Tools
Communication
Effective communication is key to building strong connections and relationships with your students and other team members across the university. In this section, you will find information about the technology tools that you can leverage to effectively communicate with your students and colleagues.
Faculty Action Center (FAC)
Overview
The Faculty Action Center (FAC) is a tool that helps you reach out to your students. It helps by alerting you to which students may be struggling, the assignments they are missing, and how close they are to being dropped. With just one click, you can create a new message where you can create or add a video. In addition, you can track your outreach to a student through the FAC, phone, email, text, and chat.
You would use the FAC to help manage, track, and reach out to your students in an efficient manner.
Contacts
Justin Link
Ashley Walsh
Resources
Canvas FAC Resources
This course displays the Faculty Action Center (FAC) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). It contains lessons on new features and processes within the FAC, general information surrounding the FAC, and other filters and tools available within the FAC.
Do’s and Don’ts
This one page chart organizes FAC best practices into technical and tactical approaches.
Slybroadcast
Overview
Connecting with students is a key tenant at Strayer University. One of the simplest ways to make this connection is through the use of phone calls. However, getting in touch with a student can sometimes be a game of cat and mouse. A very helpful tool you can utilize is Slybroadcast. Slybroadcast is a ringless voicemail software service that allows you to leave students voicemails without ever having the phone ring on the end user’s end. This tool allows you to send messages immediately via its platform, either at once, in batches, or at scheduled times. You also have the ability to record messages, send new campaigns, and monitor the status of your sent voicemails through either your computer or mobile device.
Contacts
Ashley Walsh
Resources
Slybroadcast FAQs
Here are frequently asked questions and answers from Slybroadcast’s public website.
Slybroadcast Walk-through
Here’s a walk-through demo video with fictional names and contact information.
Outlook
Overview
Microsoft Outlook is a personal information manager software system from Microsoft, available as a part of the Microsoft Office suite. Though primarily an email client, Outlook also includes such functions as calendaring, task managing, contact managing, note-taking, journal logging and web browsing.
Instructors can use Outlook to communicate with students, incorporate with different technology tools to collaborate with students, and manage their time using the calendar features. Overall, Outlook is the main source of communication between colleagues and students.
Contacts
Ashley Walsh
Resources
Outlook Training Module Collection
Browse available trainings for Office for Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and the web.
Set up an online meeting in Outlook
Follow these steps to create a meeting in Windows, Mac, or web.
Organize emails with folders
Create folders to organize emails, move messages, and add folders to your Favorites folder for easy access.
How to search in Outlook
Use Outlook search to find messages, contacts, tasks, and calendar entries.
Login to Outlook on the web
Outlook on the web has many of the same features as in Windows and Mac.
Microsoft 365
Overview
Microsoft 365 provides software that focuses on productivity, word processing, and related tasks.
Instructors can use tools like SharePoint and OneDrive to deliver information to students (linked via the Faculty Action Center).
Contacts
Ashley Walsh
Resources
M365 SharePoint/OneDrive Support
Browse available resources for Microsoft365 related to SharePoint and OneDrive (to share with your students).
Student Engagement
Fostering student engagement in the classroom is an important factor in helping your students be successful in your course. In this section, you’ll find technology tools that will help you connect with your students and engage them in the content, including the required accurate closed captioning of videos.
Kaltura
Overview
Kaltura is our video hosting platform used to create and share videos among peers and students. This tool allows instructors (and in some cases students) to create and share video. Creating videos in Kaltura helps to create that personal touch. You can use Kaltura to create weekly video announcements, video grading feedback, discussion video responses, targeted video outreach, assignment review videos, and more.
Contacts
Frank Suraci
Ashley Walsh
Catherine Ipcizade
Resources
Working with Kaltura
If you are new to Kaltura, or maybe you need a refresher on how the tool is used, this section is a great starting point for your video production efforts. The how-to videos embedded below will provide you with some guidance on what all instructors should know prior to utilizing Kaltura in their classrooms.
Knowledge Center
Visit the Kaltura Knowledge Center, located on the Blackboard landing page.
Video Captioning: Editing Your Captions in Kaltura
Follow these steps to edit closed captioning for a Kaltura video.
Zoom
Overview
Zoom is our meeting conference platform used for meetings and Live Sessions. This allows instructors and students to connect with one another. Zoom allows for faculty to host live lectures, study halls, and tutoring sessions that provide an opportunity for faculty to connect with students and colleagues. You can have several cohorts on calls and Zoom allows for sharing of content and video calls. While using Zoom, faculty can utilize breakout rooms, screen writing, polls, quiz questions, and more.
Contacts
Karen Magee
Evan Schwartz
Frank Suraci
Ashley Walsh
Resources
Enabling or disabling closed captioning
Follow these steps to enable closed captioning during a Zoom session.
Zoom User Guide for Faculty
This guide provides information and resources for navigating in the Zoom platform and managing the experience for students in the live session.
Canva
Overview
Canva is an online software that supports the creation of multimedia such as flyers, videos, and presentations. It can be used to illustrate information in a different and engaging way. Allows for collaboration across multiple stakeholders and files can be downloaded in a variety of formats to meet different accessibility and student needs.
Contacts
Ashley Walsh
Resources
Canva
Here is the access link for Canva, a design tool for presentations and videos.
Downloading, saving, and sharing your Canva creations
Browse FAQs related to downloading and saving Canvas to your computer or phone.
Editing and designing your Canva creations
Browse FAQs related to creating a Canva from scratch or a template.
Sway
Overview
Sway is a presentation tool from Microsoft, available as a part of the Microsoft Office suite. You can create interactive visuals and presentations to illustrate information in an engaging and logical way for your audience by adding text, images, videos and more! It is commonly used to create presentations, newsletters, and blogs and is able to be shared through a direct weblink.
Contacts
Ashley Walsh
Resources
Sway
Here is the access link for Sway, a presentation tool from Microsoft.
Sway Help & Learning
Browse the help and learning center for Microsoft Sway for all available training.
Getting Started with Sway
New to Microsoft Sway? This article provides an overview of how easy it is to create and share anything with Sway’s colorful and interactive canvas. Learn how to create and preview your first Sway, how to add and embed content, and how to share your finished creation with others.
Create in Sway
Follow these steps to create a Sway from a template or from scratch.
Faculty Feedback Tool
Overview
A plugin that allows instructors to create grading feedback based upon rubric categories. Instructors are able to create quality base feedback for rubric-based assignments while also being able to add additional comments to align to the specific student’s work. This provides consistent messaging to students on grading criteria while also allowing for personalization.
Contacts
Ashley Walsh
Jeff Miko
Frank Suraci
Resources
Faculty Feedback Tool Job Aid
This job aid offers step by step instructions, videos, and screenshots. Expect to spend 15 minutes reviewing.
Collaboration
Collaborating with others across the university allows us to find new and innovative ways to engage students and effectively meet their needs. In this section, you’ll find technology tools that you can leverage to collaborate with others and easily connect to available resources.
SharePoint
Overview
The SU Faculty SharePoint site is a one stop shop for all things faculty related. It houses course resources, job aids, newsletters, trainings, webinars, professional development opportunities and much more. If you want to add anything to SharePoint or if anything needs updating you can reach out to Ed directly.
Contacts
Ed Buchanan
Resources
SU Faculty SharePoint
Here is the access link for the SharePoint site.
Tools & Training
Here is a quick link to the Tools & Training section.
Quarterly Webinars
Here is a link to the News section of the Faculty SharePoint page where upcoming webinars are posted.
Professional Development Resources
Here is a quick link to the Professional Development section.
Teams
Overview
Teams is a communication and collaboration app from Microsoft, available as a part of the Microsoft Office suite. It allows teams to collaborate and share resources, ideas, and information in real-time through key features such as chat, calls, and file sharing.
Contacts
Christine Zeravica
Ed Buchanan
Resources
Teams Training Module Collection
Browse available online trainings for Teams.
Microsoft Teams Essential Training
This LinkedIn Learning course covers the desktop and mobile experiences for organizing teams, starting conversations, sharing files, scheduling video meetings, and searching.
Building schedules in Teams
This page shares step by step how to build a schedule in Teams using Shifts.
Wellness
To support faculty in realizing their greatest potential, the Wellness Corner provides resources and innovative development opportunities that are integral for promoting professional excellence.
Wellness Database
The Source: Wellness
Access to external wellness resources, which includes videos, articles, and podcast based on a monthly theme.
Books
Monthly Book Recommendations
Mindfulness As Medicine : A Story of Healing Body and Spirit (2015)
“A Buddhist nun shares her profound journey of healing, plus step-by-step directions for embracing and transforming suffering through mindfulness, meditation, and other techniques. Before she became a Buddhist nun in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh, Sister Dang Nghiem was a doctor. She’d traveled far in her 43 years. Born during the Tet Offensive and part of the amnesty for Amerasian children of the late 1970s, Dang Nghiem arrived in this country virtually penniless and with no home. She lived with three foster families, but graduated high school with honors, earned two undergraduate degrees, and became a doctor. When the man she thought she’d spend her life with suddenly drowned, Sister Dang Nghiem left medicine and joined the monastic community of Thich Nhat Hanh. It is from this vantage point that Dang Nghiem writes about her journey of healing in Mindfulness as Medicine. Devastated by the diagnosis and symptoms of Lyme, she realized that she was also reliving many of the unresolved traumas from earlier in her life. She applied both her medical knowledge and her advanced understanding and practice of mindfulness to healing. Through meditation she finally came to understand what it means to “master” suffering.”
Virgin Pulse
VirginPulse: Welcome
Develop a healthier lifestyle and earn cash rewards (some restrictions apply)
Workplace Group
Workplace: Wellness Corner
A place to connect and share your wellness journey.
Brainstorm Sessions
Quarterly session to brainstorm about next opportunities. Invites sent to members of the workplace group.
Mindfulness Mondays
Join Zoom
Start the week by connecting with your colleagues for 15-minutes mindfulness practice
Ask & Share Sessions and Week 6 Tech Tool Chats
