October | 2020
WELCOME TO THE NEWEST MEMBER OF THE DISTANCE EDUCATION TEAM!
Leah Frazier
Leah is an APSU alumna and established member of the Clarksville community. During her undergraduate student career, Leah worked in the APSU Learning Resource Center as a Structured Learning Assistant (SLA) Leader and Peer Tutor. While working towards a Master of Science in Industrial-Organizational Psychology, Leah served as a Graduate Assistant in Academic Affairs. Prior to rejoining the APSU team, Leah worked for several years in the Zald Affective Neuroscience Lab at Vanderbilt University. In her free time, Leah enjoys spending time with family and friends, cooking, reading, and taking her dogs on outdoor adventures.
SAVE THE DATE!
DISTANCE EDUCATION ANNOUNCEMENT!
Doctor Anna Carrie Webb
Distance Education is proud to announce that Dr. Anna Carrie Webb has taken on a new role within the department as an Instructional Technology Support Manager. In this role, she will continue to support many instructional design services, but will focus on instructional technology management and integrations to facilitate online instruction and learner engagement. Dr. Webb will also continue to serve as the primary lead on Quality Matters and course reviews.
ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT
USING ZOOM BREAKOUT ROOMS
This month’s featured Zoom Blog post is All You Need to Know About Using Zoom Breakout Rooms. The post covers breakout rooms in general but also features a new breakout room option. “Previously, the meeting host had to assign a participant to a Breakout Room. Now, when the Self-Select Breakout Rooms option is enabled by the host (and when the host and participants are on Zoom 5.3.0 or later), participants can move freely between Breakout Rooms without needing the host’s help.” Self-Select Breakout Rooms is an optional feature when setting up the breakout rooms. You can still have breakout rooms where you auto or manually assign and lock in the attendees. Think of the possibilities - virtual career or vendor events, themed rooms, meet and greets, and more!

Zoom posts regular updates and how-to articles on their Zoom Blog. Blog posts are very quick reads and often include actionable steps you can take immediately to improve your Zoom meetings. Subscribe to get updates directly in your inbox.
HONORLOCK TRAINING WEBINAR FOR FACULTY
In preparation for finals, Honorlock is hosting a training webinar for faculty: Understanding Honorlock Proctoring and Analyzing Student Results. In this webinar, Nick Carlson, Honorlock Customer Success Manager, will provide an overview of how to use Honorlock, which student behaviors will trigger our AI to create a flag, and how to review proctoring notifications. 

To register for this webinar, please select the date and time that works best for you: 


If you’re unable to attend but would like a recording emailed to you, please register for either day and a recording will be sent to you within 24 hours after the webinar has ended.
FOCUS ON FINALS: TUTOR.COM
I wish I would have used this service much sooner! I am definitely going to use it as much as possible.  College Chemistry student
As we approach finals, remind students about their free access to online proctoring! Tutor.com online tutoring for APSU students is free, on-demand, available 24/7/361, and is one-on-one between the student and professional tutor. Students access this service through their courses in D2L (not at tutor.com!). Students can visit the online tutoring website for more information.

Thanks to the CARES Act funding APSU received, the Learning Resource Center was able to purchase additional Tutor.com hours to support students. These additional hours will go a long way especially with the recent increase to the coverage Tutor.com can provide for APSU students. An additional 36 courses were added effective this fall. APSU students can now receive online tutoring support in 28 subject areas including biology, chemistry, math, nursing, etc. which covers 230 courses (BIOL 1010, CHEM 1010, MATH 1530, NURS 2010, etc.).
You may be teaching a course supported by online tutoring. Please encourage students to use it! Students receive 10 tutoring hours per term and can request more. Instructors can even access the online tutoring portal to learn more about the areas in which your students are seeking tutoring i.e. in which areas of the course they are struggling. Visit the online tutoring website for more information about supported courses, the subjects and times available in Spanish language, and resources for faculty and students.
FOCUS ON FINALS: TURNITIN
As you are considering how you will assess student learning outcomes for this year’s fully online finals, consider Turnitin Feedback Studio. Turnitin is most often known for its ability to deter plagiarism and promote academic integrity in papers. But, did you know you can also have Turnitin review presentations? Turnitin can accept several file types including PowerPoint.

In addition to academic integrity, Turnitin has the ability to help streamline grading and feedback for written assignments. Turnitin’s features such as text and voice feedback, inline and bubble comments, rubrics, ETS e-rater grammar marks, QuickMarks, and linking to the D2L grade-book makes providing feedback a breeze. Dr. Mercy Cannon says, “Turnitin revolutionized essay grading for my courses. The quality of my comments and instruction has increased, while my grading time has been cut in half. And I’m saving paper by the ream.”

Try Turnitin in your course. Visit Distance Education’s Turnitin webpage for more information including short videos to help you create an assignment, read the students’ originality reports, and provide feedback.
WINTER TERM 2021 IMPORTANT DATES
Winter Term Important Dates

  • December 11, 2020: Students who have not paid fees and/or confirm classes by 9 p.m. will be dropped; AP OneStop will not be available beginning 9 p.m. and will reopen December 12 at 8 a.m. Last day to receive 100% fee adjustment.

  • December 12, 2020: Classes begin.

  • December 18, 2020: 14th day processing of classes; Last day to drop without record; Last day to receive 75% fee adjustment.

  • December 28, 2020: Last day drop a class with an automatic "W".

  • December 29, 2020: Last day to receive 25% fee adjustment.

  • January 8, 2021: Wintermester Extra Compensation Forms are due to HR.

  • January 10, 2021: Last day of classes.

  • January 29, 2021: Wintermester faculty pay issued.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Are you looking for professional development opportunities during the winter break
NEW RESOURCE!
New Resource! Pursuing Regulatory Compliance for Digital Instruction in Response to COVID-19: Policy Playbook

Every Learner Everywhere in conjunction with WCET, WCET/SAN and WICHE designed the Policy Playbook 2020 for administrators that oversee compliance; however, anyone with an interest in navigating regulatory guidelines during COVID-19 is highly encouraged to review this resource. Topics include accreditation, financial aid, state authorization and professional licensure, course level regulations, and student civil rights.
ZOOMTOPIA RECORDINGS AVAILABLE NOW
Did you miss Zoomtopia, Zoom’s free online conference experience? No worries! Zoomtopia recordings are now available. Visit the Zoomtopia website and select “VIEW SESSION RECORDINGS.” Session topics include building epic workspaces, education, security and privacy, staying connected, and more! Zoomtopia also featured guests like Mark Cuban, Arianna Huffington, Andre Iguodala, Gabrielle Union, Martha Stewart, and others. This free virtual content is for everyone that is passionate about communication, collaboration, and the future of work, and anyone looking to maximize their Zoom investment.
HONORLOCK EXTENSION
Honorlock was added as an online proctoring option through a short-term service agreement made possible by TBR. The contract was set to expire on August 31, 2020; however, TBR has officially extended the agreement through May 15, 2021 which accommodates all of Winter and Spring terms.
ACCESSIBILITY QUICK GUIDE
Are your digital learning materials accessible?? Use this Quick Guide to find out.