Imagine combining the skills of the Genius Bar, the Geek Squad and experts on the most innovative, easy-to-use coursework imaginable. Put all that together, and you have the Instructional Design Support team at the Center for Teaching, Learning and Design.
Every day, the IDS team’s quick expert support transforms faculty members’ teaching, curriculum and assessment challenges into learning opportunities. The service is available online or in person, without an appointment, any time Monday through Friday between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Whatever the fix, advice or tweak needed, “We generally can do it in real time” while you wait, said Alex McDaniel, the CTLD’s associate director of Instructional Design. “Rarely do we have to come back to finish something later on.”
More often, a faculty member walks in with a question about, say, a Canvas grade book and walks out with new ideas about and techniques for assessing student learning.
The service is popular with the hundreds of instructors it has helped. “The most impressive reality of the drop-in-support team is that all of the team members who have assisted me have always been outstanding in their genuine quest to provide valuable assistance in a friendly and proactive manner,” said Robert Farmer, instructor in the Marketing Department.
McDaniel stressed that the IDS team observes an education version of doctor/patient privilege. “We create a safe space for faculty members,” he said. “We don’t share their questions with anyone.”
While the services the IDS team provides are as multiple and varied as they are fast, there are a couple of things they don’t do. First, Information Technology Services still is the go-to source for such things as password resets or software glitches. And while the CTLD does offer course-design consultation and services, that is not the role of the IDS team’s drop-in sessions.
Lately, though, the team has added a new number to its repertoire: helping faculty members sort through the many questions arising around artificial intelligence. “We’re the ones that instructors can go to in order to understand how students can use AI in classes” and how they shouldn’t be using it, said Todd Wolfe, Instructional Media and Support manager for the IDS team.
Basically, the IDS team is a one-stop shop for anything an educator might need to make all learning, including online learning, more impactful.
“The days of teaching being a solo effort are over,” McDaniel said. “It’s too complex now. It’s a team sport.”
The Center for Teaching, Learning and Design’s Instructional Design Support team provides immediate one-on-one virtual troubleshooting through Teams and in-person support Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., in Room 325 of the Administration Building on the Auraria Campus. Help also is available at 303-615-0801 and [email protected].
