Over 75 Saint Louis University faculty members and graduate students braved the cold on January 8, 2015 to take part in the Reinert Center’s annual Winter Institute, which focused this year on “Teaching Today’s Students in Multiple Formats.”
Rita-Marie Conrad, of The UC-Berkeley Center for Teaching and Learning, was this year’s keynote speaker. Conrad has published extensively on teaching and learning in the digital environment, and is the author of Continuing to Engage the Online Learner, which is used by many Saint Louis University faculty working with the Reinert Center to develop online pedagogies.
In the morning keynote, Conrad explored the idea that as learner behavior is increasingly shaped by a digital world, what happens in online courses has influenced what happens in traditional face-to-face courses. “The lines are blurring between what is online and what is just teaching.” You can listen to the full keynote by clicking here.
The Institute also featured four breakout sessions, lead by SLU faculty. They were Teaching Accelerated Courses with Heather Bednarek, Craig Boyd, and Steven Howard; Teaching Flipped Courses with Elena Bray Speth and Mike Lewis; Teaching Online and Blended Courses with Tony Breitbach and Karen Myers; and Teaching Co-Taught Courses with Dan Haybron, Sherry Muir, and Charlotte Royeen.
Traditionally held the Thursday before spring classes begin, The Winter Institute is a signature event associated with the annual theme of the Reinert Center. This year’s theme is “Teaching Today’s Students.” To find out about additional programming that focuses on this year’s theme, visit the Reinert Center’s website (https://www.slu.edu/cttl).
The Notebook 