October 2020 DOLCE Invitation: Zoomarchaeology, Canvas Modules, and Piazza

Dear Faculty Colleagues, 

On behalf of Academic Technology Services, I’m writing to welcome you back to another quarter of remote teaching, and to invite you to participate in a series of faculty events on teaching remotely that I will be hosting this school year on Zoom. For the last several years, Academic Technology Services has presented noon events on first and third Fridays of the month during the school year, opportunities for us to meet with our faculty colleagues to discuss teaching and technology. This Friday, we meet for DOLCE: Discussing Online Learning and Collaborative Education.

This October we meet on the second and third Friday of the month, starting with an event this Friday, October 9th, at 12 noon PST via Zoom. We have three speakers planned for Friday: Christyann M. Darwent from the Department of Anthropology, Susan Abplanalp from the Department of Design, and Steve Faith, lead instructional technologist from Academic Technology Services. Please register now so that you can learn from the discoveries and wisdom of our faculty and staff colleagues.

Zoomarchaeology

Christyann M. Darwent from the Evolutionary Wing of the Department of Anthropology recently published a short discussion about remotely teaching Zooarchaeology (animal bones from archaeological sites). "'Zoomarchaeology': Teaching Animal Skeletal Anatomy in an Online Format" is found in the current issue of the International Council for Archaeozoology Newsletter 20(2):67-69, and has been reprinted with permission on The Wheel, the instructional technology blog of UC Davis. Darwent hopes the article and her brief presentation Friday will interest other faculty approaching the remote instruction of visual information (e.g., skeletal anatomy). Professor Darwent will also discuss strategies for scaffolding student assessments.

Canvas Modules

Susan Abplanalp from Design will discuss the ways that she uses the UC Davis Canvas “Modules” tool to format class activities and assessments so that they appeal to four different learning styles: Kinetic, Auditory, Visual, and Reading. The varied approaches appeal to the strengths of learners who have been trained in art and design by private art schools and by public schools with unstable arts education funding. Professor Abplanalp will also discuss ways that her approach to low-stakes assignments appeals to synchronous and asynchronous learners.

Piazza

Finally, Steve Faith will briefly introduce attendees to Piazza, a tool newly-integrated into UC Davis Canvas that encourages peer instruction and community building in large-enrollment classes. Imagine your students building a faculty-approved online FAQ that benefits all class participants. We will likely enjoy faculty presentations on this tool later in the school year.

If you have questions about Instructional Design at UC Davis, please contact our ATS senior instructional designers at instructionaldesign@ucdavis.edu. Meanwhile, please register for this free event, and plan to join us every first and third Friday of each month during the school year.

Best regards,

Dr. Andy Jones Academic Associate Director, Academic Technology Services Editor in Chief of The Wheel: The Instructional Technology Blog of UC Davis University of California, Davis

The October DOLCE: Darwent, Abplanalp, and Faith Friday, October 9th at noon PST Register now to join us via Zoom

P.S. Plan also to mark your calendars for our October 16 Faculty Forum on Promoting Engagement in Remotely-Taught Classes!

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