The fall 2020 Teaching and Learning Symposium will be held Oct. 23. The symposium theme will focus on student engagement and building community in online courses.

The keynote will be led by Jesse Stommel, digital learning fellow and senior lecturer of digital studies at the University of Mary Washington.

Unlike years past, this symposium will be held online via Zoom and begin at 9 a.m. Registration is now open to all instructors.

Stommel’s interactive keynote, “Start by Trusting Students: Active Learning and Inclusive Pedagogies in Moments of Crisis,” will examine several facets of teaching students including accessibility concerns, addressing the hard questions of inclusivity, and connecting students.

Nick Monk, director of Nebraska’s Center for Transformative Teaching, will hold a town hall-style meeting with Stommel to answer questions and discuss challenges posed by the faculty at the university in relation to engagement and online learning. The symposium will conclude with a workshop, Building Community in Online and Hybrid Courses, led by Stommel.

Instead of the much-appreciated “speed sessions” where Nebraska faculty share teaching tips and techniques in rapid succession, the fall symposium will feature a virtual poster session. Symposium registrants and attendees will have multiple opportunities to browse and respond to featured instructional approaches.

The Teaching and Learning Symposium is a professional development opportunity sponsored by the Executive Vice Chancellor’s Office and The Center for Transformative Teaching in the fall and spring. Additional details about past symposiums are available online.

More details can be found here