Recently, all Missouri State University faculty were added into the FCTL Academic Community, a Brightspace Community course created by the FCTL that provides resources, scholarly opportunities, and assistance to MSU faculty members as they navigate the act of teaching and all that it entails. Read on to find out about some of the Academic Community’s features and discover the many ways it can help you in your professional and scholarly pursuits.
Respondus, as many on our campus know, is a company specializing in the creation of software that prevents academic dishonesty in online testing. Respondus products such as Respondus Monitor and Respondus LockDown Browser are used frequently in classes across Missouri State University’s campus by instructors from all colleges and departments. While MSU is by no means a stranger to Respondus products, the programs are constantly being updated and refined in response to technological advancements–changes which faculty are often not aware of. Due to these adjustments, Respondus hosts regular free Webinars to update users on the changes they make to their programs, as well as provide new users with the tools they need to get up and running with their online assessments.
On March 31st at 2 PM (CT), Respondus is hosting one of these many free Webinars to familiarize users with the recent updates made to the programs to increase their effectiveness in preventing academic dishonesty in online testing. This Webinar, entitled Innovations in Online Proctoring: New Features for Respondus Monitor, will provide information on multiple new features instructors have access to in Respondus Monitor, such as giving students access to MS Word or Excel during secure exams, requiring a second camera for a side-view video to increase exam security, using screen-only recording (no webcam) for classroom exams to see how students calculate or answer questions, adjusting flagging sensitivity and detecting handheld devices during exams, using Respondus Monitor with publisher systems and third-party applications, and more.
Faculty interested in learning about these new features and how they can implement them in their online exams can register for the Webinar here. If you’d like to attend but are unable to due to time constraints, Respondus will send a recording to those who register so that it may be viewed later as your schedule permits.
Questions?
Contact the FCTL at fctl@missouristate.edu to get more information about Respondus Webinars, or visit Respondus’s Webinar page to get a full list of upcoming informational sessions to help you utilize the Respondus tools most effectively in your courses.
Quality Matters (QM) is the premier worldwide organization in supporting faculty and instructional designers in improving the quality of online and blended (hybrid) education. QM provides a range of tools, course review processes, and professional development materials to support the improvement of online education, and as a QM institution, Missouri State provides all of QM’s resources to our faculty free of charge. This year, as one of the Strategic Plan Igniting Opportunity quality initiatives, MSU is offering $100 stipends to faculty members who perform a self review of one of their online courses using the Quality Matters (QM) self review tool. If you’d like to review one of your courses and improve your teaching effectiveness (and get a nice extra bit of money while doing so), follow this step-by-step guide to ensure you’ve completed the process correctly. [Read more…] about A Step-by-Step Guide to Conducting a QM Self-Review