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Engaged Learning Resources During COVID-19

Engaged Learning Resources During COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic is challenging educators to think about teaching and learning in new and different ways. This especially applies to the structure and delivery of high-impact practices (HIPs) and all forms of engaged learning, including as internships, global learning, and community engaged teaching and learning.

Courses will be structured using a variety of course formats during the fall semester of 2020 to ensure physical/social distancing to minimize the risk of spreading COVID-19. On May 29, 2020, the Office of Academic Affairs provided Guidance for Academic Programs Delivered at IU Indianapolis, IU Columbus and IU Fort Wayne During AY 2020-21, which outlines the course formats that faculty should consider using for the upcoming semester: Face-to-Face, Hybrid-Traditional, Hybrid-Distance, and Distance-Other.

We have compiled the resources on this page for faculty who wish to embed an engaged learning experience into one of these course formats. The resources provided below lend themselves nicely to mixed learning environments where students are participating in online activities and some face-to-face interactions within the classroom or within community-based experiences.

ePortfolio

ePortfolio at IU Indianapolis is a Canvas Expand site that any faculty and staff member can self-enroll in, browse ePortfolio assignments and activities to use with students in Canvas, and then import any of the resources into their own Canvas site to use. All of the resources in the Canvas Expand site are designed for use in online courses and can also be used in face-to-face and hybrid environments. Each of the resources can be used as-is or edited to meet your learning goals once imported into your site. ePortfolio at IU Indianapolis content is organized into modules, including: CourseNetworking ePortfolio Resources, Assignment Templates, First-Year Experience, Service-Learning/Community Engagement, Internships, Career, and Google Sites Resources. You may self-enroll in the ePortfolio at IU Indianapolis Canvas Expand course here: https://expand.iu.edu/browse/iupui/iel/courses/eportfolio-at-IU Indianapolis. For help customizing resources or to learn more about ePortfolio, contact Amy Powell (ude[dot]ui[at]aallewop).

First-Year Experience

The First-Year Seminar IU Indianapolis Campus Course Shell is a Canvas site with ready-to-go first-year seminar (FYS) activities and assignments that meet the campus-level common learning outcomes for FYS. The course shell has been uploaded to Canvas Commons where you can view it at https://lor.instructure.com/resources/60df88023b5140f3b968ed566a5be49e?shared and download it at your convenience.

All of the resources in the FYS IU Indianapolis Campus Course Shell site are designed for use in online courses and can also be used in face-to-face and hybrid courses. Any faculty and staff instructor can import the FYS course shell into their Canvas course site. While its use is optional, it is designed to be user friendly and flexible. Once imported, each of the resources can be used as-is, reordered, or edited to support your teaching approach. The FYS IU Indianapolis Campus Course Shell is made up of 12 weekly modules, with a landing page followed by activities and assignments. Although designed with online asynchronous delivery in mind, each assignment and activity can be modified to be delivered in-person or synchronously online. The content in the FYS IU Indianapolis Campus Course Shell meets the common campus learning outcomes for FYS, and in total includes less than one credit hour of content. Individual schools may have additional learning outcomes and/or school-specific content related to advising, academic planning, career exploration and planning, and other outcomes. After importing the FYS IU Indianapolis Campus Course Shell into your course site, we recommend that you get guidance from your school’s FYS coordinator on additional learning outcomes and content to include in your course.

More information about the course shell, instructions for downloading it from Canvas Commons, and tips for its editing please contact ude[dot]ui[at]EYFiupui.

Community Engagement

The Center for Service and Learning has developed a COVID-19 Resources page for faculty, staff, and community partners which is available at: https://csl.indianapolis.iu.edu/resources-support/covid-19-resources/index.html. The site provides resources for faculty and staff in transitioning experiences to remote/virtual environments.

Global Learning and Engagement

The Office of International Affairs has compiled guidance and a list of resources for curriculum internationalization and global learning. This includes Virtual Exchange @ IU Indianapolis, the Global Voices Speakers Program, free content from World 101, and the Global Learning Series: Perspectives and Practicalities.

Virtual Exchange is an instructional practice that leverages technology to facilitate intercultural learning, comparative disciplinary learning, interdisciplinary learning, and global problem solving. Faculty and staff in different countries collaboratively develop and deliver content and implement learning activities for their students. Students in each country work together to complete a joint project. Faculty, staff, and students can connect with international counterparts synchronously or asynchronously.
The Global Voices Speakers Program facilitates an interactive, intercultural experience in the classroom, encouraging cross-cultural dialogue and understanding by engaging international students.
World 101 offers free, internationally-focused content that faculty and staff can use for curricular and co-curricular activities. IU Indianapolis and IU Columbus have formed an open working group of faculty and staff who are incorporating this content into learning activities.
The Global Learning Series: Practicalities and Perspectives is a set of online sessions that introduces the viewer to a variety of ways in which to incorporate global learning into the curriculum and co-curriculum.

Guidelines for Community-Based Teaching, Research, and Learning

As part of the Fall 2020 Scenario Planning restart initiative, the Institute for Engaged Learning and the Office of Community Engagement developed some guidelines for community-based teaching, research, and learning for the upcoming academic year. These guidelines are published on this website.

We invite you to familiarize yourself with the information on this website if you or your students are working with community partners. While there is no formalized approval process for doing community-based teaching, research, and learning during this period of COVID-19, we would greatly appreciate your help in reviewing the information on this website, completing the acknowledgment form, and encouraging students working on community-engaged projects to complete the COVID-19 Assumption of Risk and Release from Liability Agreement (all of which are described on the webpage). If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to the Institute for Engaged Learning at ude[dot]ui[at]lei. We welcome your input as we strive to advance our commitment to the community as an engaged institution.

Current & Future Professional Development Opportunities

The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) website provides links to numerous resources to support faculty in their teaching, including the iu.edu website and the Online Course Development Basics Press Book. In addition to individual consultations, the CTL is also offering numerous workshops and webinars throughout the summer to support faculty with teaching in an online or hybrid environment. More information is available on their calendar of events.
The IU Indianapolis Forum Fellows are offering several Faculty Learning Communities in July and August centered on the book Small Teaching Online by Flower Darby. Each learning community meets once a week for three weeks.
The Institute for Engaged Learning is hosting and facilitating a professional development series focused on incorporating high-impact practices (HIPs) and other forms of engaged learning into hybrid and remote experiences during the fall semester. The professional development series, Tips and Strategies to Promote Student Learning and Engagement during COVID-19, includes a general discussion of HIPs and engaged learning during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as specific sessions focused on reflection and assessment of learning, internships, the use of ePortfolios, global learning and engagement, online service learning, civic engagement, capstones, undergraduate research, and integrative learning. Participants may attend one or more of the sessions.
Office of International Affairs is hosting a weekly Global Learning Series and several other events related to virtual learning and engagement.
Many of our faculty, staff, students and community partners have experienced significant disruption, uncertainty, and hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The murder of George Floyd in police custody and senseless murders of other African Americans has forced the country to come to terms with ongoing, pervasive and persistent racial injustice, systemic racism, and inequality. When the semester begins in August, many of our students will have experienced varying degrees of trauma and hardship. The Chronicle of Higher Education recently published several articles on the topic of trauma informed teaching that may be helpful in informing one’s teaching and for structuring class conversations this fall.