenges of a Hybrid Course: How Do We Accommodate In-person and Remote Students at the Same Time?

Since the start of the pandemic, most of us have experienced various course delivery modes, transitioning from traditional face-to-face classes to remote modalities such as synchronous, asynchronous, or a mix of both. A more recent option that became available last spring was teaching in-person while using a WebEx room kit to accommodate students who chose to participate remotely. This hybrid model seems to be one of the critical course modalities in the upcoming fall semester. However, having students online and in-person at the same time brings new challenges to the course activities and structure.  In this session, we will brainstorm about the challenges we faced last semester and possible strategies to structure a course.

Presenter: Fariba Nosrati (ASB)

2-2:30 p.m.

Hybrid and Hyflex Roundtable Discussion

2:30- 3 p.m.

An Inside Look at Fulbright Opportunities for Faculty

This presentation will provide a brief overview of Fulbright opportunities available to faculty, followed up by an overview of a planned workshop for interested applicants to run from June – September (to prepare and submit their applications) 

Presenter: Benjamin Levy (Roukema Center for International Education)