New Assistant Director of Distance and Distributed Learning joining USFSP

We are delighted to announce the hiring of Ms. Kim Garvey for the position of Assistant Director of Distance and Distributed Learning for USFSP. The position reports to the Dean of the Library and provides leadership for the University’s distance and distributed learning efforts, coordinating instructional support for distance and online learning. Ms. Garvey, who is a Ph.D. candidate in Education & Leadership at Barry University, has more than ten years of experience in digital and online initiatives and currently serves as the e-Learning Project Manager and an Adjunct Professor of History at the State College of Florida. She joins USFSP on May 1 and will be working closely with Academic Affairs and all Colleges and academic departments in the development of and support for online programs. She will also work with Academic Affairs, the Colleges, and other units to oversee the University’s ongoing efforts to strengthen faculty development, improve the quality of online courses, and provide robust services for online students.

The Nelson Poynter Memorial Library, through the Distance Learning and Instructional Media Services unit, provides centralized support to faculty in the development of online courses and programs. This new position will enable us to “kick things up a notch” and also address support issues for online learners in a more systematic fashion.

When Ms. Garvey arrives, a meet and greet reception will be hosted in the Library.

Canvas Training and Resources

It appears as if the entire USF System will be making a Learning Management System switch from Blackboard to Instructure’s Canvas. Although we still have not received “official” word, we have prepared some training opportunities and compiled resources for those who are interested in learning more about Canvas and getting a jump start on the possible transition. Check out our Professional Development page for more information about the following workshops.

Canvas Overview
A introduction to the Canvas interface from a student and faculty perspective. It will provide a demonstration of the highlights of Canvas and explain some of the differences between Canvas and Blackboard.

The Great Migration
An introduction to the migration process for getting a course from Blackboard to Canvas. The course is limited to 10 participants since it will intensively ‘hands-on’ with DL staff available to help faculty get started.

Open Labs
The open lab will give faculty an opportunity to sit down at a computer to work on their class with DL staff available to answer questions and provide assistance.

Additional Resources

Instructure’s Getting Started with Canvas
A course offered through Canvas that is designed to walk you through the process of building your first Canvas course, step by step.

For fun, check out Instructure’s Canvas Intro Video.

Welcome

Hello and Welcome to the University of South Florida St. Petersburg Distance Learning Blog, a resource created and maintained by Distance Learning and Instructional Media Services at the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library.

We are excited that you are here because that means you are interested in learning more about developing and teaching high quality online courses that have an impact on the education of students at USFSP. Our Team is passionate about Distance Learning and Instructional Design and we look forward to sharing information about:

DL @USFSP
Events, trainings, resources, and information specific to Distance Learning at USFSP

Strategies
Tips and strategies for course design and development, specific tools and technology, and instruction.

News & Research
Information about local and national events and conferences, including recaps and resources from conferences attended by our staff.

Events
National and local news and research about Distance Learning, Technology and Instruction.

We hope you will find this to be an informative and interactive resource. Please share your thoughts and ideas as comments on the blog posts. If you have a question or topic suggestion, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Thank you and Enjoy!