McGraw Hill Sponsors REMOTE: The Connected Faculty Summit to Support College Instructors as They Prepare for the Fall Term

NEW YORK, July 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Learning science company McGraw Hill is proud to support REMOTE: The Connected Faculty Summit, an exciting new virtual conference hosted by Arizona State University that is scheduled for July 13^th and 14^th, 2020.

With colleges developing their reopening plans for the 2020-21 academic year, the REMOTE conference gives university faculty and administrators professional development and opportunities to better understand the pedagogy and best practices of online and remote learning. With only 25 percent of students noting that they feel prepared for a remote freshman year of college, according to a McKinsey survey, university staff and faculty have a big task ahead of them: they must work to create a remote learning environment that fosters academics and social skills and prepares students for their careers. At the 2020 REMOTE conference, leading educators with extensive, practical online and blended teaching experience will present actionable, evidence-backed practices on both subject-specific and general online teaching techniques.

Register for REMOTE: The Connected Faculty Summit

"This free virtual summit is a wonderful opportunity for faculty and college administrators to hear about the experiences of leading minds in online learning and work with fellow practitioners who have effectively taught in remote situations," said Michael Ryan, President of Higher Education at McGraw Hill. "We're excited to support and participate in this event and hope the instructors we work with around the world will sign up and take advantage."

McGraw Hill is sponsoring the event and providing speakers for two sessions designed to help faculty learn how to teach effectively in online, blended or hybrid classroom environments.

1. Ensuring Student Engagement and Equity with Personalized, Adaptive Learning
   Presenter: Claude Tameze, Ph.D., Chair and Director, Department of Mathematical Sciences, Lincoln University
   July 13^th, 3:30 p.m. PST
                           
   Description: The department of Mathematical Sciences at Lincoln University uses McGraw Hill ALEKS for placement assessment (ALEKS PPL-Placement Preparation and Learning) and as a supplemental tool for classroom instruction in its entry level math courses. ALEKS is a user-friendly product that includes remote access on any device, including smartphones. This has improved student engagement and preparedness, especially during the school's shift to remote learning caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It was challenging for both faculty and students to quickly switch to a virtual environment when the pandemic hit during the mid-Spring semester. However, adapting to the virtual environment was much easier for the courses that were already using ALEKS as a supplemental tool. Besides providing a smooth transition, ALEKS also helped support test integrity by providing a built-in test proctoring tool (lockdown browser with Respondus monitor) at no additional cost. This talk will focus on the role of ALEKS in facilitating a smooth transition, keeping students engaged, and providing test integrity that maintains equity for the whole class during this time of social distancing and virtual instruction.
                          
2. 3 Questions to Ask Before Using a New Digital Resource
   Presenter: Michael Windelspecht, Ph.D., Educator, Scientist and Author of 20+ Science Textbooks
   July 14^th, 12:30 p.m. PST
                               
   Description: The scramble to complete the spring semester is over, and now teachers across the country are reimagining what a "traditional" classroom will look like this fall. The challenge is to not only address the learning objectives of the course, but to develop an environment that engages students, many of whom are still novices in the online environment. Digital solutions are plentiful, but when and how should they be used? Through his work as an educator, author, and consultant, Michael Windelspecht has worked with numerous faculty to develop an effective transition to the digital world. This talk will explore the three questions that instructors need to ask before they decide to implement a digital resource in their classroom, and in the process, create an environment that reduces stress on both the faculty member and the student.

A leader in digital and online learning solutions, McGraw Hill supported more than 7,000 instructors at 1,500 colleges in the spring term of 2020 as they went through the process of moving their courses online due to COVID-19. And the company recently announced a new partnership with the Online Learning Consortium (OLC) to train and certify a team of McGraw Hill faculty consultants and employees in online teaching and learning. The training program will help McGraw Hill better support, mentor and provide virtual coaching to faculty on effective practices of quality online learning, including course design, facilitation and assessment.

McGraw Hill, which delivers its trusted content on sophisticated online learning platforms Connect, ALEKS and others, already serves millions of students and thousands of faculty with its digital products. Through the OLC partnership, McGraw Hill will bring even more expertise to institutions looking to ensure their online learning programs are designed, facilitated and evaluated according to best practices.

McGraw Hill
McGraw Hill is a learning science company that delivers personalized learning experiences that drive results for students, parents, educators and professionals. We focus on educational equity, affordability and learning success to help learners build better lives. Headquartered in New York City, McGraw Hill has offices across North America, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and South America, and makes its learning solutions for PreK-12, higher education, professionals and others available in more than 75 languages. Visit us at mheducation.com or find us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter.

Contact:
Tyler Reed
McGraw Hill
(704) 408-6969
[email protected]

SOURCE McGraw Hill