How Do I Get Help with My Teaching?

4.12 HOW DO I GET HELP WITH MY TEACHING?

In the first module, we introduced ourselves, the Office of Faculty Development Links to an external site. so you could understand our larger mission and meet the FacDev team. Maybe you are arriving with years of teaching experience, but we also recognize these possible realities:

Many of us were not offered formalized training on how to teach effectively
Even if we received training or have prior experience, it was within a different context (e.g., R1 university or a predominately white institution)
For the brand new instructor who's never taught before, please know you are not alone. This was true for many. Reach out to us and others on campus; we all want to help and we want to see you succeed!

Irrespective of your starting point, also know it is not uncommon for first year faculty to spend more time and energy learning their craft of teaching effectively (vs. intense focus on scholarship). We also adopt a wholistic approach to faculty success and recognize that teaching effectively may be just one domain of the work you do at CSUN. There will be an ebb and flow to this process.

Here are some of the key offices that are motivated to help you take your teaching to the next level.

Faculty Development provides relevant and thought-provoking programming to support all faculty in their teaching. We also offer support programs for faculty's scholarship, service and leadership. Visit our website, which was designed by CSUN students, to discover all our programs, resources and funding opportunities to help ease your transition to teaching effectively at CSUN.

In short, here are the key pathways to learn what we offer:

Newsletter: each month we send out a newsletter that will summarize key programs to know about
FacDev Programs Page: visit our programs page for what's featured and our calendar
New Faculty Sessions: throughout the year, our New Faculty Foundations page will feature sessions for new faculty to connect, learn about programming, and gain short tips along the way.

Here is a summary of the types of programs we offer where you can work with us:

Learn on your own asynchronously (e.g., Teaching Toolkit)
One-shot workshops (e.g., learning-centered syllabus, unconscious bias, transparent assignments, active learning)
Faculty Learning Communities (FLC)—longitudinal teaching programs where you join a cohort over a semester or year to dive deeper into a topic (e.g., learning-centered syllabus; race & equity conscious teaching)
eLearning programs (eLearning Institute; Get Up To Speed with Active Learning, Get Up to Speed with Online Teaching; Get Up to Speed with Unconscious Bias; Quality Learning & Teaching)
Resources on incorporating artificial intelligence in your teaching

Academic Technology

Academic Technology (part of the division of Information Technology) at CSUN support the Campus community in its endeavor to transform and elevate students’ lives through education, by spearheading the integration of technology and universal design to enrich teaching and learning. We are committed to delivering the highest standards of service, promoting innovation in the classroom, and fostering partnerships that benefit our CSUN community.

From AI in Education to Universal Design Academic Technology at CSUN is here to help you succeed in your teaching, To learn more about Academic Technology at CSUN visit our webpage.

Instructional Technology

green leaf plant near white wall

Instructional Technology (is the group within Academic Technology) at CSUN provides training and support for learning technologies. Our goal in Instructional Technology is to enable faculty to create instructional experiences enhanced by technology in the traditional and online classroom environments. Instructional Technology is home to the Faculty Technology Center which is where you can get assistance and enrichment opportunities with incorporating technology such as Canvas, Generative AI, and media into your teaching, as well as training and best practices regarding the instructional technologies at CSUN.

Instructional Technology provides a list of eLearning strategies and tools that you can use to enhance your teaching and learning, many available at no charge. Below are a number tools you can use for different teaching situations, click on each to learn more (for a comprehensive list of CSUN university-supported tool, visit their Learning Technologies page).

Which Tool is Best?

I want to interact with students using video

The following software solutions can be used to interact with students using video. Visit each product page for suggested ways to use each tool in your instruction.

Canvas Studio - is a video tool that allows you to engage with your students using video. With this tool you can record yourself and your computer screen, share videos with your students and inject questions into your videos.

GoReact - is an interactive cloud-based platform for feedback, grading, and critiquing of student video assignments.

Panopto - is CSUN’s online video platform for recording, hosting, and sharing video. With Panopto, you can simultaneously record video from a webcam, capture your screen, and audio from a microphone, or upload your own video files.

Zoom - CSUN’s video and web conferencing tool, is available to all students, faculty, and staff. Zoom allows for video, audio, and screen sharing between up to 300 participants.

Canvas Studio vs. GoReact vs. Panopto

I want to record lecture material

Camtasia - is a powerful software program that can capture any combination of your computer’s audio, screen, and webcam, and then lets you edit and annotate your recording.

SnagIt - is a tool that helps you capture images and videos of your computer screen for the purpose of tutorials, instructions and more.

Zoom - CSUN’s video and web conferencing tool, is available to all students, faculty, and staff. Zoom allows for video, audio, and screen sharing between up to 300 participants. Zoom also offers a recording feature, either locally to your computer or to the cloud.

Panopto vs. Zoom

I want to meet live with my students

Zoom - CSUN’s video and web conferencing tool, is available to all students, faculty, and staff. Zoom allows for video, audio, and screen sharing between up to 300 participants.

Microsoft Teams - is a part of the Microsoft Suite that allows everyone at CSUN to chat, meet, call and collaborate in one place, no matter where they are. Microsoft Teams is available to students as well.

I want to engage my students through better communication

Pronto - is a communication hub created for the everyday user. It connects people via chat and video, so they can learn faster, work smarter, and communicate seamlessly.

I want to interact with documents with my students

Hypothes.is - brings annotations to Canvas helping students with reading comprehension and developing critical thinking about course materials.

I need better support for STEM materials for my students that need accommodations

EquatiO - An equation editor that creates and remediates STEM content.

I need a storage solution for all of the files for my course

myCSUNbox - is CSUN's secure cloud-based file storage and collaboration solution that gives students, faculty and staff the ability to access content at any time, from any device. myCSUNbox stores large files and is the recommended storage solution.

Canvas - has all the features of a modern learning management system including the ability to accept and grade assignments, conduct discussions in forums, administer quizzes and exams, store and organize course resources, communicate with students, etc. Note: Canvas has a limited amount of storage and is not meant for large files such as videos. myCSUNbox is the recommended storage solution.

I want to provide my students with a realistic lab experience

Labster - gives students access to a realistic lab experience that will let them perform experiments and practice their skills in a fun and risk-free learning environment.

I want a better way to create and manage exams in Canvas

Respondus is a Windows-based authoring tool that makes it easy to create and manage exams for Canvas and other learning management systems. To get Respondus, visit the CSUN Software Downloads page.

Respondus LockDown Browser is a custom browser that locks down the testing environment during an online quiz or exam. Instructors may use this tool for their Canvas quizzes, either as part of a myCSUNtablet course or any other course.

For more support contact the FTC:

The Faculty Technology Center is available Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

In Person: FTC Walk-In Center at University Library (UL) 33

Phone: 818-677-3443

Email: ftc@csun.edu

Zoom: https://csun.zoom.us/j/97123032517

Workshops & Demos: Workshop Calendar

Office of Community Engagement

Are you interested in teaching a community-based service learning (CBL) course or conducting community-engaged research or creative activity? The Office of Community Engagement can support you with our faculty grants, which have a funding rate of over 75%. These grants can help you develop new CBL courses, teach current CBL courses, and design faculty-student research and creative activity in collaboration with community partners. We also offer ongoing support to faculty and community partners by providing workshops, trainings, and working groups, as well as mentorship through our Community Engagement College Liaison Program, where faculty from across each college provide subject area knowledge and guidance related to community engaged work.

Community-based service learning (CBL) and community-engaged research offer experiential opportunities for faculty, staff, and community partners to create reciprocal partnerships, address social inequities, and strengthen CSUN's connection to the San Fernando Valley and greater Los Angeles. The CSUN Office of Community Engagement encourages both traditional and critical approaches to community-based teaching, research, and creative activity: direct service provides support for the needs of the community, and critical community engagement examines underlying social systems that perpetuate inequities and explores ways to dismantle these systems. This high-impact practice increases retention and graduation rates among all CSUN students and is key to engaging student and community leaders who will positively transform our university and communities.