Teaching and Learning at Vol State

That’s right, I said it! Teaching via Zoom CAN be as engaging as teaching in the classroom! Additionally, online synchronous classes provide an opportunity to teach students digital technology and teamwork skills they will need in their careers, while having a little bit of FUN! Admittedly, educational technology (ed-tech) can feel overwhelming if you do not know where to begin. At first, I was worried students would struggle or feel more overwhelmed. I was honest upfront by telling students we were trying something new and I wanted their feedback after we tried it. Most students were excited to try something new. One student even commented it was nice that to see a faculty member trying new things and asking for feedback, it demonstrated that faculty members do care about student learning.   One student literally said, “I’m understanding the material and learning a skill I could use at a job.” Yes, that is my goal! We want students to learn the material to meet course learning o...

Introduction Volunteer State Community College held its annual Cybersecurity Awareness Month Seminar on October 21, 2020.  Cybersecurity Awareness Month is held in October each year.  It is meant to improve awareness about the importance of cybersecurity across the United States. Bringing awareness to cybersecurity issues helps guarantee that everyone across our Nation has the resources they need to be safe and secure online.  This year’s theme was “If You Connect It, Protect It”. Due to the COVID-19 concerns, the Seminar was held for the first time as a virtual event. Presenters spoke on several topics regarding this year’s theme.  Topics ranged from Securing Devices at Home and Work, Internet of Things, to the Future of Connected Devices.  The participants were from various segments of Cyber Defense expertise: Special Agent, Kevin Varpness (Law Enforcement (FBI)), Stephen Penn (Healthcare (AdventHealth)), Dr. Manaak Gupta (Higher Education (TTU)), and Kevin Bl...

By Star Boe, Senior Instructional Design Specialist  Objectives can go by many names. Learning Objectives, Outcomes, Learning Outcomes, Student Learning Objectives (SLO), Student Learning Outcomes (also SLO) are just some of the terms you will hear. While some educators feel strongly about one term over another, I am going to just proceed with the generic term "objectives." Let me explain what I mean when I use the term objective. Dictionary.com defines objective as "something that one's efforts or actions are intended to attain or accomplish; purpose; goal; target." The connection to effort and intention go well with the expectations we have for students as they engage with our material. However, I don't like the connection that is drawn to "goal." Instructors often start with a goal. Goals are broad and often aspirational, such as:  Students will appreciate art from a wide variety of time periods, styles, and techniques. Students will acquire an ...

Almost all disciplines have long-standing traditions within their field that are the most widely accepted methods of conveying information to students. In a few specific traditional lecture courses, particularly Art History lectures, there is usually little room for discussion. Instead, there is one room, one projector, and an onslaught of slides and images all shown in the dark which only helps to create a comfortable environment for students to drift off and wake up suddenly when the light switch is abruptly flipped at the end of class. In addition to this issue, there have been many concerns as to how those images are chosen, how the information is presented, and which parts of the art history timeline are given more attention than others. This seems to be of importance for many areas of study, however these issues came to light for me through teaching Art History. Hip Pendant Representing an Iyoba Queen (‘Queen Mother’). 16th century. Nigeria, Court of Benin, Edo culture. (Metrop...