By Kristina MacMillan
CTLT

In January 2003, the Center for Instructional Technologies held its second Course Development Day. This consisted of two days, one in New York and one in Pleasantville, during which several workshops and open lab sessions were held. The CIT implemented its new initiative at the end of August 2002, and was very successful. In anticipation of the Spring semester, the CIT facilitated a day dedicated to helping faculty develop content for incorporation into Blackboard. Faculty members were asked to bring content such as Lecture Notes, Syllabi, PowerPoint Presentations, and Audio/Video Clips to effectively incorporate into their Blackboard course shells.
The day was a success with a total of 69 faculty members attending on both the New York and Pleasantville campuses. Each day was customized around the needs of faculty with various workshops and open labs that were offered. The response was tremendously positive, as seen by the testimonials below. Due to the success of this new initiative, you can look forward to another Course Development Day at the beginning of next semester!

Testimonials:

"It was a good day, thanks to you all."


"Successful day. Look forward to future events."


"The faculty and staff involved with information technology are remarkably humane and very patient. Thanks again."


"This was my first experience with Blackboard, and it was a very informative seminar…I should be able to fully incorporate it into my teaching. I really appreciate everything each of you did to make the day so successful."


"I am a relative beginner to blackboard, so I soaked up a lot of insights about using technology in my teaching."


"I came back with good ideas about how to incorporate Blackboard in my course, and with the skills to do so easily."


"I gained information on how to incorporate the Blackboard discussion board into my classes by using it as a starting point for my face-to-face classroom discussions, and I am hoping that the latter will be more stimulating as a result"


"I built my basic skills in use of Blackboard, but perhaps more importantly learned about different approaches to organizing my course material within that system."


"Now I can also communicate with all of them [students] with greater ease. I plan to put up information on assignments, test dates, etc. on Blackboard. It will make my work easier."


"I'm very excited about adding Blackboard to my curriculum. I think it will greatly assist my student's learning experience."


"Thanks for providing such a worthwhile day."

Kristina MacMillan facilitates one of many workshops throughout the day.