"We rarely create something different until we experience something different."-George Couros

Pamela Morrison

Senior Instructor

Department of Languages and Literature

The Distance Education Team would like to recognize Pamela Morrison for her dedication to increasing the quality of online and hybrid education at APSU through promoting the Quality Matters rubric. Pamela is an APSU graduate who is currently working as a Senior Instructor with the Department of Languages & Literature at her Alma mater. She has over twelve years of experience teaching in higher education and specializes in the development and delivery of online/hybrid courses.

Pamela has successfully completed professional development via the Quality Matters certification workshops and is currently a participant in the Course Review program; where faculty members identify opportunities for improvement to their existing courses while observing standards of the Quality Matters rubric and Universal Design.

A word from our spotlight:

"Creating quality online learning environments requires continuous improvement. To keep up with evolving technologies and to meet the diverse needs of online learners, I am proud to partner with the APSU Distance Education Office and the Quality Matters organization. Implementing the Quality Matters (QM) standards for online course design will help us create more robust and student-centered online courses." - Pamela Morrison

Do you know a faculty member who has taken strides to improve their online courses? Nominate them for our next Faculty Spotlight!

Register Now Seats Limited!

Online tutoring is not just for students! While faculty may not need help with linear equations at 2:00 AM on a Saturday, they can use the online tutoring portal to view and gather important data. Please join Distance Education for a one-hour training session on the benefits of online tutoring metrics. Computers will be provided or you may bring your own device. Together, we will explore the online tutoring portal including the fast facts dashboard, early alerts, and on-demand reporting.

Easy to access online tutoring metrics can help faculty support their students before it impacts course progress and success. Additionally, on-demand tutoring reporting tools can help you identify content and assignments that your students are struggling with. Online tutoring can be a very powerful tool for your students, but it takes time for new tools to gain momentum. Your involvement in encouraging student use is essential. 

Don’t Let Cyber Security Frighten You ! – Practical tools and techniques to keep you safe from cyber threats.

October 23, 2018

Time: 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM

Location: Morgan University Center Ballroom

Speakers: Stephanie Taylor, Director of IT Security & Dr. Joseph Elarde, Associate Professor for Computer Science and Information Technology, Austin Peay State University.

October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NSCAM) and our event is open to the APSU community.  Using Halloween as a backdrop, Ms. Taylor and Dr. Elarde will present practical tools and techniques in a fun and interactive environment to give you simple but effective ways to stay safe in a dangerous cyber world. It’s easy to be frightened and not know what to do when you are bombarded with the news of yet more sophisticated cyber threats and attacks every day.  Protecting your personal data from malicious use is more important than ever. NCSAM stated, “The Internet is a shared resource, and securing it is our shared responsibility.” This means it takes all of us working together to keep the Internet safe and to thwart the “bad guys” from stealing valuable personal information.  So bring your lunch if you’d like, and prepare to have fun while learning how to stay safe online. Refreshments will be served!  

National Distance Learning Week

November 7, 2018

Speaker: Dr. Robin Smith

Time: 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM

Location: MUC, Ballroom C

Dr. Robin M. Smith, holds a PhD in Systematic Entomology from Texas A&M University. Additionally, Dr. Smith authored, "Conquering the Content: A Blueprint for Online Course Design and Development," a book that provides instructors of online and hybrid courses with a highly-practical blueprint for course development and content presentation. Dr. Smith believes the principles of systematics and taxonomy apply equally well to insects and course content. Dr. Smith served as the Coordinator of eLearning at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and later, at UA Little Rock as Director of Accelerated and Online Learning. Her knowledge of instructional design, adult learning, faculty development, and efficiency of processes has benefited numerous groups with whom she has served as a consultant. Introducing change and helping people navigate those changes has been an ongoing theme in her career. Currently she is a Research Health Scientist and Writing Coach at the Center for Mental Healthcare & Outcomes Research (CeMHOR), Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System. She also works at UAMS in a research study testing the effectiveness of progressive resistance exercise following hip and knee replacement surgery.

In the spirit of Cyber Security Awareness month, we are drawing attention to some great Lynda.com videos on protecting your identity.

October’s Top 3 Lynda Videos:

Cyber Security Awareness: Identifying Personally Identifiable Information This course discusses different information sources about how we can protect our personal information from misuse and corruption.  

Cyber Security Awareness: Social Engineering Explore some common techniques used by hackers, and learn what you can do to protect yourself from these attacks. 

Mobile Device Security Learn to identify vulnerabilities, harden your mobile devices against common attacks, configure frequently used apps against misuse by others, and reduce exposure to compromised routers and electronic eavesdropping.

Have you created a Lynda.com account yet? Lynda.com is an on-demand learning solution designed to help you gain new skills based on your goals, interests, and experience. All faculty and staff can find information and access the website using their universal campus username and password. For more info and details visit http://www.apsu.edu/lynda/index.

Upcoming WCET Webcast

Save the Date: Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Time: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM (Central Time)

Web Accessibility: Trick or Treat

As a part of “The Year of Accessibility”, the Online Learning Consortium and WCET continue to collaborate to bring our communities resources on the topic of accessibility. There are answers and clear guidance that can help instructional designers and faculty ensure they are building accessibility into their online activities and web presence. This panel of “been there, done that” experts will share their tricks, tips and strategies for making accessibility a treat, and a little less scary! The webinar format will be a 45 minute panel presentation with 15 minutes for Q & A at the end of the hour.

This webcast is provided free and open to all.

Register today for the WCET Webcast

DEPARTMENT WIDE TRAINING

As a reminder, Distance Education now offers department-wide training sessions! We can come to you, or you can come to us. We offer training in many different subjects including accessible syllabus, D2L, course design, and more. Request a department-wide training by emailing [email protected] .