Teaching, Learning, &

Global Engagement

Weekly News & Updates

I am Eibhlín NicCormaic. I was born in Galway in the West of Ireland. I grew up there, and once I was 19, I moved to Belfast for University. I graduated from Queen's University Belfast with an undergraduate degree in Irish. I teach beginners' Irish Language and Culture here in Davidson Davie. I also teach an Intermediate Irish class and I help out in the Irish study abroad class. I am an identical twin; I also have a younger sister and an older brother. I love art, and I draw and paint as much as possible!

Five Things to Know

1. Travel: The best place I have visited is probably Zurich in Switzerland. I went for a Paolo Nutini concert, and it was lots of fun. I would love to visit California.
2. Music & Podcasts: My favourite song is Sedona by Houndmouth! I went to see them over Fall Break and it was amazing! My favourite podcast is 'I'm Grand Mam'.
3. Food: I love pizza. I also have a sweet tooth and buy myself tasty little treats all the time!
4. Movie/Streaming Show: I recently watched 'The Summer I turned Pretty'. My favourite movie is 'Juno'.
5. Joyful Experience: I love painting and drawing! I love when I have finished drawing, and I have created something I can look at and enjoy!

Upcoming Events

• Around the World in 50 Minutes: October 23 from 10:30-11:30 am at the Davie Campus in Admin 110/111
• Confronting Cultural Bias: October 23 from 11:00 am-12:00 pm in Gee N111 or on Zoom 
• Around the World in 50 Minutes: October 24 from 11:00 am-12:00 pm in Reich 100
• Demystifying the Course Build Process Part 2, Course and Module Level Outcomes: October 24 from 1:00-2:30 pm. Register through the Piedmont Hub
• World Wednesday: October 25 from 11:00-11:50 am on Zoom

My name is Aaron Prillaman and I have been a music instructor at Davidson-Davie Community College since 2016. Not long after joining the faculty as an adjunct instructor, Suzanne LaVenture encouraged me to join the International Education Committee after my participation in Culture Café and International Night. I contributed to the committee in various ways, and in 2019 I applied to lead one of our study abroad trips. After a few hiccups due to the pandemic, I finally assisted Dr. Amy Holmes on our Ireland trip in 2022. I was able to see firsthand how transformational this trip was for our students and how it inspired them.

In addition to academic work, I believe that travel and cultural experiences are important ways for students to educate themselves and prepare for the workforce. Not only do global experiences foster student growth in academics, but they also help students to form relationships with each other and faculty. Research is increasingly showing that these relationships are important to overall student success. Because of my enthusiasm about such matters, I am excited to serve in my new role as the Faculty Coordinator of International Education. I look forward to working closely with our new director of International Education, Sarah Wright, to do what I can to ensure that the extensive International Education program that we have built up over the years continues to be an inviting and thriving offering here at Davidson-Davie Community College. I look forward to spending more time here at the college and focusing more on both International Education and improving as a music instructor.

By Tim Gwillim

Sounds of diesel engines, air brakes, and truck air horns were heard across the Davidson campus on October 9th. The Truck Driver Training faculty brought two tractor-trailers to campus so faculty and staff were able to experience what it was like to get behind the wheel, drive, and back the trucks. All who participated, except maybe for some nervous instructors, enjoyed the day and were glad that the program gave them the opportunity. The Truck Driver Training program is located at the Davie campus and offers both curriculum and continuing education training. The curriculum program is an eight-week program that trains students to obtain a Class A commercial driver’s license and work in the trucking industry.

Pictured above: Gretchen Benton, Eusebio Velez, & Susan Medlin

Pictured below: Amber Gobble

ReadSpeaker Turns Text to Speech in Moodle

By Amy Holmes

ReadSpeaker is a text-to-speech tool that integrates with Moodle, providing students and instructors with the opportunity to listen to Moodle content and uploaded files. ReadSpeaker is highly customizable, allowing users to set their preferences for listening speed, text size, text color, and reading voice. This tool is digitally accessible and supports Universal Design for Learning (UDL) best practices. 

ReadSpeaker has two components:

• The docReader (Freshdesk guide) works with Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and PDFs
• The webReader (Freshdesk guide) reads built-in Moodle activities and resources. This includes quizzes, announcements, pages, discussion forums, and anything written in the Moodle text editor. It doesn’t work with H5P activities or third party platforms.

Students can find the same guides in Freshdesk under Student Guides.

Please contact kendra_guffey@davidsondavie.edu, trudy_brown@davidsondavie.edu or amy_holmes@davidsondavie.edu with questions about ReadSpeaker.