And...that's a wrap.

What a whirlwind! It's December 20th and I survived my first semester here at Heartland! Thank you for making my first semester at Heartland great. I appreciate how welcoming everyone has been and certainly appreciate your willingness to learn something new. We have accomplished quite a bit together this semester. Just to recap:

• We have retired Blackboard and have moved completely to Canvas beginning Spring 2020. Congratulations on your hard work and for learning Canvas this past semester. I am looking forward to continuing our commitment to online learning at Heartland with a focus on quality. 
• Online Learning conducted a Zoom pilot with over 20 users who have used it in six different ways! I am currently working on the report that summarizes just HOW it was used. I'll share that to the blog, soon!
• Together, we have 672 GB of files saved on Canvas, a total of 125,000 files - WOW! That's incredible, great job at utilizing Canvas!
• We also had some pretty awesome statistics for Fall 2019, including 530 courses, 230 teachers, 3,559 students, 14,275 assignments, 5,949 discussion topics, 28,781 files uploaded, 1,532 media recordings and a partridge in a pear tree. Okay, cross that last one off the list.
• We held eleven trainings a week for 16 weeks; that's 176 total workshops and an additional 250 Embedded Instructional Designer Sessions. 

We have much to celebrate this semester! Congratulations on pressing forward and using Canvas. Looking forward to Spring 2020, where I will continue to offer many professional development opportunities.

Download the Spring 2020 Schedule

I will also be coming to your departments again for Embedded Instructional Design opportunities. Please bring your questions related to Canvas, Instructional Technologies or research and I will help you navigate what you are looking for.

One of the largest projects I will be working in the Spring is Canvas Outcomes and using Outcomes as a way to assess student learning in your courses. The Assessment Committee has looked at this feature in Canvas this past semester and we have some departments piloting it (thanks PTA!). I'm excited to share more information about this feature in the Spring. In addition, I have a few faculty piloting the Mastery Pathways and I'm looking forward to seeing increased retention in those courses at the end of the term.

The Alternative Delivery Certification course will also be offered again this semester with our biggest number yet - 17! I'm excited to share my experience with you and help you design an online or hybrid course.

With warm wishes and much appreciation, thank you for taking the time to get to know me and coming to the many opportunities to learn about instructional design. I appreciate it more than you know - thank you.

Happy holidays and Merry Christmas! Enjoy your extended break!

~Anna