September | 2019
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” - Winston Churchill
FACULTY SPOTLIGHT
Doctor Mercy Cannon
Mercy Cannon, Ph.D
Chair and Professor of English
Department of Languages and Literature
For the first faculty spotlight of 2019-2020, Distance Education would like to recognize Dr. Mercy Cannon for her use and support of Turnitin. Dr. Cannon is a professor and recently took on the role of department chair for the Department of Languages and Literature. Turnitin is most often known for its ability to deter plagiarism and promote academic integrity. In addition, Dr. Cannon would like faculty to know about Turnitin’s ability to help streamline grading and feedback for written assignments.

“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.”

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. Try Turnitin in your course. Visit Distance Education’s Turnitin webpage or contact us at online@apsu.edu


Do you know a faculty member who has taken strides to improve their online courses? Nominate them for our next Faculty Spotlight!
A LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR
T ennessee state law requires state institutions to review all contracts every 5 years, allowing variety in the businesses that enter partnerships with our institution. APSU’s contract with D2L, through the Tennessee Board of Regents, will expire on December 31, 2021. Because of this, Distance Education (DE) will be initiating a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a Learning Management System (LMS). 
 
I recognize that only 2 years ago, DE lead an RFP effort. RFPs are not always a guarantee for change, and in this case, it was decided that APSU would carry out the full 5 years of the current contract with TBR and D2L.

At this time, we are confidently announcing that DE will once again lead an LMS RFP in order to ensure APSU is adequately prepared for December 2021. Please standby for more information regarding that process. Your input is essential and your feedback will guide our way ahead. 
 
Please direct any inquiries or suggestions to me, Amor Moran, at moranl@apsu.edu
CYBER-SECURITY AWARENESS WEEK
INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY CORNER
Do you use Examity online proctoring for your online midterm and final exams? If you do, it is never too early to go ahead and get your exams set up in Examity. Your students will get early choice of prime online proctoring times. Midterms and finals are very busy and time slots fill up quickly. We recommend students register well in advance to ensure they can get an available time that works for them within your set exam window. If you have not already done so, please add your midterm and final exams to Examity and notify your students to schedule in advance. Refer to the Examity Instructor Guide for directions or contact Distance Education at online@apsu.edu.
RECAP OF THE FIRST SEMESTER
FOR ONLINE TUTORING
APSU offers free online tutoring for students through a partnership between the Academic Support Center and Distance Education. This on-demand, 24/7/361, one-on-one service supports on campus and online students in over 21 subjects including biology, chemistry, math, nursing, etc. You may be teaching a course supported by online tutoring. Please encourage your students to use it! Faculty can even access the online tutoring portal to learn more about the areas in which their students 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.

Join a webinar on Oct 8 at 12pm or Oct 9 at 4pm for the Tutor.com Faculty & Staff Orientation: An overview of the Tutor.com services available for your students, and how you can promote Tutor.com to make an impact on student success at your institution.  Register now!

2018-2019 was the first year for online tutoring at APSU. Student response to online tutoring has been outstanding! Check out the graphic below to read about it for yourself.
SUPPORT SERVICES ROUNDUP
The Distance Education Support Desk provides faculty, staff, and students support for online teaching, learning, and technology. This includes resolving technical and instructional needs related to the Desire2Learn Brightspace (D2L) online classroom, Tutor.com online tutoring, Turnitin plagiarism prevention software, LinkedIn Learning micro learning videos, Zoom web conferencing, Examity online proctoring, SmarterMeasure, and audio and video instructional content. Below is the Support Desk Data for the month of September.
DE Support Desk Data
INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN CORNER
QUALITY MATTERS CHAMPIONS
Distance Education would like to congratulate Dr. Ling Wang (EDUC 5363 - Teaching Language Arts and Literature) on her achievement!
DISTANCE EDUCATION
COURSE REVIEW PROCESS
The Department of Distance Education (DE) is committed to the quality of online and hybrid courses offered at Austin Peay State University (APSU) and aims to achieve the following targets:

  • Identify and fund training for online/hybrid Instructors to become certified Quality Matters (QM) peer reviewers.

  • Facilitate reviews and continuous improvement of high impact courses* to ensure alignment with QM standards.

To work towards these targets, DE is seeking faculty to participate in our course review process. Faculty who complete the course review process will receive compensation and professional development. DE will also select courses to submit to QM for external reviews. These courses will obtain an official QM seal of quality.
Course Review applications are now open! Click "APPLY HERE" to get your application in today. 
FACULTY TRAVEL STIPEND
Travel stipends up to $1,000 can be requested by full-time or adjunct faculty who present or apply to present at regional, national, or international conferences related to digital teaching practices, instructional technology, or online/distance/hybrid teaching and learning. Applications will be considered regardless of acceptance to present; however, you will be asked to verify attempting to present at the conference.
Faculty travel stipend applications are now open! Click "APPLY HERE" to get your application in today. 
DEPARTMENT WIDE TRAINING
As a reminder, Distance Education 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 documents, D2L, course design, and more. Request department-wide training by emailing online@apsu.edu .