Looking to make your online course more interactive and engaging? Join us for a hands-on workshop to learn how to use DesignPLUS to build an interactive online course. We’ll show you practical strategies and guide you through follow-along activities so you can start using these tools right away! Just be sure to bring your laptop.
When: Wednesday, September 3, 2025
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Location: Van Pelt/Opie Library Room 243
Registration is required.
This year’s recipients will share brief presentations on the work that earned them their teaching awards at a CTL Lunch and Learn event on Tuesday, September 9, at 12:00 PM in the MUB Ballroom. Each will receive formal recognition and a cash award.
Please register in advance to attend the luncheon.
The CTL would also like to thank previous instructional award recipients who were instrumental in the selection process.
We’re looking for nominations for the 2026 Deans’ Teaching Showcase during spring semester. Please consider suggesting (to your dean or chair) instructors who have made exceptional contributions in curriculum development, assessment, innovative or out-of-class teaching, or large class teaching.
Contact the CTL (ctl@mtu.edu) for more information or to request accommodations for meal attendance.
Take a break and join the William G. Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) Thursday Sept. 4th from 3:30–4:30 p.m. in Library 243 for our biweekly Coffee Chats!
Enjoy a complimentary beverage from Velodrome as you connect with colleagues from across campus in a relaxed, informal setting. These sessions offer an open space to:
No agenda. No presentations. Just rich conversation and meaningful connections.
September 4th Topic: Tips and Tricks for a Great Semester!
We’ll kick off the series by sharing strategies, tools and insights to help set the tone for a successful and engaging semester!
Come as you are—whether you’re looking for inspiration, support, or simply a warm drink and good company. We’d love to see you there!
Start the semester with a warm beverage and a fresh perspective on teaching!
Join us for a special kickoff event to launch our Fall Coffee Chat series. This session will introduce the concept of Communities of Practice—informal, supportive groups where educators can connect, collaborate, and grow together.
What to Expect:
Whether you’re new to teaching or a seasoned educator, this is a great chance to connect, reflect, and kick off the semester with energy and community.
No RSVP needed—just bring your curiosity and your coffee cup!
Date: Tuesday, January 28, 2025
Time: 12:00pm – 1:00pm
Location: Memorial Union – Ballroom A
Registration is required.
Join IDEAhub leadership and participants from IDEAhub’s summer course redesign workshop. Find inspiration in faculty stories about their “small bite” course innovations and learn more about how to “level up” your teaching using IDEAhub tools for innovation.
To register please visit: https://mtu.libcal.com/event/13801954
For questions or request any accommodations, please contact the CTL at (906) 487-2275 or ctl@mtu.edu.
Date: January 16, 2025
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Location: Library Room 243
The Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) will host a technical workshop Thursday (January 16, 2025) to introduce instructors to iClicker Cloud software.
iClicker Cloud helps instructors engage with their students in the classroom by asking polling questions that can promote discussion, identify areas of confusion and generate questions. Michigan Tech has a campus site license for iClicker Cloud, so instructors can use this tool at no additional cost to their students.
In this CTL technical workshop, we’ll review how to get started using iClicker Cloud in your classroom. We’ll review how to set up your instructor account, iClicker Groups, make custom course settings to meet your needs, and integrate the course with your Canvas course.
Register for the workshop — make plans to join us Thursday (January 16, 2025) from 10-11 a.m. in Library 243. To register, please visit this link: https://mtu.libcal.com/event/13838699
Date: January 23, 2025
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Location: Library Room 243
Are you looking for a way to incorporate video recordings to increase student engagement or provide course materials to be viewed in preparation for class? Perhaps you’re seeking a tool to capture lectures or meetings where multiple video sources can be captured at the same time which can be easily edited and shared? Compatible with multiple operating systems and file formats, Panopto is a robust and straight-forward tool to fit those needs and many more.
Join the Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning for an Introduction to Panopto workshop on January 23, 2025 at 10 a.m. at the Van Pelt and Opie Library Room 243. To register, please visit this link: https://mtu.libcal.com/event/13838721
Contact the CTL at ctl@mtu.edu with any questions about this workshop, accommodation requests, or using iClicker Cloud and Panopto in your class this Spring semester.
Rich Content Editor – Find and Replace
A longtime requested tool from the Canvas community is nearly here! If you’re a Canvas user and you’ve created a quiz, discussion, or assignment, you’re probably familiar with the Canvas Rich Content Editor tool. Coming next month as a Canvas update, the RCE tool will have a new plugin tool Find and Replace which will work throughout Canvas wherever the RCE can be utilized. It will be similar in functionality to Find and Replace in other applications. When it’s available, choose Tools from any RCE toolbar and enter the text you’d like to find and replace; it’s quick and simple!
Discussion Redesign
This video from Instructure will share with you the updated features to include Full and Partial Anonymity for Graded Discussions, Improved Accessibility, Split View, Reply Reporting, and Quoting and @ Mentions along with all the existing functions! Additional information is available from Canvas here! Whatever your role, this information will ensure you make the best use of the Discussion redesign; stay tuned for more information!
Canvas update: New Analytics replacing Course Analytics
New Analytics, the updated version of Course Analytics, will be available in this month’s Canvas release on December 16th! Are you curious about your student course engagement, coursework status, or keeping track of students who may need extra assistance (low scores or missing/late coursework) and desire the ability to reach out to them directly? New Analytics fulfills those instructional requirements by updating the New Analytics dashboard every 24 hours in published courses with Course Activity Reports taking approximately 40 hours. Special note: only active and completed student enrollments are included in data for New Analytics; deleted or inactive user enrollments do not generate data.
Use New Analytics to:
Additional notes from Canvas:
If you wish to see what New Analytics will look like in a current course:
A Canvas designed How-To and what it can do for instructors can be found here. The Canvas Community has a FAQ on New Analytics here and if you’re curious what other New Analytic users are saying in the Canvas Community, direct your browser to this link!
Otherwise after December 16th, choose New Analytics located in the upper righthand corner from within your course shell. If you are currently using Course Analytics and wish to preserve course data, Canvas recommends taking screenshots of the course data prior to December 16th. (It should still be there, just in a different format.)