Connections with CTLD #10

Connections with CTLD #10

Happy end of semester!

It’s here — the last Connections with CTLD of the semester! We hope your year and your classes are wrapping up nicely. Need some tips on finalizing your course? Then check out the Instructional Design corner! Looking for new strategies for next semester? Need some personalized accessibility support? Then read on! In this issue, we discuss the upcoming SMART program, spring book club, accessibility MegaBytes, and more.

Executive Director's Corner

A SMART Approach to Student Success

Recent work that focuses on student success has helped departments highlight where students face the biggest hurdles. Faculty are central to making a measurable difference and the CTLD’s new SMART Program offers flexible, self-paced support. Instructors can learn to implement new strategies in their own courses, with practical guidance on design, engagement, and accessibility. Together, the insights and the tools make student success more achievable.

Instructional Design Corner

Finalize Your Course for End of Semester

As the semester wraps up, it’s important to ensure your Canvas course accurately reflects student progress and is ready for final grading. This spotlight walks you through key steps like checking end dates, reviewing due dates, enabling a grading scheme, applying zeros for missing work, and posting a closing announcement. These simple actions help students finish strong and keep your course organized for the next term.

Teaching and Learning Corner

Memory in the Age of Technology

In an era of instant information and generative AI, what is the role of memory in our courses? Join our spring book club to discuss Remembering and Forgetting in the Age of Technology: Teaching, Learning, and the Science of Memory in a Wired World by cognitive scientist Michelle Miller. This book takes a deep dive into how memory works and what that means for how we teach.

Image by Disabled and Here

Instructional Accessibility Corner

Spring into Accessibility with our new MegaBytes

Do have some PDFs you still need to remediate? Are you struggling to assess external websites for accessibility? Are image descriptions keeping you up at night? The IAG can help! Spring into next semester with our Accessibility MegaByte Working Sessions. These working sessions offer faculty and departments a chance to learn and apply accessibility skills/tools with direct guidance/instruction from the IAG. Don’t wait, schedule a MegaByte today!