Volume 4, Issue 3, September 3, 2020
A weekly newsletter from the Office of Learning Design.
Our Mission
We champion excellent teaching and build connected community to promote meaningful learning.
Center for Teaching and Learning
A classroom with modern tables and chairs on wheels .
Davie Lab 109
New furniture has been installed in Davie Lab 109! This furniture is designed for active learning and collaboration with flexible classroom design. The tables in Lab 109 as well as Gee S126 are modular and can be reconfigured in a variety of ways to facilitate group work (when we're allowed to be in groups again). All chairs and tables are on casters, and the room has 14 handheld whiteboards as well as a larger portable whiteboard on casters. The furniture was made possible through funds from the Title III Grant. 
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Faculty Cafe
Brodrick Johnson, New Global Logistics Instructor
Brodrick Johnson is our new Global Logistics instructor. He comes to us from places literally spanning the globe. He was born to military parents in Honolulu, Hawaii, and then moved from place to place around the world. That would seem a fitting background for an instructor of Global Logistics.

Brodrick received his Bachelor’s Degree in Transportation and Supply Chain Management at North Carolina A & T University. He chose this field because of his “…interest and focus on sustainability and continuous improvement.” "Sustainability" involves seeking to avoid the depletion of natural resources so that ecological balance can be maintained. Increasingly, businesses are looking to incorporate sustainability into their models.

Continue reading about Brodrick Johnson in the Faculty Cafe.
Library: New Streaming Video Database
DCCC Library now offers Feature Films for Education, a streaming video database of over 680 high-interest feature films and documentaries including literary adaptations, summer blockbusters, Academy Award winners and more. Unlimited online access is available to DCCC students, faculty and staff with their StormTrac username and password. To view films in this database may require that you delete your browser's cookies or view films in your browser's private mode. If you have questions, please contact the library at library@davidsoncccc.edu or (336) 249-8186 ext.6207.
Technical Support Options for Students
IT and the Learning Commons have partnered to develop the following support plan for students:

  1. Students can check their computer system prior to connecting to a web conferencing class sessionby visiting the Moodle home page and reading the "Testing Your Technology section.
  2. Students can get live support accessing the 24/7 Technical Support link on the home page of Moodle. Students have the option to engage with support via live chat, phone, or email.
  3. Students can email collegesuccesscoach@davidsonccc.edu and receive one-on-one technical support.
To Caption or Not to Caption
As instructors, you are managing a lot. We recognize this and want to thank you for the incredible work you are doing for our students! As your video content is beginning to quadruple, you may be feeling added pressure to ensure that all those videos are properly captioned. However, in this particular setting this semester, let’s identify captioning priorities. 

High Priority

Captions should be available for students who have an accommodation that requires it.  
Faculty who have students with an accommodation are notified by Disability Access Services. There is a vendor in place to provide live captioning for web conferencing class sessions. We also have tools and resources to help faculty ensure captioning for recorded videos.

For faculty without captioning accommodation requirements, caption work can be lower priority given the current environment. 

Lower Priority

  • Enable machine captioning for your VidGrid videos. Learn how to turn on captions in VidGrid.
  • Prioritize captioning videos that are used in subsequent semesters.
  • Spot edit your captions. You know where you got tongue tied and you also know where the most technical jargon is within the video. Edit those parts of your video in VidGrid.
  • Ask your students if they are using captions and ask why they are using captions. This can further help you prioritize captioning. 

The Office of Learning Design can help you develop a captioning plan for your content. Reach out to our Digital Accessibility Coordinator at katelin_moss@davidsonccc.edu for further assistance.
Resources
Got a great teaching idea, tip/trick or tool you use?
Please share it with us and we'll feature it in the newsletter!
The Office of Learning Design Team pictured above (from left to right): Dori Lloyd, Christie Bundy, Kate Moss, Nathanael Gough, Chad Skudlarick, and Phil Tietjen.
We Want To Hear From You!
If you have ideas for our next issue, please contact anyone from our team.

  • Suggest faculty to spotlight
  • Share a favorite course design or teaching technique
  • Showcase a favorite instructional strategy/tool
Office of Learning Design, Located in Briggs 225